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Food Sociology And Anthropology

History of food and gluttony

By Rahul Sood
C-1039

Contents
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................3
PART A......................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................4
EARLIEST RECORD OF GLUTTONY WITH LINKAGE TO FOOD...............5
PART B......................................................................................................................6
TEACHINGS OF BIBLE.......................................................................................6
Gluttony a capital offence...................................................................................7
The course plan incites to gluttony.....................................................................7
EXTRAVAGANCE WITH REGARD TO FOOD AND GLUTTONY IN ISLAM
................................................................................................................................8
10 COMMANDMENTS AND GLUTTONY........................................................9
THE SYMBOLISM OF PIG................................................................................11
PART C....................................................................................................................12
GLUTTONY AS A PREDOMINANT FAULT....................................................12
OVERCOMING GLUTTONY............................................................................13
CONCLUSION: CHOICE AND NECESSITY...................................................14
BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................15

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, safe food and healthy dietary practices are at the centre of concern of governments,
societies and public. This essay surveys the social implications of this concern, and particularly
addresses the question how historical wisdom contributes to the present day understanding of
food related issues and food borne diseases. After reminding briefly of social implications of
todays food fears, it presents two scholarly approaches to history of food and gluttony, and
provides many examples of its records from past (enlisted in the second part of the essay, with a
division into teachings of Bible and extravagance in food Islam), and provides many
examples of the complex relationship between food and gluttony dated from the earliest record in
the past. The essay concludes that it is not only indispensable to conduct a historical research to
situate the present-day developments with regard to consumers reaction and indulgence in food,
but that it is also needed to acquire a sense of relativism with regard to present-day food safety,
quality and scares.

PART A
INTRODUCTION
The Latin word gluttire is from where Gluttony originated. It means to gulp down or swallow, it
also means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink or intoxicants to the point of
waste. Greed, rapacity, voracity, greediness, voraciousness and piggishness all are the synonyms
of gluttony. Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, also known as cardinal vices or cardinal
sins, it is a classification of most objectionable vices which has been since early catholic times to
educate and instruct the followers.
Depending on the culture, it can be seen as a sign of status. Where the food is scarce, being able
to consume can be a thing to boast about and be proud in. But at places where food is available
in plenty, it may be considered as over-indulge.
Medieval church leaders thought more in detail about gluttony, arguing that it could also include
an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly
foods. Aquinas went so far as to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, including:

Eating too soon.

Eating too expensively.

Eating too much.

Eating too eagerly.

Eating too daintily.

Eating wildly.

(Source # http://www.bible.com/answers/aglutton.html)

EARLIEST RECORD OF GLUTTONY WITH LINKAGE TO FOOD


Adam and Eve were, according to Book of Genesis of the Bible (3rd century BCE), the first man
and woman created by god. They are also known as the first man and woman according to the
Quran.
Genesis tells the story of Adam and Eve in chapter 2 and 3. In chapter 2, god plants a garden (the
Garden of Eden) and sets Adam to work there and watch over it, permitting him to eat from all
the trees except the The Tree of Knowledge, God told Adam that the day you eat of it you will
surely die. when Adam tried to find a help-mate, none of the animals were satisfactory, and so
God created a woman from his rib (Eve). In chapter 3 the serpent tempts the woman to eat from
the tree of knowledge, telling her that it will not lead to death; she succumbs, and gives the fruit
to the man, who eats also. God questioned them for what they have done. Adam and Eve blames
the serpent. God curses the snake that he will crawl on his belly, God then curses Adam and Eve
with hard labor and with pain in childbirth, and banishes them from his garden, setting a cherub
at the gate to bar their way to the Tree of Life, "lest he put out his hand ... and eat, and live
forever."
Adam and Eve took far more than they needed. They believed they could do whatever they
wished with Gods creation for their own pleasure and benefit. Adam and Eve sinned the sin of
Gluttony when they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to become like God.
Apart from the Book of Genesis the first act of Gluttony by human race is recorded in the epic
poem by English poet John Milton, published in 1667 known as Paradise Lost. In the book
Adam is rather easily manipulated by Eve's charms and good looks. Because Eve was made out
of the rib of Adam by the God while he was asleep, Adam felt responsibility towards her.
Satan tries tempts Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan approaches
Eve in the body of a snake and manipulates her by appealing to her pride and vanity.
After eating of the Tree of Knowledge, Eve soon makes Adam to eat from the tree as well; Adam
eats out of affection and fear of losing Eve. This is a bit different from the Biblical version of the
story. In this version, Adam justified that he would rather die with her than live alone because
Eve will probably die soon from eating the fruit.
Later, when they don't die and Adam realizes that their actions in the garden have cursed all of
mankind, he is harsh on Eve, blaming her for their transgression. At this point, Eve gets on her
knees and begs Adam for forgiveness. And since Adam still loves Eve, he forgives her, sharing
some of the blame with her.

