Religion and Food Unit
This Group provides an opportunity for scholars to engage in the intersection of religion and food, foodways, and food ethics. We are interested in examining these topics across broad geographical areas, religious traditions, and historical eras. We seek papers investigating practices and beliefs related to food, drink, fasting, the production of food, the ethics of production and consumption, or on any aspect of religiously influenced foodways. Mindful of the AAR 2026 Annual Meeting theme of Future and Hope, the Religion and Food unit invites proposals concerning
As always, we welcome general proposals on the topic of religion and food.
- Mindful of the AAR 2026 Annual Meeting theme of Future and Hope, the Religion and Food unit invites proposals concerning
- Mothering, motherhood, and food futures: see joint call below at
- Seeds & Growing Things; Generativity
- Monotheists, Creation, and Care/ Indigenous Creation and Care
- Mindful of the AAR 2026 Annual Meeting being held in Denver, CO, we invite papers engaging
- Jolof rice and gumbo, Dr. Adrian Miller's work on Soul Food, the Netflix series "High on the Hog" with Jessica Harris
- Gastrotourism, gentrification's effects on foodways,
- Loss of SNAP/ food benefits, food security, food resilience, Denver Urban Gardens (DUG)
- Food and protest, food activism, eating against ICE
- Food Burdens: Matcha, ayahuasca, peyote, mezcal and frustrating traditional/ritual use
- Food Nation and Food Narrative: 1776-2026 (250 years)
- Is there an American food? Religion and Colonial food
- Governmentality of Food/ Food Governance: Dehumanizing food through policy; food and surveillance
- Food and Surveillance: we are the harvest; blood into gold; blood glucose monitors, menstruation monitors
- Food Creativity; gleanings, scraps, scarcity; sufficiency versus waste and unsustainability
- Transnationalization of food; Migration: what happens when food travels?
- Food Resilience in the Global South, eating extractively
- Foods of our Ancestors: Women who have turned little into much; food dreams; appropriation of indigenous foods/ingredients (Matcha, ayahuasca, mezcal)
- Foreclosing Futures: Loss of future, post-capitalist collapse, slow cancellation of the future of food, foreclosing the possibility of eating/edibility
- The Religion and Food Unit also solicits recent and upcoming monographs for a possible roundtable on recent and upcoming books in Food and Religion.
For potential Co-Sponsored Session with the Religion and Food Unit and the Motherhood and Religions Unit, we solicit papers that respond to the following call: Nourishing Futures: Motherhood, Food, and Religion
This Unit provides an opportunity for scholars to engage the intersection of religion and food, foodways, and food ethics. We are interested in examining these topics across religious traditions, geographical areas, and historical eras. We encourage critical reflection regarding:
• The relationships of religious commitments to food (production, preparation, consumption, and invention)
• Diet and sustainability
• Issues of food (in)justice, which may include food availability or insecurity, commitment to wellness, access to healthy foods, food deserts, etc.
• Environmental/ecological issues, e.g. desertification, flood, fire, and climate related food ethics issues
• Theological, spiritual, and religious interrelationships as expressed in food commitments or confluences
• The cross-cultural applicability of the categories of “religion” and “food” themselves
We seek to develop ongoing investigations into practices and beliefs related to food, drink, fasting, the production of food, the ethics of production and consumption, or on any aspect of religiously influenced foodways.
| Chair | Dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Aldea Mulhern | mulherna@brandonu.ca | - | View |
| William Schanbacher | willschanbacher@gmail.com | - | View |