Sidebar text - alien foods

[ffutures]

Here's the sidebar text I ended up with for the alien food thing:

Yes, But Is It Kosher..?
One of the questions to come out of interplanetary travel is the religious status of alien foods. Europa is an extreme case because it has so many edible species, but it’s a question that has vexed scholars of several religions since the first landing on Mars. Many religions have dietary codes, and every new edible species discovered must be tested to see if it conforms. In the case of Europa, for example:

• Bladder-Birds are not predators and do not have cloven hooves or chew cud. They are Kosher if prepared correctly; they must be freshly killed and drained of all blood, and the heart, lungs, and air bladder must be removed.
• Nutsies are Treyf (non-Kosher) since they resemble shellfish and their diet includes decaying material.
• The Liver-leaf and Truffles are both considered to be plants, and Kosher if washed to remove insects etc.

These are relatively simple examples; the arguments for e.g. the suitability of Venusian fish for eating by Catholics on Friday, or if any of the Martian or Europan species can be eaten by Buddhists, can be far more complicated.

I don't think I want to cover this in more detail, does it seem sufficient?

Comments

[nelc.livejournal.com]

I think this is the kind of thing you can safely leave to interested players to explore, given the hint.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I've amended that slightly to say that it's the Liberal Jewish interpretation, and that Orthodox Jews would argue against eating any Europan species. Don't think it needs more.

[kayshapero]

Agreed - any more than this and will YOU get letters... :)

[johnreiher.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the cloven hoof/chew cud thing can be confusing. If an animal does both, it's consider ritually clean. But if it only does one or the other, but not both, it is treyf.

And of course, if it doesn't do either, like the Bladder-Bird, then it could be Kosher. Don't forget, bats are considered "birds", but treyf.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Crap - didn't know that. Any idea why?

[armb.livejournal.com]

Based on what http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashrut#Principles says, if Bladder-Birds count as birds, then they won't count as similar to a bird that has an established tradition. (Even if they are born with feathers, which bats aren't.)

[johnreiher.livejournal.com]

Primarily because it made Sheep and Cattle kosher. Sheep and Cattle both have cloven hoofs and chew cud. Technically Camels would be kosher under this as well.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I think that's the sort of side note I would find fascinating - and adequate.