PART B
TEACHINGS OF BIBLE

Song of Solomon 2:15 says, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our
vines have tender grapes."
o It means that foxes sometime in search of food would enter into the grape orchards and
devour the grapes and spoil the crop. However, the little foxes were too small to reach the
grape bunches so they would chew on the vines and it would kill the whole vine. Instead
of the farmer just losing his crop, he would lose his vine which was more disastrous.
Spiritually some things we do or allow that we might think is little or insignificant can
also be disastrous for us. The "little fox" in this article is one that can cause many
problems in our lives if indulged in for a long period of time. It is an excess that can
cause many maladies. It is over-eating or what the Bible calls gluttony. The over-use of
the fork has been the death of many, especially in a country where there is such an
abundance of all kinds of food.

Daniel 1:12-17, "Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to
eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the
countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal
with thy servants. 14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. 15
And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the
children which did eat the portion of the king's meat 16 Thus Melzar took away the portion
of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. 17 As for these four
children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had
understanding in all visions and dreams".
o If we are overweight it came about not suddenly, but rather "little by little". This "little
fox" begins adding the pounds before we realize it. Each day we over indulge until we
become fat. We can tackle this problem with the Lord's help and He will give us the
power to trim down. As we seek the Lord and ask for His help in this area, He will not
fail us. He will give us the strength to overcome gluttony or other bad eating habits.

Proverbs 23:19-21 says "Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: 21 For the drunkard and the
glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags".
o One of the greatest sins in worldwide is gluttony. Food has become the god of millions.
Jesus has never been made "Lord of the Fork." The Word of God has much to say about
man's eating habits. Many sicknesses that are plaguing mankind stem directly from
unhealthy eating habits. Many people's problem with eating is the problem of overeating.
This problem usually develops by eating that little extra helping of food. This "little fox"
can grow from one of just "one more cookie" or "another bite of candy" until there is no
restraint and then the lust of food rules one's life. In the above verse gluttony is listed
along with drunkenness. Although, society doesn't look down on overeating that much.
The Bible declares this is a serious sin and warns us to resist yielding to this kind of
appetite.

Gluttony a capital offence


Many people do not exercise control over their appetites, rather they indulge in taste at the cost
of their health resulting blocking their thoughts and mind. The word of God places the sin of
gluttony in the same catalogue with drunkenness. So offensive was the sin in the sight of God
that he told Moses that a child who would not restraint on the point of satiety, but would gorge
himself with anything his taste might crave should be brought by his parents to the ruler of Israel,
and should be stoned to death. The condition of the glutton was considered hopeless. He would
be of no use to others and was a curse to himself. No dependence could be placed upon him in
anything. His influence would be ever contaminating others, and the world would be a better
place without such a character.

The course plan incites to gluttony


Custom has decreed that the food should be placed upon the tables in courses. Not knowing what
is coming next, one may eat a sufficiency of food which perhaps is not the best suited to him.
When the last course is brought on, he often ventures to overstep the bounds, and take the
tempting dessert, which, however, proves anything but good for him. If all the food intended for
a meal is placed on the table at the beginning, one has opportunity to make the best choice.
Sometimes the result of overeating is felt at once. In other cases there is no sensation of pain; but
the digestive organs lose their vital force, and the foundation of physical strength is undermined.
This is an error. The digestive organs should not be burdened with a quantity or quality of food
which it will tax the system to appropriate.

