Beef and Beyond: Exploring the Meat Consumption Practices of Christians in India

Meat eating in India cannot be analysed simply as a marker of ritual impurity: the culinary experiences of South Indian Christians also indicate the importance of meat in forging positive identities. In this paper, I draw out some of the fine-grained distinctions made by my informants in relation to meat eating, which suggest that its consumption is shaped not only by caste and religion, but also in relation to gender, age, status and other personal considerations. Second, I attempt to situate these practices within wider contexts: the cross-cutting influences of national anti-cattle slaughter campaigns and reactions against them; a growing movement of environmentalists and food activists; and the economics of meat production, which are rapidly changing in relation to new farming methods and other ecological shifts.