Origins and Rationale of FOODS

Origins and Rationale of FOODS

Food taboos can be defined as a codified set of rules about which foods or combinations of foods may not be eaten and how animals are to be slaughtered.

The origin of these prohibitions and commandments is varied. In some cases, these taboos are a result of health considerations or other practical reasons. In others, they are a result of human symbolic systems. Some foods may be prohibited during certain festivals at certain times of life (e.g. pregnancy), or to certain classes of people (e.g. priests), although the food is in general permissible.

Various religions forbid the consumption of certain types of food. For example, Judaism prescribes a strict set of rules, called Kashrut, regarding what may and may not be eaten. Islam has similar laws, dividing foods into haram (forbidden) and halal (permitted).

Jains often follow religious directives to observe vegetarianism. Hinduism has no specific proscriptions against eating meat, but Hindus who apply the concept of "ahimsa" (non-violence) to their diet practice forms of vegetarianism.

Australian Aborigines traditionally had personal totems. While religious practices varied from group to group, it was common that the eating of the totemic animal was considered taboo, either by the entire clan, or the individual with the personal totem.

Aside from overt rules, there are cultural taboos against the consumption of some animals. These usually appear to be based on unconscious emotions such as revulsion and are rarely justified by logical argument. Within a given society, some meats will be considered taboo simply because they are outside the range of the generally accepted definition of a foodstuff, not necessarily because the meat is considered repulsive in flavor, aroma, texture or appearance.

For example, even though there is no law against eating dog meat in the United States and Europe, it is widely considered unacceptable. (Dog meat is eaten, in certain circumstances, in Korea, Vietnam, and China, although it is nowhere a common dish.) Similarly, horse meat is rarely eaten in the Anglosphere, although it is part of the national cuisine of countries as widespread as Kazakhstan, Japan, and France.

Sometimes food taboos enter national or local law, as with the the ban on cattle abattoirs in most of India, and horse slaughter in the United States. Even after resumption to Chinese rule, Hong Kong has not lifted its ban on supplying meat from dogs and cats, imposed in colonial times.

A fairly recent addition to cultural food taboos is that of eating the meat or eggs of endangered species or animals that are otherwise protected by law or international treaty.

Examples of such protected species include some species of whales, sea turtles, and migratory birds.