EXTRAVAGANCE WITH REGARD TO FOOD AND GLUTTONY IN ISLAM


Narrated by Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The first calamity for this nation
after the Prophets death is fullness of their stomachs; when their stomachs became full, they
became obese and their hearts weakened and their desires became wild.
(Source # Sahih al Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 65, Number 295)
Aisha bint Abu Bukar believed that the Prophet Mohamed died when the family first satisfied
their hunger with two black things, i.e. dates and water.
The Prophet said: The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is
sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must do that, then
let him fill one third with food, one third with drink and one third with air.
(Source # Sahih by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah (2265)).
As per the teachings of Quran, Gluttony is one of the greatest sins that lead to doom and it
causes many diseases and sicknesses, both spiritual and physical, because it leads to sexual
desire, then the desire for status and wealth in order to fulfill the first two desires. Then that
generates spiritual diseases such as showing off, destructive envy (hasad), boastfulness and
arrogance because of being focused on worldly matters. In most cases that leads to evil and
immorality, all of it because of this desire. The Arabs of old said: The stomach is the home of
disease and restraint is the basis of the remedy.
Quran cites that eating little is good characteristic, and eating a great deal is the opposite. As for
the words of Ibn Umar concerning the poor man who ate a great deal in his presence, Do not
let him enter upon me, he said so because the poor man was behaving like a kaafir, and if a
person behaves like a kaafir it is makrooh to mix with him unnecessarily; moreover, the amount
this man ate could have fed a number of people.
Similarly the practice of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was not to
reject what was available, and not to go out of his way to seek that which was not available. No
good food was brought to him but he ate it, unless he had no appetite for it, in which case he left
it but did not forbid it. He never criticized any food. if it was not available he would be patient,
and he would tie a stone to his stomach because of hunger.
(Narrated by Ibn al-Qayyim in Zaad al-Maaad (1/147))

10 COMMANDMENTS AND GLUTTONY


Ten Commandments are a list of moral rules that, according to Hebrew Bible, were spoken by
God to Jews from the mountain referred to Mount Sinai and later authored by God and given to
Moses in the form of two stone tablets. They are recognized as a moral foundation in Judaism,
Christianity and Islam.
The ten commandments and their relation with gluttony are as follows:
-

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.

Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind
earthly things.
Philippians 3:19 (King James Version).
Gluttons worship their belly, appetite and physical senses. They break the first commandment
because their desire becomes a higher priority than their creator and sustainer.
-

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you
shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of
those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My
Commandments.

Gluttons break the second commandments by serving to their physical needs and bow down to a
false God.
-

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless who takes His name in vain.

The third, when gluttons fail to uphold God's nameand all that it representsin glory and
honor. Many call themselves man of God and claim to follow Ten Commandments, but they lack
the holy character God wants them to have.
-

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your
work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no
work.

The fourth Commandment is broken when gluttons use the holy day of Sabbath to crave and to
overeat as a feast day looking for pleasure in their own ways.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which
the Lord your God is giving you.

A child of any age who does not have self-control is a worry and an embarrassment to his
parents. The glutton, abusing his body with excessive food, may not live even as long as his
parents, fulfilling the inverse of the commandment's promise.
-

You shall not murder.

The gluttons break the sixth Commandment by systematically and continually destroying the
body and mind that God has given into our care. It is slow suicide. If parents are gluttons, they
teach their children to do the same, thereby eventually killing them as well. Since our bodies are
the Temple of the Holy Spirit, to destroy it knowingly is sin.
-

You shall not commit adultery.

When gluttons over-eat, over-buy, over-accumulate as a "get" way of life. Their way of life is
their religion, and if it is a lifestyle of excessive desire, their religion is in competition with God's
way of life.
God says in verse 9, "So it came to pass, through [Judah's] casual harlotry, that she defiled the
land and committed adultery with stones and trees." These idols, worshipped on the high places,
became the object of Judah's excessive desire, just as food, drink, or any material thing can be.
(Source # Jeremiah 3:6-10)
-

You shall not steal.

When gluttons take more than what is balanced and needful, thus more than God has given. In
addition, by hoarding for themselves they steal from others. Certainly, when there are people
without enough, for gluttons to consume more than they need is wrong. People who eat at the
cost of others are at least, very greedy.
-

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

When gluttons call themselves holy man or try to make excuses for their obesity they tell lie.
-

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife,
nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that
is your neighbor's.

