I am lucky enough to live in Eugene, Oregon. I’ve got it pretty good here – great weather, great outdoors, great Jewish community, great abundance of local organic food. But Chinese food? Not so much here in Eugene.

As a Bay Area transplant, I crave Chinese food. I often feel like I literally NEED it. After months searching for something that would quench my Chinese food tastebuds – and realizing that to keep my version of kosher (which is eco-kosher: less about what is and what is not treyf and more about eating only meat that is ideally organic and pasture-raised – and if not, is absolutely free-range, never given hormones or antibiotics, and was humanely slaughtered) – I came to the conclusion that I’d have to make it myself. For both taste and my personal kashrut reasons. Which is some kind of a life lesson right there, I’m sure.

I stumbled upon a recipe for Cashew Chicken from the inimitable Martha Stewart and decided to give it a whirl – and my own flair. And to tell the truth, it is delicious and happily graces our Friday night Shabbat table pretty often.

Cashew Chicken & Snow Peas
Adapted from Everyday Food magazine

Serves 4

• 3/4 cup raw cashews
• 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• Kosher salt and ground pepper
• 2 tbsp high-heat vegetable oil, such as sunflower
• 6 cloves garlic (or more, depending on your preferences – we like a LOT of garlic in my house), minced
• 12 – 16 scallions, white and green parts separated, each cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups snow or sugar snap peas, trimmed
• 2 tbsp rice or white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp Rooster (Sriracha) sauce
• 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
• White or brown rice, for serving (optional)

1. Spread cashews on a baking sheet, and cook in an oven heated to 350 degrees until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Your nose will tell you when they’re done!
2. In a medium bowl, toss chicken with cornstarch until chicken is coated; season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
3. In a large iron skillet (or other non-toxic nonstick pan), heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Cook half the chicken pieces, without moving them at first so they can brown a bit, and then tossing often, until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
4. Add remaining oil and chicken to skillet along with the garlic and white parts of scallions. Cook without moving them at first so they can brown a bit, and then tossing often, until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes.
5. Return first batch of chicken to pan along with snow peas. Add vinegar; cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add Rooster sauce and soy sauce and toss to coat chicken and snow peas, allowing it all to cook a bit, about 1 minute. Add hoisin sauce; cook, tossing, until chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute.
6. Remove from heat. Stir in scallion greens and toasted cashews. Serve immediately over rice, if desired.

Can the Jewish Deli be sustainable? Can a retro cuisine be part of the avant- garde?

Local, organic VS. the externalized costs of cheap, industrial food and . . . collective memory and food traditions?

Deli is at a crossroads. In New York, only a handful delis remain from hundreds. Across the country, beloved Delis continue to disappear. Popular expectations of “real” Deli conflict with today’s economic realities. And these expectations conflict with environmental sustainability.

For example, towering pastrami sandwiches once signified success, security and abundance, an immigrant’s celebration of the American Dream. At “real” Delis, the meat is piled so high it topples. But given the realities of meat production in America today – 99% is factory farmed – how can we continue to stand by this as an icon?

Meat at the center of the plate is gradually losing ground in the American diet. Innovative chefs and new farm-to-table restaurants draw informed, activist eaters, ready to pay for the true cost of food, and celebrate carefully prepared vegetables at the center of the plate. Young Jewish foodies re-examine Kosher, going back to the land. And vegan/vegetarianism has become the paradigm for many Jewish foodies concerned with sustainability and humane treatment of animals.

Meanwhile, Deli mavens come to Saul’s with a hankering for a huge pastrami sandwich to relive cherished taste memories. Deli is part of the grand tradition of secular, cultural Jewish identity. So people come to Saul’s for many different reasons. Eating sustainable, local food doesn’t always top the list. Some changes to Deli that have made Saul’s a battleground over the years:

• No more Dr. Brown’s – housemade, seasonal soda instead
• Non-mammoth-sized pastrami sandwiches
• Artisanal, fermented, brown, organic old-world style rye bread
• Seasonal, local produce moved to the center of the plate
• Chilled borscht only in summer and when beets are in season . . . .

