This book, the first of its kind, critically analyzes the conjunctions of 21st century food, faith and society. It aims to provide a fresh approach that theorizes the culinary sphere in its association with morality, identity, justice and the sublime.

Nir Avieli is Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ben-Gurion University, Israel, and former president of the Israeli Anthropological Association. He studies food culture, tourism, gender, heritage, and leisure, and has pursued fieldwork in Vietnam, Israel, Thailand, Zanzibar and, as of recently Greece.

Fran Markowitz is Professor Emerita in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ben-Gurion University, Israel. Her publications address issues in ethnography, community, identity, religion, diasporas, and race. Most recently, Fran (with Nir Avieli) has been researching veganism and millenarianism, and (with Dafna Shir-Vertesh), the phenomenon of almost-peace and almost-war in Israel.

Introduction-Eating religiously: food and faith in the 21st century 1. Food as faith: suffering, salvation and the Paleo diet in Australia 2. "Here I can like watermelon": culinary redemption among the African Hebrew Israelites 3. This is not a sacrifice: interpretations of the Madagh among Armenians 4. Feeding activism in Russia: the transgressive politics of the church potluck 5. On not eating onions and grains: conspicuous non-consumption in the new Vietnamese religion of Caodaism 6. Fifty shades of kosher: negotiating kashrut in Palestinian food spaces in Israel 7. "Food unites us... not anymore!?" Indonesian pilgrims eating kosher and halal in Jerusalem 8. Cooking up religion: women, culture and culinary power 9. Avoidances and transgressions: agency, religiosity, and moralism in food and politics