A glutton wants even more than he has. When he is not satisfied with what he has he desires
possessions of others.

THE SYMBOLISM OF PIG


Except in China and Vietnam, where the pig is a symbol of prosperity and abundance because of
it plumpness and fecundity, the creature has a rather bad reputation, even though it provides so
much nourishment. First and foremost it represents gluttony; making pig of himself is used as a
slang for those who overeats. Besides suggesting greed by its readiness to swallow almost
anything, it evokes other tendencies which our education teaches us to suppress: lust, egotism
and ignorance. The biblical parable of pearls cast before swine conveys the idea of a true
message wasted because it is addressed to people unable and unworthy to profit by it.
The dirty habits of the pig go some way towards accounting for the Jewish distaste for it. Islam
and Hindu also forbid consuming pork and pork products.

PART C
GLUTTONY AS A PREDOMINANT FAULT
In todays world more people die from food rather than guns and swords. This is only a proverb
to throw light on the problems people face due to eating disorder. Gluttony is one of the seven
deadly sins and apart from that gluttony is the sin which is most widely practiced throughout the
globe. Every religion has its to have and to not have list for food and drink, but these lists are
merely created for sheer reason of business and things beyond that. Culture and religion are
made a part of it because as soon as culture, traditions and religion falls in masses tends to pay
attention and follow them. In the text from bible the God said to Adam, the day you eat of it (the
tree of knowledge) you will surely die, but Adam lived after that and had three children named,
Cane, Abel and Seth. And in case of forbidden foods, people eat what is available. And what they
have in abundance is what they sell and promote.
The person who is inclined to eat or drink to excess is selfish, in other words people who are
selfish are the ones who are inclined to gluttony. This can be seen in their act of sheer denial of
the ordinary rules of good breeding, such people neglects the needs of others and tends to exceed
to useless expenses to satisfy themselves
Self denial is the root of all virtue, and avoiding excess comes with practice. Mortification is the
only way to kill gluttony. Gluttony to any extent only harms physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Present-day concepts about food safety are the outcome of long-ago and recent historical
negotiations, confrontations and decisions. There was and is no universal norm with regard to
food practice and consumption behavior. The food practices and consumption patterns are the
outcomes of the sources available. Thus by probing about food we can gain wisdom regarding
the consumption. There should be an innovative method to allow the measurement of the
quantity and nature of food in which data lacks.

OVERCOMING GLUTTONY
The author came across the fact that for most of the people throughout the history affluent food
was lacking. In the past the problems were regarding quantity not quality. With no doubt the
foremost concern in history was about shortages, famines, hoarding, and black market. Shortage
of food led to the distinction between classes. The food which was scarce but consumed and
enjoyed by the upper class became the luxury and status of wealth and power, whereas the food
which was readily available became the staple diet of the masses in its simplest form became the
frugal food. And in case of famines when there was nothing or very less available, masses ate
whatever they could fetch. In that case author believes the rules made by the superiors of to have
and to not have does not apply. The author believes that necessity and right reason should
regulate our thoughts and decisions. One should eat to live not live to eat. Excess in consumption
should be avoided and malnutrition is also wrong and harmful.
One should be careful in deciding in regard to quantity and should not be driven by preconceived
notions in regard to quality. We as human beings are prone to be particular about our choices and
tastes, not being satisfied with what is served or the way it is served to us. When things are not
according to our taste or does not appeals us we tend to find faults, and yet our disapproval may
be may be fully unjustified. As a matter of fact what is served is all right, but our taste demands
something special and something more delicate.
The urge or the sense to taste should be denied through fasting. Fasting should be governed by
careful management. We need not to desist from something completely, but we can deny
ourselves in small ways and even at and between meals. Taking less of something, being
unselfish, being satisfied with what is placed before us, are the reasonable ways to desist.

