Connections Quarterly Spring 2016 - Environment | Page 14

T HINKING ABOUT FOOD, RE L I G I O N , A N D S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

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Eating Meat?

Discussions about religion, food, and environment invariably turn to meat, and
these conversations can become difficult
for teachers and students. Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals presents information about factory farming and food
animals in the context of the author’s
decision whether to feed meat to his
6
children. He raises questions about morality and human obligations to animals
and frames his questions in the context
of his Jewish heritage. The book offers a
non-dogmatic approach to a contentious
subject, and Foer’s questions provide a
platform to discuss animals, morality, and
food.
While vegetarianism has had a relatively
positive reception in the Jewish tradition,
that is not the case within Islam.7 The Renewal segment “Food and Faith” illustrates
a Muslim community’s efforts to source
halal meat that is humanely raised. These
works demonstrate different moral approaches to meat and food, drawing
upon religious beliefs and practices.

Food Cultures and Social Equity

Alternative food cultures such as vegetarianism and locavorism have become

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increasingly popular in the US, and many
families routinely purchase food through
farmers’ markets and CSA (http://www.localharvest.org/csa/). Purchasing or