Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses how certain animals such as a pig or a rabbit, though they are not kosher, since they have one aspect of kosher (the pig has cloven hooves and the rabbit is a ruminant), so they have enough status that they might still be considered a food. Presumably, the animal is not considered so detestable and somewhat edible.
The verse in Breishis (47:17) says when the Egyptians ran out of food they brought Yosef their cattle in order to trade it for food. Specifically, horses, sheep, and donkeys. Pardes Yosef asks, what about their pigs, as Egypt was known particularly for its pig cultivation industry? Pardes Yosef answered this shows that it is forbidden to conduct commerce with pigs and so Yosef refrained from engaging with them. However, Sefer Daf Al Daf offers a different explanation based on our Gemara. Even gentiles who do not keep kosher still refrain from eating donkeys and horses; similarly, the Egyptians refrained from eating cattle because they worshiped them (Shemos 8:22), but pig they would eat so why trade it for food?
On the topic, Maskil Ledovid (47:6) asks why were there Egyptians cultivating sheep anyhow if it was taboo to eat them? How did they have this stock available to trade in for food? He answers, yes they worshipped and adored them, and they actually bred and took care of them. Indeed this verse (47:6) also describes Pharaoh as recruiting Yosef’s brothers to watch his sheep; see Divrei Dovid on Rashi (ibid). Another approach is that since Pharaoh was also a god, perhaps he could have his own sheep.
My comment on that is that if that was true, they were so hungry they were willing to sell their gods for food? Maybe. But if they were that desperate, why not eat their gods? The answer might be an irrational psychological thing. If it was so taboo they might not have developed an appetite for such things and find it difficult to eat, like cannibalism, but they still could be mad enough at their gods to sell them. Or similarly, they might be afraid to eat their gods outright, but to sell them in desperation might not have evoked such fear or dread. Or, using the Pharaoh-as-god argument above, perhaps they had a “heter” to sell their gods to a god, since presumably the funds went to Pharaoh’s treasury.
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Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com