Islamic Food Justice : Ethical Labor, Interspecies Justice, and Food Sovereignty

This book uses Islamic food justice to address multifaceted problems within global food systems.

In this book, Magfirah Dahlan queries our ethical responsibilities within the modern food system. Originating within the environmentalist movement, food justice aims to address the inequality of environmental harms faced by marginalized groups of people and seeks to address the structural inequalities and injustices baked into the food system. While food justice has historically focused on temporary solutions, recent activists and scholars attempt to find more radical, holistic solutions. Taylor contends that Islamic teachings and rituals surrounding food and food systems offer a meaningful intervention within conversations surrounding food justice.

Across five chapters, Taylor offers potential solutions for Muslim communities who strive to follow Islamic food norms and address food justice, human/animal interspecies justice, and environmental sustainability. By embracing Islamic vegetarianism/veganism, purchasing organic wares, or starting community gardens, this book argues that an Islamic conception of food justice can radically shift the current discourse on food ethics from a consumerist to a communal approach. Taylor calls for Muslims to reinterpret centuries-old, religious food laws within the context of the modern food system and consider how religious rituals can be a path forward, rather than a hindrance to, achieving food justice.