How can a popular Jewish deli, working to become more sustainable, keep the goodwill of its most traditionally supportive customer base?

To open this conversation, Saul’s Restaurant and Deli in Berkeley, CA is hosting a referendum on the Jewish Deli menu with three Saul’s regulars:

Michael Pollan, Willow Rosenthal, and Gil Friend. Evan Kleiman will moderate. Questions that might guide the discussion:

Even “authentic” cuisine can obstruct progress towards more just, sustainable food. How does a business committed to being part of the solution persuade traditionalist customers of the importance of change?

What taste memories and flavors of The Deli have been provided by an industrial food system? How can we look at our nostalgia and expectations critically?

How might we evolve a shared cuisine together? How can we bring our people along with us – away from grieving the disappearing deli, into the conversation and into the future?

Referendum on The Deli Menu Can a Retro Cuisine be Part of the Avant-Garde?

To accomodate demand:

**Venue has been changed from Saul’s to JCC of the East Bay around the corner**
1414 Walnut Street
Berkeley, CA 94709
Directions to JCC of the East Bay

6:30 pm Tuesday, February 9
Doors open at 6pm
Registration/Will Call check-in from 5:30 on

Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door

Proceeds benefit The Center for Ecoliteracy

Panelists:
Michael Pollan, Journalist, Author: The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food
Gil Friend, CEO of Natural Logic, Author: The Truth About Green Business
Willow Rosenthal, Founder, City Slicker Farms
Karen Adelman, Co-Owner, Saul’s Restaurant and Deli
Peter Levitt, Co-Owner, Saul’s Restaurant and Deli
Moderator: Evan Kleiman, Host, KCRW’s Good Food, Owner-Chef, Angeli Caffe

Sales and Operations Manager

KOL Foods, LLC puts kosher meat and ethics on the same plate so consumers can feel good about the meat they eat. KOL Foods sources and sells grass-fed, non-industrial, healthy lamb and beef and pastured poultry directly to individuals. Since its foundation in 2007, the interest in KOL Foods’ products has grown rapidly, and, consequently, they are now available in the East Coast and the Midwest primarily through our website. As demand is increasing KOL Foods is seeking to expand in the Eastern United States and, in the near future, nationwide.

KOL Foods is unique as it operates differently from industrial kosher meat businesses. As a values-based business, our mission is to produce food that is in harmony with nature, neighbors and tradition – all the way from farm to fork.   For further information on KOL Foods, please go to:  www.kolfoods.com .

KOL Foods is seeking a dynamic, results-oriented Sales and Operations Manager who will be responsible for leading sales, customer service and fulfillment as well as supply chain management. This exciting opportunity requires a generalist with experience in hands-on business development in the food industry. The Sales and Operations Manager will report to the CEO/Founder.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Deliver sales of our premium products by confidently, enthusiastically and passionately educating current and prospective clients about the exceptional value of our beef, lamb and poultry products.
• Manage the day-to-day operations including movement of goods into and out of production facilities as well as shipping operations.
• Drive sales through exceptional customer service from initial contact through repeat orders.
• Develop a database of qualified leads through referrals, B2B direct sales, direct mail, email, networking, and participation in educational events.
• In partnership with the CEO/Founder, play a key role in the development of KOL Foods’ long-term growth strategy, including strengthening our infrastructure and product excellence.
• Monitor production facilities and agencies to ensure that they efficiently and consistently provide needed services while staying within budgetary limits.
• Partner with the CEO/Founder and Bookkeeper to develop and implement a system to conduct data-based, continual analysis, evaluation and reporting of strategic information (revenue, product mix, margins, inventory, freight cost, cost of production facilities, and supply).
• Partner with the CEO/Founder to develop product marketing strategies including advertising campaigns.
• Lead the implementation of the marketing strategy and sales promotions based on knowledge of KOL Foods’ competitive advantage, market and product characteristics, and cost and markup factors.
• Partner with the CEO/Founder to manage pricing models, balancing exceptional quality, costs, and customer satisfaction.
• Supervise interns when needed.

