Food Faiths

Catherine L. Newell is associate professor of religion and science at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

What is the meaning of conversion? What meaning do individuals find in their own conversion?And what truths lurk withing the depths of the conversion experience? One might assumethese questions are related to a new book on spiritual formation. However, Food Faithsmanages to acknowledge such questions while pointing the reader to new considerations ofspiritual authority. Touting science based justifications for eating as a centralizing forceorganizing people’s lives, Newell repurposes religion for scientific practices of food as truespiritual practices themselves. Vegan and Paleo diets are framed here as primary examples of“food faiths.” Assessing the transition to these dietary lifestyle choices, Food Faiths reveals theextent to which conversion to a way of eating can ground us into spiritual practices based onscience rather than religion. In the end, diet is understood as a systematized way of living thatdraw on spiritual practices of deep reflection for the good of the body. Clearly crafted, theprimacy of Newell’s intervention is its ability to expand our understanding of spiritual practicesand their ability to enhance life while creating ultimate meaning.

• Series IntroductionIntroduction: “Nothing New Under the Sun”Chapter One: The Theory and the Theology of Diet, Science, and ReligionChapter Two: Health Reformers, Vegan Farmers, and the Nineteenth Century Religious Roots of Scientific Diet CultureChapter Three: The 20th Century and Beyond: How Health Became a Science, and How Science Became a ReligionChapter Four: Converting to Food Faiths: Veganism, Paleo, and the Landscape of Spiritual EatingChapter Five: Sacred Ancestors: Veneration, Generations, and Getting in Touch with Our RootsChapter Six: Virtue: Perfecting the Moral Self through the Ritual Embodiment of ScienceChapter Seven: Community: Defining What is Sacred Through FoodConclusionBibliographyAbout the Author