Editing Beef (section)

=== Religious and cultural prohibitions ===
{{Main|Cattle in religion and mythology}}
[[File:Sacred cow2.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|300px|A pamphlet against the practice of cow slaughter]]
Most Indic religions reject the killing and eating of cows. Hinduism prohibits cow beef known as ''Go-Maans'' in [[Hindi]]. Bovines have a sacred status in [[culture of India|India]] especially the cow, due to their provision of sustenance for families. Bovines are generally considered to be integral to the landscape. However, they do not consider the cow to be a god.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bankim Chandra Chatterji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LE3VAAAAMAAJ|title=Letters on Hinduism|publisher=M.M. Bose|year=1940|pages=39}}</ref><!-- Pg. 39 "deny that she is worshipped" -->

Many of India's rural economies depend on cattle farming; hence they have been revered in society.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hinduism.about.com/od/vegetarianism/a/holycows.htm |title=Holy Cows: Hinduism's Blessed Bovines |publisher=Hinduism.about.com |access-date=2 March 2014 |archive-date=7 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407234815/http://hinduism.about.com/od/vegetarianism/a/holycows.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thewire.in/120380/switzerland-cows-india/ |title=Switzerland loves its cows. But unlike India, there is no merging of the bovine and divine |publisher=The Wire |access-date=2 April 2017}}</ref> Since the [[Vedic period]], cattle, especially cows, were venerated as a source of milk, and dairy products, and their relative importance in transport services and farming like [[plough]]ing, row planting, ridging. Veneration grew with the advent of [[Jainism]] and the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta period]].<ref>{{cite book| last = Chatterjee| first = Suhas| title = Indian Civilization and Culture| publisher = M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.| year = 1998| page = 232| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KItocaxbibUC| isbn = 978-81-7533-083-2}}</ref> In medieval India, [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]] issued a proclamation on stopping cow slaughter. Conflicts over cow slaughter often have sparked religious riots that have led to loss of human life and in one 1893 riot alone, more than 100 people were killed for the cause.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/the-cow-keepers-the-cattle-vigilante-groups-operating-in-delhi-and-neighbouring-states/|title=The cow keepers: Some cattle vigilante groups operating in Delhi and neighbouring states|date=11 October 2015}}</ref>

For religious reasons, the ancient Egyptian priests also refrained from consuming beef. Buddhists and Sikhs are also against wrongful slaughtering of animals, but they do not have a wrongful eating doctrine.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kenneth F. Kiple|title=A Movable Feast: Ten Millennia of Food Globalization|url=https://archive.org/details/movablefeasttenm00kipl_0|url-access=registration|date=30 April 2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-46354-6|pages=53+}}</ref>

In [[ancient China]], the killing of cattle and consumption of beef was prohibited, as they were valued for their role in [[agriculture]]. This custom is still followed by a few Chinese families across the world.<ref>Benn, Charles. (2002). ''China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-517665-0}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ile3jSveb4sC&q=diversity+diet+immortality p. 122]</ref>

During the season of [[Lent]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christians]] and [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] periodically give up meat and poultry (and sometimes dairy products and eggs) as a religious act. Observant [[Jews]]<ref>Maimonodies, Yad Hachazaka; Kedusha; Hilchos Shechita 1:1</ref> and [[Islam|Muslims]] may not eat any meat or poultry which has not been [[Ritual slaughter#Jewish and Islamic ritual slaughter|slaughtered and treated in conformance with religious laws]].