KEY REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• -5 years of sales and operations experience.
• Food industry experience preferred. Experience with kosher food products a plus.
• A strong track record of successful new business development.
• Outstanding interpersonal and influencing skills.
• Customer focused, responsive, timely and accurate in follow-through.
• Excellent in project management.
• Analytical, fast learning with excellent judgment.
• Knowledge of social media platforms.
• Well organized, flexible, hands-on and results-oriented.
• Knowledgeable of the sustainable food movement.
• •High integrity.
• Outstanding ability to prioritize and handle multiple projects simultaneously.
• Understanding of kashrut.
• Outstanding proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite with special emphasis on Word and Excel.
• Residing in the Washington/Baltimore area is preferred. NYC residents will be considered.
• Willingness to travel – estimated 10-20%.

There are many great benefits to a career at KOL Foods. As a start-up company with proven growth, a strong brand and high potential, KOL Foods offers a competitive salary and benefits, including an annual bonus. Join the team of our excellent, values based, growth company. Feel good about your work and become part of our success.

Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply by submitting a cover letter, including salary requirements, and resume to:  info@kolfoods.com.  KOL Foods requires background checks, computer literacy tests, and writing samples for this position.

KOL Foods is an equal opportunity employer.

What is Jewish food? Avoiding shellfish and pork and never eating meat with dairy? Hummus? Kreplach? Whatever your Bubbe used to make?

What makes a cuisine Jewish?  Other East Asian cultures have vegetarian diets, which by default wouldn’t be mixing meat with dairy.  Hummus is wildly popular throughout the Middle East. And are kreplach so very different than Italian tortellini?

So what is Jewish food?  It’s like what is asking what your comfort food is.  Probably whatever your family makes.  If you have an Eastern European background, brisket, matzoh ball soup and knishes may be the norm.  A Sephardic background may involve more Mediterranean dishes.

But can this identification with food change?  When I was in college, my comfort food was Macaroni and Cheese out of a box.  As an adult, my go-to comfort dish is sautéed mushrooms and kale.  So yes, I’m a believer that people can change.  So can what we think of as Jewish cuisine change?

As the generations pass our diets change.  As technology improves, as do our diets -with the invention of preservations methods we were able to enjoy food differently.  So why not our ethnic cuisines change with the modern sensibilities and technologies?  Vegetable oils were not readily available in Eastern Europe so many of the Ashkanzi dishes involve using rendered animal fat (schmaltz).  Yet today vegetable oils are plentiful and can be used in kosher meat dishes.

Now, for full disclosure changing what we think of as Jewish cuisine was not entirely my idea.   Last year I was fortunate enough to have a lovely dinner with Rabbi Ponet at the Yale Hillel.  He had set up a meal at Miya’s Sushi in New Haven (more on that in a minute) and challenged the table to talk about what made cuisine Jewish.  At Chanukah, he pointed out, we talk a lot about the miracle of the oil then deep fry potatoes in oil.  But if Chanukah is a festival of lights, why couldn’t we make the foods we eat about light?  Flambé anyone?

And as many of us become far more aware about how our eating practices have an environmental impact, could we also evolve our traditional cuisines into environmental sustainable ones?  This is where I get back to Miya’s Sushi.  My boyfriend and I were passing through Connecticut on New Year’s day and we decided to go back for their creative (and sustainable) sushi rolls and firecracker sake.  But what really caught my eye was the chef, Bun Lai’s new conceptual menu.

Photo by Jim Oca, reprinted with permission

The concept is pretty simple.  Due to globalization we have introduced invasive species of plants and seafood into areas that can’t sustain the interlopers – often choking the natives species.  So if there is an abundance of plants and seafood that are bad for the local environment, can you put these invaders to use in some other way?  That is what Bun is proposing – eat these abundant, and otherwise unwanted plants and seafood.  Although these dishes are not yet available on the menu, I can’t wait to try them when they are.  Using what is available, and make the environment healthier by doing it.

Now I’m not proposing that shellfish is going to be okay to eat for all Jews, but kashrut aside the idea of using invasive species as part of our ethic cuisine is an interesting concept.  It’s eating sustainably to a whole new level.  And something I think is very Jewish.

