In a recent article in the UK’s Jewish Chronicle, Michael Green of our ally across the pond, Swords and Ploughshares, writes about the questionable kashrut status of genetically modified foods:

A long tradition of Jewish thinkers has emphasised the importance of protecting the natural environment, but Jewish voices have failed to reach a consensus since GM food hit the shops in 1996. . .

As Jonathan Sacks puts it, God and man are “partners in the work of creation”. The ancient covenant is mirrored in the modern concept of sustainability which seeks to “meet the needs of the present [generation] without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Or, in biblical terms, the environment must be preserved l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation.

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There are many food-related things one can count while counting the omer– food miles, money spent on food each day/week….what else can folks think of?

Next week, Eat Local Challenge and the Locavores are sponsoring a Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge, from April 23 to 29. Many people are under the impression that eating local (like organic), requires a large food budget. The point of the Penny-Wise challenge is to eat local, as defined by a 100-mile radius, on what some consider a small budget.

The Penny-Wise challenge uses numbers from the Department of Labor’s Consumer Expenditures, which allots $68/week for a one-person household or $144/week for a household of 2+ with 2 wage earners.

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This year, Counting the Omer is posting a new reason to be vegetarian every one of the 49 days of the omer. So far, they’ve got animal cruelty, vegetarians smell better, slaughterhouse workers work in deplorable conditions, it’s easier to keep kosher, and a number of others (we’re on day 8).

I admire the new twist on the old tradition (in similar fashion, a good friend of mine used the Omer one year to do one more pushup every day). But these lists of “10 reasons to be green” or “365 things you can do to save the planet”…are they really helpful? Are they really telling us something new? Is lack of information really the problem, and are ‘the people who don’t know’ really the ones who will read these lists? I’m not entirely convinced - though regardless, the site is worth checking out, even if just to remind yourself of stuff you already know.

The neat thing about blogs is that people who leave comments often also do neat things themselves. Here are two bits about Purim worth sharing:

Carly from Peel a Pomegranate offers us a Mishloach Manot Swap:

In the spirit of the mitzvot of both giving gifts to the needy at Purim and also giving gifts to friends and acquaintances — I hereby dedicate the great Shalach Manot Swap of 5767. Read more

And Gluten-Free By the Bay offers us Gluten-free Hamentaschen

This is a recipe for gluten-free, cane-sugar-free hamantaschen. I was inspired partly by a recipe by user “debmidge” on Celiac.com, as well as by my own instincts as to what would taste right and work for my gluten-free, no cane sugar diet. Read more