Sharing and Celebrating - Food

Food plays an important part in many religions: it may be consecrated or blessed for symbolic sharing as an important part of regular worship; special foods may be prepared at festival times to celebrate and reinforce the message of the festival; membership of a faith community may be marked by strict dietary regulations. It is important that RE lessons centred around food do not become simple cookery lessons (although this may be a feature of the session), but that the class looks at the meaning of the food for the believer in that situation.

METHOD

(a) Sacred Sharing

The Eucharist or Holy Communion is the central act of worship of the Christian faith. It both retells the story of the Last Supper and proclaims the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In receiving the consecrated bread and wine Christians share in the body and blood of Christ and proclaim their own unity as a body of believers devoted to the faith. It is a sacrament of inclusion.

One of the best ways to teach about the Holy Communion is to invite a member of the local clergy to talk the children through the service in a simple way, explaining the story of the service and the symbolic actions and their meaning. Some priests may be prepared to share unconsecrated bread with the children. It hardly needs to be stressed that simply to read through a Communion Service without appropriate explanation is not the most helpful way of teaching about this service (or anything!).

Hindus and Sikhs share blessed food in their services known as kara parshad. In Sikh gurdwaras this will be a type of sweetened semolina and ghee (clarified butter) mixture, in the Hindu mandirs it is more likely to be sugar crystals and seeds, or fruit. Kara parshad will be offered to all visitors who attend the mandir or gurdwara, regardless of their faith commitment. As part of their way of service (sewa) Sikhs also run a communal kitchen known as a langar at the gurdwara. Everyone takes their turn at working in the langar, which is open to all comers. Food served here is always vegetarian so that no one will be offended.

The emphasis on this form of sacred sharing is the equality of all people before God. Classes could respond to this topic in various ways; one would be by setting up a communal kitchen, to raise funds for charity and benefit other people. Pupils could also devise a sharing exercise ( circle time and smarties, a joint affirmation or promise?) which would help them consider for themselves these key themes of equality and sharing.

(b) Dietary Laws

It is impossible to include all the detail you may need about a faith's dietary laws in this space. Here is a very compressed summary:

Buddhism - do not kill or harm living creatures i.e. vegetarian or vegan. No alcohol.

Christianity - Roman Catholics do not eat meat on Fridays. Eastern Orthodox Churches - no meat or animal products during Lent.- meat, fish, eggs, garlic, onions.

>Hinduism - many Hindus vegetarian, meat eaters will not eat beef (sacred cow). Strongly orthodox Hindus will not eat foods which may affect their behaviour or temperament - meat, fish, eggs, garlic, onions. Sikhism - some Sikhs are vegetarians, most do not eat beef.

Sikhism - some Sikhs are vegetarians, most do not eat beef. Sikhs will not eat animals which have been ritually slaughtered (halal, kosher). No alcohol.

Judaism - see Leviticus chapter 11 and Deuteronomy chapter 14. Kosher. Animals which are eaten have to be slaughtered by the shechitah method. Not eat blood. Pork and shellfish are forbidden. Meat and dairy products may not be eaten together. Jewish kitchens have two sets of crockery and cutlery for daily use.

Islam - No pork or pork products. Not eat blood. Animals must be ritually slaughtered. No alcohol.

Pupils could research the dietary laws of their chosen faith community. Why are these laws important to the believers - is it faith or hygiene? Could a member of the faith eat today's school lunch? Where are the nearest halal or kosher butchers? Can you buy kosher foods in your nearest supermarket? Which packets in your home store cupboard would believers be able/not be able to use? Find recipes from your faith community and try some!

(c) Festivals

In some festivals food plays a key part. The most obvious example of this is the Jewish Passover where each of the symbolic foods (lamb bone, parsley, bitter herbs, salt water, haroset, egg, wine, matzoth) reminds participants of the story of the Exodus and helps them to relive the story of their ancestors.

At Easter Christians also enjoy symbolic foods and most Christian communities will have some form of traditional Easter eggs whether these are chocolate or hard-boiled! The egg is both a symbol of new life and of the empty tomb.

Muslims celebrate Id-ul-Azha, the end of the month of Pilgrimage, by eating lamb, just as the Hajj pilgrims themselves are doing at Mecca, in memory of Abraham.

At other festivals foods of a certain type will be eaten:

At Hanukkah it will be food fried in oil, as a reminder of the miracle of the oil in the temple. Jews end the Yom Kippur fast by eating something sweet followed by something salty, while their first meal at Shavuot will always be milk based. Other faiths will have traditional special dishes which are eaten at festival time as a treat, to enhance the feeling of celebration.

If you are doing work on a festival it is unlikely that you will just be looking at the food involved, but at the complete message of the celebration: the story of the event which is commemorated; the underlying spiritual message of the celebration; and the way it is celebrated today.

POSSIBLE PITFALLS

Do not let RE sessions on a food theme turn into Home Economics! It is not the recipe for kara parshad or haroset which is important but the rich meanings those foods take on in special circumstances.and the application of those meanings to the lives of your pupils (spiritual development ).

RESOURCES

There are a lot of cookery books available which will give you recipes from different faiths and cultures, but you should look out for ones which also help with your RE e.g.
Festive Occasions by Judy Ridgway, OUP, 0198327307 or
Soul Cakes and Shish Kebabs by Aviva Paraiso & Jon Mayled, RMEP, 0080350976.

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