In Switzerland, the federal council just decreed that insects are not a food group, and thus can’t be sold as food. As insects are an established food source for millions of people, this decision has probably more to do with personal preferences than anything else. Or was it perhaps religion? Possible, but unlikely in Switzerland.

Yet, some religions do have dietary laws. For example, neither Jews nor Muslims must eat Pork. Arguably, some of these rules made sense at the time and context they were passed. For example, the Jewish rule to forbid lobster or shrimp can be read as a cautionary tale: meat from these animals spoils quickly, and not eating it can prevent some severe illness. Most Jews and Moslems at the time lived in hot countries, where the temperature significantly shortens the time until food goes bad. Also, high temperature favors infections, so adhering to the dietary laws increased your chance to survive; at the time they were good rules.

Today, these laws are completely irrelevant: we know about infections, and refrigeration technology allows us to keep meat fresh for a long time irrespective of the weather and temperature outside. Whoever still adheres to kosher or halal diets does so either in ignorance of their origins, or out of tradition.

Or, of course, for religious reasons: because your God said so. In this case, though, you’ll also have to contend with the fact that the god who gave you these rules did so simply because he was too cheap or ignorant to spring for the refrigeration- and hygiene know-how. So which isn’t he: ‘all-knowing’ or ‘loving’?