McWilliams/Food Rules, 4. Food Rules and Rituals: Etiquette for the Cosmic Table

Food rules and rituals, whether articulated intentionally or performed unconsciously in our biologically necessary acts of eating, construct and maintain our fundamental relationships in the world and define who or what we are in it. Drawing from my discipline of religious studies, I suggest for this year’s OSFC topic of ‘Food Rules and Rituals’ some important ‘ground rules’ and examples of how to apply them which I’ve selected from my own research in Jewish, Christian, and American Thanksgiving meal rituals.