Food Cults: How Fads, Dogma, and Doctrine Influence Diet (Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy)

What do we mean when we call any group a cult? Defining that term is a slippery proposition – the word cult is provocative and arguably pejorative. Does it necessarily refer to a religious group? A group with a charismatic leader? Or something darker and more sinister? Because beliefs and practices surrounding food often inspire religious and political fervor, as well as function to unite people into insular groups, it is inevitable that "food cults" would emerge. Studying the extreme beliefs and practices of such food cults allows us to see the ways in which food serves as a nexus for religious beliefs, sexuality, death anxiety, preoccupation with the body, asceticism, and hedonism, to name a few. In contrast to religious and political cults, food cults have the added dimension of mediating cultural trends in nutrition and diet through their membership. Should we then consider raw foodists, many of whom believe that cooked food is poison, a type of food cult? What about paleo diet adherents or those who follow a restricted calorie diet for longevity? Food Cults explores these questions by looking at domestic and international, contemporary and historic food communities characterized by extreme nutritional beliefs or viewed as "fringe" movements by mainstream culture. While there are a variety of accounts of such food communities across disciplines, this collection pulls together these works and explains why we gravitate toward such groups and the social and psychological functions they serve. This volume describes how contemporary and historic food communities come together and foment fanaticism, judgment, charisma, dogma, passion, longevity, condemnation and exaltation. Because beliefs and practices surrounding food often inspire religious and political fervor, in addition to uniting people into insular groups, it is inevitable that "food cults" will emerge. Studying the extreme beliefs and practices of such food cults allows us to see the ways in which food serves as a nexus for religious beliefs, sexuality, death anxiety, preoccupation with the body, asceticism, and hedonism, to name a few. In contrast to religious and political cults, food cults have the added dimension of mediating cultural trends in nutrition and diet through their membership. Should we then consider raw foodists, many of whom believe that cooked food is poison, part of a food cult? What about paleo diet adherents or those who follow a restricted-calorie diet for longevity? Food Cults explores these questions by looking at domestic and international food communities characterized by extreme nutritional beliefs or viewed as "fringe" movements by mainstream culture. While there are a variety of accounts of such food communities across disciplines, this collection pulls together these works and explains why we gravitate toward such groups, as well as the social and psychological functions they serve. The contributors here describe how contemporary and historic food communities come together and foment fanaticism, judgment, charisma, dogma, passion, longevity, condemnation, and exaltation. -- from back cover The Psychology of Food Cults / Kima Cargill -- The Allure Of Food Cults : Balancing Pseudoscience And Healthy Skepticism / Leighann R. Chaffee and Corey L. Cook -- Food Practices In Early Christianity / Paul A. Brazinski -- Longevity Diets in Historical Perspective / Ken Albala -- Juicing : Language, Ritual, And Placebo Sociality In A Community Of Extreme Eaters / Samuel Veissière and Liona Gibbs-Bravo -- Contemporary Superfood Cults : Nutritionism, Neoliberalism and Gender / Tina Sikka -- Gluttons Galore : A Rising Faction in Food Discourses and Dining Experiences / Carlnita Greene -- Caving In : The Appeal of the Paleo Diet in the Wake of 9/11 / Lenore Bell -- "Of Bananas And Cavemen" : Unlikely Similarities Between Two Online Food Communities / Amanda Maxfield and Andrea Rissing -- Eschew Your Food : Foodies, Healthism And The Elective Restrictive Diet / Michele Scott -- Breaking Bread : The Clashing Cults of Sourdough and Gluten-Free / L. Sasha Gora -- The Gluten-Free Cult : A World Without Wheat / Jennifer Martin -- Erasure of Indigenous Food Memories and (Re- )Imaginations / Preety Gadhoke and Barrett P. Brenton -- "Herb Is For The Healing Of The Nation!" : Marijuana As A Consumable Vegetable Among Ghetto Muslim Youth Of Maamobi In Accra, Ghana / De-Valera Botchway and Charles Prempeh -- What Makes A Good Mother? : Mother's Conceptions Of Good Food / Liora Gvion & Irit Sharir Introduction by Kima Cargill1. The Psychology of Food Cults by Kima Cargill2. The Allure Of Food Cults: Balancing Pseudoscience And Healthy Skepticism by Leighann R. Chaffee and Corey L. Cook3. Food Practices In Early Christianity by Paul A. Brazinski4. Juicing: Language, Ritual, And Placebo Sociality In A Community Of Extreme Eaters by Samuel Veissiere and Liona Gibbs-Bravo5. Contemporary Superfood Cults: Nutritionism, Neoliberalism and Gender by Tina Sikka6. Gluttons Galore - A Rising Faction in Food Discourses and Dining Experiences by Carlnita Greene7. Caving In: The Appeal of the Paleo Diet in the Wake of 9/11 by Lenore Bell8. "Of Bananas And Cavemen": Unlikely Similarities Between Two Online Food Communities by Amanda Maxfield and Andrea Rissing9. Eschew Your Food: Foodies, Healthism And The Elective Restrictive Diet By Michele Scott10. Breaking Bread: The Clashing Cults of Sourdough and Gluten-Free By L. Sasha Gora11. The Gluten-Free Cult: A World Without Wheat by Jennifer Martin12. Erasure of Indigenous Food Memories and (Re-)Imaginations by Preety Gadhoke and Barrett P. Brenton13. "Herb Is For The Healing Of The Nation!" -Marijuana As A Consumable Vegetable Among Ghetto Muslim Youth Of Maamobi In Accra, Ghana by De-Valera Botchway and Charles Prempeh14. What Makes A Good Mother? Mother's Conceptions Of Good Food by Liora Gvion & Irit Sharir Understanding how food fads and diets can develop a fervent following that rise to the level of a cult is a new area of study and often overlooked. Here, Kima Cargill and other experts shed fresh light on the subject, revealing how and why such cults may develop among certain communities.