Reply #32: The meat/milk rule was religious, not dietary

[nichomachus]

At the time this rule went into effect, the Israelites were in their nomadic stage. Since they had grazing animals, the different families were pretty spread out in the wilderness. Some of them were neighbors of the Canaanites. This brought two tempations, intermarriage and participation in Canaanite religious ceremonies, which could be kind of fun. The centerpiece of the Canaanite rituals was serving a young goat simmered in its mother's milk. So, if the Israelites were forbidden to eat meat and milk together, they couldn't participate.