Photo by Jim Oca, reprinted with permission

My dear friends The Wandering Jew and David Levy over at Jewschool, sick with envy that they couldn’t attend the Hazon Food Conference this year, produced this tongue-in-cheek video to vicariously participate nonetheless. Please enjoy their playful snark as we consider how the hell this product fits into the eco-kashrut movement.

Nigel Savage, founder of Hazon, asked us two questions during his keynote speech last night at the Hazon Food Conference. It felt like the beginning of one of those Jewish parables, the ones where the wise rabbi asks or tells us something that means more than it seems on the surface, where you ponder on the teaching and the world opens up in a new way.

“Stand up if you eat meat, but you wouldn’t if you had to kill it yourself,” Nigel called out. A number of people in the packed hall rose from their seats. I applauded them for their self-awareness and honesty, while of course maintaining a certain degree of vegetarian smugness.

Then he asked us another question. “Stand up if you are vegetarian, but would eat meat if you killed it yourself.” This time fewer people stood up, but it was still a significant number.

Then Nigel told us the story of the goat.

Two years ago, while putting together the second annual Hazon Food Conference, the planners decided that one of the activities offered would be the opportunity to see a goat killed in a kosher manner. A shochet, or ritual slaughterer, and a rabbi explained the whole process as they performed it. The death by slitting of the throat was almost instantaneous, as kosher law requires. Then there were several more hours of cutting off the goat’s head, hanging its body to drain the blood, opening it up to inspect its organs.

That night the same goat was served for dinner, on a separate table from the rest of the meal, which was vegetarian, and everyone was invited to partake. Nigel asked those same two questions afterwards, but this time he asked who among the diners who normally ate meat had abstained. More than 40 people out of a few hundred stood up. Then he asked if any people who were normally vegetarians had eaten the goat. Around 20 people had, for their own numerous and varied reasons, made this choice.

When word got out before the conference that the ritual slaughter of a goat was to be part of the programming, this provoked some intense reactions. A Jewish vegetarian organization disavowed Hazon and called on others to do the same. For a more detailed look at the sentiments behind the reactions, check out this post and its comments section to read a dialogue which took place this year regarding Hazon’s intention to ritually slaughter chickens and serve them for Shabbat dinner.

I’m a vegetarian, so this doesn’t have much to do with me, right? I can pick a side based on my own principles, but those goats and chickens aren’t being killed and served up in my name.

Except for one thing.

That goat was my goat.

No, I don’t mean he was my own pet goat. I mean that goat was my responsibility. I brought him into this world. His fate was directly linked to me.

That year the Hazon conference was held at the Isabella Freeman Jewish Retreat Center, and the goat in question was from their farm, Adamah, part of Adamah’s “boy’s town.” “Boy’s town” is the separate pasture for all the male goats who are born to the herd of dairy goats Adamah raises to produce milk and cheese. In order to make milk, goats need to be lactating, and to lactate they must be pregnant and then give birth. According to the wonderful Abbe Turner of the Lucky Penny Farm, who answered my questions (during today’s panel of Jewish Female Farmers) with deep compassion and groundedness, around 56% of the kids born in her herd are male. None of these little guys will be producing milk any time soon. So what happens to them?

I imagine this answer is different for different goats. And then there also the even more numerous males born to dairy cows, and all the males born to laying hens. Some end up as featured delicacies in local gourmet restaurants, like Abbe Turner’s. Others are killed quickly and cleanly by a shochet and eaten by those who raised them, like the goats at Adamah. Most others I imagine go to central processing plants to become stew meat or pet food or veal calves or are even ground into livestock feed, like male laying chickens.

When I eat eggs and dairy, even from the most humane, sustainable, small-farmer-owned, organic, local farms, I am not only drinking this milk and noshing on this cheese. I am calling forth this male goat, this living animal who is brought into a world that has very few options for him. Farmers could keep these male animals and raise them – and Abbe Turner does send some off to live lengthy lives as 4H projects or grass shearers. But to keep all of these animals would be to make pets of them, and the strain this doubling of the herd would put on the resources of land and water and farmer would be enormous beyond justification.

