Sheila Briggs is a theology professor at the University of Southern California and an expert on the Jewish Torah in the writings of Paul. Other projects include analysis of contemporary popular culture, such as how the AI genre intersects with religion in American popular culture. 

In this edition of ReligionLink we provide background, resources, related stories and expert sources for journalists writing on the numerous intersections between what we eat and what we believe.

Sikhs for Humanity is an Edmonton, Canada-based non-profit providing free meals to all, regardless of background. They are one of numerous Sikh organizations across Canada, the US and the UK taking the traditional concept of the “langar”, or shared meal, out of the temple and onto the street.

Colleen Taylor Sen is a Canadian-American translator and author specializing in Indian cuisine. In 2023, she published The Bloomsbury Handbook of Indian Cuisine, co-edited by Sourish Bhattacharyya and Helen Saberi, with entries by over 25 leading food historians and journalists.

Ruth Illman is director of the Donner Institute for Research into Religion and Culture at Åbo Akademi University Foundation (SÅA) in Turku, Finland. Her research concerns questions pertaining to Jewish life in the Nordics today, cultural encounters and interreligious dialogue, ethnographic research methodology within cultural studies. She was co-editor of a volume on religion and […]

Aicha Smith-Belghaba is an Indigenous and Algerian chef of the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve. She is the founder of Esha’s Eats, which not only creates recipes based on her dual heritage, but focuses on issues of Indigenous food sovereignty.

Cucina Aurora describes itself as “kitchen witchery” and features a range of products and recipes inspired by its owner, Dawn Aurora Hunt, “The Kitchen Witch.”

Richie L. Liu is associate professor of marketing at Xavier University. His research and teaching are focused in the areas of branding and pro-social marketing, including how religiosity shapes consumer choices.

Christina Ward describes herself as “an author, editor, and seeker.” Her most recent book is Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat—An American History.