Blog Post
September 13th

From my perspective, food has a really close connection to religion and tradition. Different religions have different food restrictions as well as traditions.

My parents and I basically do not have any religious affiliation, but every year, as a tradition, on the first day of Chinese lunar calendar we will go to the temple as many other Chinese families. Following our visit to the temple, we will always have vegetarian meals on that day. When I was young, I did not know the reason. I asked my mom one time, and she told me that is because in Chinese Buddhism gods are believed to be born on the first day of the lunar calendar. Therefore, as a form of respect, people avoid killing animals and eat vegetarian meals on that day. To nowadays, though many Chinese people do not have a strong affiliation to Buddhism, this custom remains as a tradition.

Not only Buddhism has dietary restrictions, many other religions also do. When I was in high school, I learned from some Jewish students that there is a fasting day every year. In addition, in Jewish culture, there are many limitations on food and the ways that it is prepared.

To sum up, food is not simply what we eat every day. It contains cultural heritage and has important meaning to different groups of people.