Archive for January, 2008
China’s response to tainted food: bring in the rabbis!
Apparently China is now trying to tap the lucrative kosher market. A story on Bloomberg.com (thanks, Dad, for the tip) leads off like this:
Chinese exporters, facing a U.S. backlash over tainted food products, are turning to an unlikely group of inspectors to help clean up their act: Jewish rabbis.
While the whole story is rather humorous, I can only ask this question after reading the lead: What other kind of rabbis are there?
Find the full story here.
1 Comment »The Biofuel Disaster
Thanks to Linda for Sunday’s post on the recent NYTimes article about the global context of rising food prices. While raising a number of important issues often overlooked in the domestic “locavore etc.” movement, the article begins to explain the effect of biofuels on global food prices. In December, Grassroots International, Community Food Security Coalition, World Hunger Year and several other groups released the report “Fueling Disaster: A Community Food Security Perspective on Agrofuels,” which deals with the effects of proliferating reliance on biofuels on food sovereignty.
Food for the Jewish Soul on Tu Bishvat (or the day after)
Thanks to our friends at the amazing new Israeli environmental blog, Green Prophet for this guest post. Tu Bishvat may have been yesterday, but Hazon’s seder is tonight, so we’re still in a celebratory mood. Hag Sameach!
Although Israel has grown into a modern post-industrial economy, the country still has strong agrarian roots, most famously, the agricultural socialist community of the kibbutz.
So it’s no surprise that the relatively minor Jewish festival of Tu Bishvat, which starts tonight, has been growing in importance. In recent years Tu Bishvat, the New Year of the Trees, has taken on a more ecological significance and represents an opportunity to reflect on one of today’s key environmental questions – the impact of what we eat on our environment.
Serendipitree
Between luscious bites of pomegranate or dutiful bites of carob, why not surf over to hoarded ordinaries, who are hosting this month’s festival of the trees -
“a monthly blog carnival for all things arboreal. Like other blog carnivals, the Festival of the Trees is a collection of links to blog posts and other spots on the web, hosted each month at a different blog.”
Read it and Eat: A (Jewish) Review of In Defense of Food
Books, Community Agri., D'var Torah, Farmer's Markets, Farming, Featured, Food Safety, Food Writing, Health, Jewish Culture, Meat, Obesity, Organic, Participate!, Prayer, Seasonality, Shabbos Meals, Spirituality, Supermarkets, Synagogues, Vegetarian
Many people complain that it’s difficult to find a synagogue to join in New York City. There are just so many options, that none of them feel exactly right - you might call it The Shul-Goers Dilemma. These days, however, I’m feeling pretty good at Temple Bet Pollan.
Michael Pollan gets his fair share of love on this blog, and his new book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
Like any effective leader - Martin Luther King included - he’s charismatic and big on the big ideas that change the way we think - or in this case how we eat. But as I devoured (pun intented) Pollan’s new book on my subway commute, I wondered what, if anything, does his worldview offer to the Jewish community? And, perhaps more interestingly, what wisdom does the tribe have to offer back to him?
To Plant or Not to Plant
While planning tonight’s Tu Bishvat Seder at the Moishe House Boston: Kavod Jewish Social Justice House, I’ve been scouring Jewish environmental resources and looking around for the most sustainable way to purchase fruits and nuts which are most certainly not locally grown in New England. A friend also planning the Seder has been looking around for seeds for the traditional American Tu Bishvat parsley
planting. While I was certainly aware of the current Shmitta year in Israel, it has only recently come to our attention that this could create a potential question around whether or not to plant parsley at our Seder.
In lieu of the traditional tree-planting, the JNF has opted for other ways to celebrate the holiday in Israel, from a festival to hiking and bird-watching tours. In response to a question written in to the Jerusalem Post’s Ask the Rabbi column about whether a youth group could plant trees on the holiday, the answer was no. If the holiday traditionally marked the paying of taxes on fruit trees, how is the holiday different this year, since fruit trees are perennials and produce fruit without annual planting?
Clearly we are not in Israel, and thus unlikely bound by any restriction on planting. Yet, what does this mean for the way this holiday should be celebrated? And more indirectly, how does giving the land a rest relate to those of us who are not directly involved in agriculture in our daily lives? Should we change what we are eating on the holiday? On other days? How might we interpret this restriction more symbolically?
In Praise of Dabbling
I’d like to put in a good word for the DIY folks. DIY (do-it-yourself) might simply conjure images of people who turn sweaters into skirts, make t-shirts, pave their patio with mosaics from old china, or make their own candy bars. But in fact, these people approach the world with the attitude that if the thing in question can be cooked, grown, built, or otherwise pulled off by themselves or a few of their friends, then it’s something they out to be involved in. I’m not sure whether Judaism is inherently DIY—but I do think there’s room for it.
The prevailing philosophy seems to be one of narrowing. Specialize in your field. Corner the market. Find the best possible place to grow blueberries then plant eight thousand acres of them. But actually that attitude is disempowering, because it implies there are so many thing that others can do better than me, I shouldn’t even bother (and, by extension, if there isn’t something I can do better than anyone else, what am I?)