CONCLUSION: CHOICE AND NECESSITY


It has been clearly noted by the author that gluttony is a clear example of what excessiveness and
wanton greed can lead to in terms in food. Throughout the history emphasis has been laid on
educating people regarding the ill effects of overindulgence in food. Some say that gluttony is
one of the deadliest sin, some say that practicing gluttony is haram (unacceptable), and that it
breaks all the Ten Commandments and on other hand records of gluttony reflecting the wealth,
power and status of many it has always been very negative. The author concludes from all the
data which was collected throughout the compilation of this academic piece of work that
gluttony in simpler words means nothing but over indulgence in food practices, and the limit to
indulge is not measured in any standard unit but it is based on the very basic and universal fact
which regulates and control lives of all human beings, i.e. NEED. The author believes that the
requirements vary from person to person, geographies, cultures and practices. The decision
should be taken wisely after judging the need of a person. And it is advised by the author to
avoid the excess of indulgence in food practices as it harms individuals physically, socially,
mentally and spiritually (body, heart, mind and soul).
And the study of history of food and gluttony has been a very interesting and enriching
experience for the author.
What people eat is regulated by four main factors. First is physiological. People eat food to
survive and be healthy. This explains that food is a very basic need for human race but not why
they choose what they eat. In general human consumes what they think is good for them without
any knowledge of nutritional science. Human race has done great in this case because it has
survived for so long and learnt how to choose what to eat based on physiological factors. The
second factor is taste. Some foods simply appeal more than others. Humans can live by
consuming a wide variety of foods. Humans have maximum choices available to be consumed
than any other race. Some animals are entirely herbivores and some are entirely carnivores. And
some animals are extremely selective. Panda eats only the shoots and leaves of bamboo tree and
Koalas eats only eucalyptus leaves. The third factor is availability. Members of primitive
societies have been dependent on food grown at home or nearby. Their choices are governed by
the demographics of the society. And the fourth factor is culture. Diet is substantially influenced
by the traditional practices and norms of a society, and not only what they eat but how they eat
and consume the food is also influenced by the culture.
The reason why author discussed about these four factors was to throw light on the fact that
making choices for food consumption was a very basic and frugal thing, but with advancement
of human race, food and food culture were also elevated to higher levels and what used to be the
basic necessity for human race to survive became the status of wealth and power. Earlier people
used to eat to live, but now there are many who live to eat.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

E. Books
Adamson, M. W. (2004) Food in Medieval Times, London: Greenwood Press.
Brotherwell, D. R. (1969) Food in Antiquity: a Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples. London.
Brown, P. (1988) The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early
Christianity. New York.
Garnesy, P. (1999) Food and Society In Classical Antiquity, New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Goody, J. (1982) Cooking, Cuisine and Class: a Study in Comparative Sociology. Cambridge.
Graci, S. (2001) The Food Connection the right food at the right time, Canada: John Wiley &
sons, Canada, Ltd.
Harnik, G. (1994) The Lords Table: The Meaning of Food in Early Judaism and Christianity.
Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Madeleine, F. (2005) Sacred Cow, Mad Cow: A History of Food Fears. Trans. Jody Gladding.
New York: Columbia University Press.
Milner, Nicky and Preston, M. (2002) Consuming passion and
Cambridge.

Patterns of Consumption.

Newman, Lucile, F. (1995) Hunger in History: Food, Genes, and Deprivation. Oxford,
Blackwell.
Pilcher, J. M. (2006) Food in World history, London: Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group.
Sorabji, R. (1993) Animal Minds and Human Morals: the Origins of the Western Debate.
London.
Spencer, C. (1993) The Heretics Feast: a History of Vegetarianism. London.
Toussaint, M. (2009) A History of Food, Paris: Blackwell Publishing A John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd., Publication
Watson, James L. and Melissa L. (2005) The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: A Reader.
Oxford: Blackwell.

E. Articles
-

Anonymous. Gluttony as a Predominant Fault.

Anonymous. Extravagance with regard to Food and Gluttony in Islam. (www.islamaq.com).

Lausevic, P. D. (2003) Vegetarianism A Test of Fellowship? SDARM church.

Miller, B. What Does the Bible Say About Gluttony.

Scholliers, P. (2008) Defining food risks and food anxieties. Elsevier.

White, G. E. (1938) Counsels on Diet and Foods.

Web Links
- http://www.the-ten-commandments.org/the-ten-commandments.html.
- http://www.bible.com/answers/afasting.html.
- http://www.bible.com/answers/aglutton.html.
- http://www.gastronomica.org/
- http://www.drwhitaker.com.
- http://www.lifeextention.com.
- http://www.yourhealthbase.com.

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