In a pinch, I call myself a vegetarian. Over the years, I have found the term socially useful–simpler to explain than my complex eating habits–and accurately describing my diet without meat. But am I a vegetarian? Rebecca, a teen on an Israel trip I staffed this summer, wondered just this. And while at the time I responded in the affirmative, I realized that I wasn’t being entirely honest. There is an asterisk that I hadn’t thought much of: I eat fish.

What I’ve come to realize is that, to some degree, my categorization of fish as not-so-meatish is an internalization of the laws of kashruth. According to traditional Jewish law, fish is neither here nor there–it is neutral. And though there are restrictions on eating fish and meat on the same plate, this tends to be irrelevant outside the observant Jewish community. Any list of cultural Jewish foods surely includes: a) tuna melt with American cheese; b) lox and cream cheese; and c) gefilte fish neighboring brisket. As far as kashruth is concerned, fish is less of an animal than cattle or chickens.

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I’m sitting at a small local café, Kafe Kerouac, named after the Jack Kerouac renowned for his wandering around America in his book On the Road, and I’ve stumbled upon a book on macrobiotic cooking. The book, Aveline Kushi’s Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking, was published in my birth year, 1985. From a quick comparative glance with a more recent book on the subject, macrobiotics does not appear to have changed in the past two decades.

According to the Kushi Institute, macrobiotics is “the art and science of health and longevity.” It is based on eating seasonally, locally, and whole foods, and has been known is both Eastern and Western cultures for a very long time. Kushi’s book discusses the fundamentals of macrobiotics, macrobiotic foods, and ways to prepare them. Central to the diet are whole grains, soups, vegetables, beans, sea vegetables, and water. Seafood may be eaten very occasionally, but no other animal foods are part of the diet.

Ever since Jay, a homely owner of a local natural foods store, introduced me to macrobiotics, I have been struck by both it’s incredible nutritional compatibility for a cyclist and by the (seemingly) few people that actually eat macrobiotically.

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Water is strolling the red carpet a lot these days, from concerns about overhydration, Dead Sea water levels, and access to fresh water, among other things. Today’s Times article, “The Unintended Consequences of Hyperhydration,” illustrates another aspect of water’s newfound popularity. It traces concerns, from the late 60s, over the development of “bottle bill” programs that reward bottle recycling.

The article’s author, Jon Mooallem, emphasizes the complexities in the debate over bottle bills as well as the major players on both sides of the debate. New York State has taken significant steps in addressing the issues of water bottle recycling.

This year, the Bigger Better Bottle Bill campaign in New York is making its sixth attempt to redirect those unclaimed deposits — estimated at $100 million each year — into a state environmental fund.

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With Shavuot on the horizon, many Jews are preparing for fillings of blintzes and cheesecake. Dairy products (as Eric noted below in his post “Got Shavuot?“) have a number of intimate connections with the festivals that marks, among other things, the giving of the Torah to the Israelites at Sinai. But what are we to make of it that so much of the world’s population is unable to digest lactose, the sugar in milk products?

Years ago, while waiting for the ice cream truck to come by the neighborhood, I recall a friend who would ritualistically take his “dairy pills.” While less painful than the insulin injections that another friend surrendered to, I was puzzled at his body’s intolerance as well as his reason to continue eating milk products if it caused such problems. Little did I know that so much of the world’s population is lactose intolerant, figures hovering between the 66-90 percent mark.

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