clean eating - on religious diets + dietary purity
and what I ate at the ramadan market
religion and food or the absence of it are closely linked…
something I’ve been reflecting a lot on through lent and ramadan, neither of which I practise (with spiritual intent, at least) but both of which I respect
most major religions and spiritual ideologies adhere to some sort of diet, some more explicitly than others
jains abstain from most animal products, root vegetables (could disturb insects when uprooted) and onion/garlic (too stimulating). dairy is fine, though. rastafarians eat an ital diet, keeping fully vegan and avoiding processed foods including salt. seventh day adventists, creators of the sanitarium diet and subsequent weet-bix parent company, may sometimes eat “clean” meats and dairy/eggs but are mostly veg and avoid coffee
I was born in a seventh day hospital. my mother nearly died of post-partum caffeine withdrawal
some religious diets derive from evergreen reason (don’t harm animals, don’t have stimulants before you meditate). others derive from time-specific context (don’t eat pork/shellfish [if it’s likely to be parasitic]). so maybe those fair-weather religious types who cherry-pick from spiritual texts as they please aren’t so wrong after all
the religious environments I was raised around discouraged questioning. I don’t think this applies to all such environments, but many. questions undermine faith, create distrust in process, spotlight inconsistencies
which is much, i’ve come to realise, like diet culture
religion (diet) tells us how to live. gives us clear rules and benchmarks, offers community, sets us on a common path, working towards a seemingly-achievable goal (heaven! / the ability to be free around food or feel okay in our body for once or not have to think so damn much about what we eat or have an excuse to abstain)
spirituality (lifestyle) trains us to determine that on our own. seek internal guidance, realise that sometimes two things can be true at once, make our own decisions and take accountability for them
but who wants to do that
most of us want black and white, a quick fix
it’s the reason I keep telling myself I should stop drinking
abstinence is easier than moderation
but dietary purity can easily dissolve into addiction (and a holier than thou-ness that will make your family and friends hate you)
as a former orthorexic, take it from me
that said / to play devil’s advocate, no shade to religious diets if you can do it without developing an eating disorder / I do see benefit in fasting for the sake of fostering discipline and compassion and enhanced of understanding of yourself or others1. capitalist-driven diets designed to prop up the capital-D diet industry are another story for another time
if you have just the right amount of self-control to dabble in a religious diet with enough care to follow through but not so much that it takes over your life, go for it2
at the time of writing this it’s eid (the last day of ramadan) and lent (until 4/20 [lent is a great time for a t-break // cadbury egg edibles would go hard])
I was commissioned to write a gf article on the new dandenong mamadan market which was created in direct response/competition to sydney’s lakemba nights
[ funnily enough, my last article before that was on pancake (or “fat”) tuesday, the last day of indulgence pre-lent ]
I went wednesday, arriving at the official 7pm start time to find many vendors were just arriving let alone setting up. despite not having fasted, I was ravenous and ordered a bolani from afghan bolani as soon as they began taking orders, then promptly started to eat it before realising that the sun had not yet set and no one else around me was eating and I was likely being insensitive
in my defence, I was startled and disoriented from having just seen a man outside the pokies with blood (I presume his own) smeared all over his face and this car (tw)
[ HUGE respect is also due, I’ve realised to muslim communities in places like iceland where the sun is only down for two hours each day ]
anyway, it is likely to be popping off tonight but continues until april 2. the founder strongly encouraged that anyone is welcome, muslim or not, so get down for a camel burger3 and a pandan apam balik
I was hoping to check in earlier this month to round up some iftar meals, which often unlock this whole secret menu of one-off dishes and limited-run buffets the restaurants never offer the rest of the year, but it seems I’ve run out of time
so here are a few from other platforms if you’re after one last hurrah tonight:
here’s one from ummah directory
and one from me via time out that I forgot I wrote lol
and, once again I’m running out of room/time before I need to step afk so I’m going to leave this here and come back to religious diets within other disciplines another time
please interpret this spiritually
a non-muslim (based) friend recently shared he’s doing fake ramadan, only consuming drinks by day and having one meal each evening and I can get behind that. appreciation, not appropriation, etc. walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, etc.
this is to say, I don’t think religious diets are ours for the taking and that we can just jump in and out of different sacred spiritual practices as we please BUT if you, like me, see god as the elephant that we, blind mice, are all accurately but diversely interpreting from different angles, then I see no harm in a little respectful exploration
also available at hot chills and docklands den (always) and burgertory (only during ramadan) if you miss out on this one