So instead I’d like to suggest a philosophy of dabbling. Read more »
The Big Picuture
Seldom have I found an article as compelling as the January, 19th NY Times article The Food Chain - A New Global Oil Quandary: Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories.
Many of us are very conscious of what we eat, where it comes from, and how it is produced. We do what we can in our communities by supporting CSAs, local farmers markets, buying not toxic household cleaning products etc. While we are aware on some level of why these choices are important, I find that it is often hard to see the big picture. It’s difficult for me to wrap my head around the extent to which there is a global food crisis emerging all around us. Because we live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, in many ways this reality has not yet hit home.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this article.
A Wilted Winter Salad
As a chef, I am an expert at making wonderful food – from other peoples’ recipes. My ever-growing cookbook collection keeps me busy with wonderful dishes, created by other people.
But one thing my CSA membership has done is it has forced me to start creating my own recipes. In the old days, I would decide what I wanted to make, shop accordingly, and follow directions. Now, things work differently. I think of what is in the fridge, and what I can make using the most ingredients that I have on hand. In a way, it’s like Iron Chef, although they have one ingredient to use in numerous ways; I am trying to use as much of my CSA box in one dish as I can.
That led me to this creation today: Wilted Arugula Salad with Sauteed Leeks and Apples. (Recipe after the jump)
A Bit of Good News
After a week of rather distressing food news - the FDA approving cloned animals as “safe” for consumption and Starbucks going back on their comittment to serve organic milk to customers - here’s something a bit happier to end the week with, right in time for Shabbat. From today’s New York Times Business section:
“After an outcry from consumers, Pennsylvania’s Agriculture Department has backed off its plan to ban milk-container labels stating that the milk comes from cows not treated with bovine growth hormone. On Thursday, the state issued new guidelines that required that the labels not be misleading and that there be a paper trail to verify the claims.
For instance, a label cannot read “No BST,” which is short for bovine somatotropin, since the hormone occurs naturally in cows. A dairy can, however, label its milk as coming “from cows not treated with rBST” — for recombinant bovine somatotropin, the synthetic version — as long as a disclaimer is included that says that “No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-rBST-treated cows.” (A dairy can preface the disclaimer with “The F.D.A. says.”)
The decision was hailed by some dairies and consumer groups, who had complained that the planned ban disregarded consumer demand.”
One small step for consumer rights - and after a week like this we’ll take what we can get. Shabbat shalom!
Read the full article here.
Ben & Jerry’s now in Israel!
I got this in an email forward which I am quite sure is an e-hoax, but someone corroborate! My eloborations follow.
Ben & Jerry’s has announced that their Ice Cream is now available in Israel. In honor of this historic event they are producing a number of new flavors aimed specifically at the Israeli market:
Wailing Walnut - Mens & womens buckets sold separately.
Moishmellow - Let’s embrace those decidedly unmasculine, male Jewish stereotypes over a chick flik with ice cream, boys!
Mazel Toffee - Congratulations!! I always knew you’d marry someone sweet who would make you feel great.
Eilon Schwartz speaks in NYC
Just a little event notice:
Jewish Values and Environmental Responsibility: Israel’s Environmental Movement
With Dr. Eilon Schwartz, Executive Director of the
Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership in Israel.
Wednesday, January 23, 7:30pm at a private residence on the Upper West Side (RSVP for address).
The Heschel Center is one of Israel’s institutions helping create “agriculture which grows healthy food for all citizens while enhancing land and water quality.” Full info below the fold or RSVP here.
Does A Bagel Platter Make Us Hypocrites?
Last Sunday Hazon hosted our annual BIG board meeting. The board itself meets four times a year, but January’s meeting is the only time when the staff is invited and everyone is in the same place. It’s kind of a big deal around here.
As with every business meeting these days, serving food is essential - Michael Pollan writes in In Defense of Food, “It is apparently considered gauche at a business meeting or conference if a spread of bagels, muffins, pastries and soft drinks is not provided at frequent intervals.”
What Pollan doesn’t say is that, of all the aspects of a given meeting, food is probably the thing that attendees grumble about most. Maybe the bagels were too hard, the muffins too sticky, and would it have killed them to have herbal tea with the coffee? In the end, it seems getting the food “right” is almost as important as the meeting agenda.
Unfortunately, finding the right food when your organization is committed to health, sustainability and inclusive Jewish community is not particularly straight forward.
Two Cultures Separated at Birth?
Cooking, Dinner parties, Family & Kids, Food Writing, Holidays, Jewish Culture, Personal Story, Recipes
Thanks to Rhea Kennedy of the You are Delicious blog, for this guest post and two delicious recipes.
As yet another plate of lamb careened toward the table, the scene at my boyfriend’s aunt and uncle’s Shanghainese house started to feel very familiar. I’d already discovered that latke-like potato cakes are a staple street food in Shanghai. Now, as my boyfriend’s aunt’s chopsticks moved from serving plate to individual bowls, clunking down pieces of meat in front of the people she’d decided should eat them, I realized that eating Chinese food on Christmas is not the only thing that bonds Jewish folks with our friends in the Far East.