In saying that, I’m not saying that the strain on resources of keeping these “extraneous” male animals alive is not justified by the saving of their lives; I’m saying that it’s not justified by the resources (i.e., money) that I’m willing to contribute to get myself a delicious chevre or some tasty yogurt. I’m not paying so much for my cheese that there’s money in there to fund a goat sanctuary as well. So, the goat goes off to the knife. Someone kills him, someone cooks him, someone eats him. It’s not me, though.

No, I’m a vegetarian.

Late on Friday we received the following letter from Pete Cohon, founder and moderator of VeggieJews, an international, real-world and online, Jewish, vegetarian organization.  He has been a vegan and animal rights activist for 22 years and a vegetarian for 27 years.  A former San Francisco trial lawyer, Pete now lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Below his letter is the response from Hazon.  We encourage a vibrant debate, but please ask commentators to refrain from personal attacks on any views.  We reserve the right to remove  any comments that violate our Community Guidelines.

An open letter to Nigel Savage, Executive Director of Hazon, and the groups members:

The Hazon group claims that it works to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, fight climate change and promote a more sustainable world for all.  I understand that the group even hosts vegetarian meals at which it promotes its programs.

That sounds great.  But I’m concerned that Hazon is not living up to the promise.

Three years ago, during your group’s 2007 Jewish Food Conference, Hazon publicly slaughtered three goats despite numerous appeals that the cruel demonstration of shechita be canceled.  I am disappointed that Hazon remains unapologetic for its cruel and unnecessary slaughter.  But I am truly offended that you are planning a similar demonstration again at this year’s Jewish Food Conference which will begin on December 24 near Monterey, California.

According to Hazon’s Web site, this year’s conference will include:

Chicken Shechita at Green Oaks Creek Farm:

We will meet on the farm early in the morning on Wednesday, December 23 to observe the shechita (ritual slaughter) and to help pluck, clean, soak, and salt pasture-raised chickens.  If you are old enough to be a bar or bat mitzvah, you are old enough to volunteer.  No experience is necessary.  Wear warm work clothes and be prepared to get your hands dirty.

In other words, Hazon is again promoting unnecessary animal cruelty in the name of Jewish environmentalism.

It looks like, contrary to its claims, Hazon is not really a Jewish environmental group at all.

While claiming to fight climate change and support a more sustainable environment, Hazon completely ignores the 2006 report of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization that found animal agriculture responsible for almost 1/5 of all global warming.

Hazon also continues to ignore the 2009 report of the NGO World Watch, which found that the UN’s figures were incorrectly tabulated and that the actual contribution of animal agriculture to global warming is 51%.

But, apparently, Hazon doesn’t care about the facts.  Your group continues to pretend to be a Jewish environmental organization  and even hosts misleading vegetarian events to promote itself while also continuing to promote cruel and environmentally unsustainable lifestyles.  If Hazon believes that a few chickens running around freely on small, sustainable farms can feed the demand of billions and billions of people living mostly in urban areas on this planet, then Hazon is truly living in a dream world.  As long as people eat animals, mass production of animal foods will require massive operations that cannot  possibly be environmentally sustainable.

Please be advised that your planned slaughter of chickens at this year’s Jewish Food Conference is unacceptable.  The conference will only encourage the continuation of a meat-based diet despite the negative health, environmental and ethical consequences.  I urge you to stop the bloodletting and start healing the planet by promoting to the Jewish community a diet based solely on plant-based foods.  It’s time for Hazon to include compassion for animals in its mission as well as real-world environmental sanity.

- – -

Dear Pete,

Thank you for your thoughtful response to our work.  Nigel is out of town this weekend, but he wanted to make sure we responded to you.

Before I go into Hazon’s pedagogy, I want to comment on your climate change comments.  As you note, animal husbandry is a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.  We know that data and have used it to guide aspects of our Jewish Climate Change Campaign.  In this campaign, we ask Jews to reduce their meat intake by 50% within the next shmita cycle – September 2015.

But we go past the concerns of climate change.  Hazon engages on the issues that arise from the industrialization of our food – period.  We examine how we eat all foods and what we’re eating.  Through the Hazon CSA (community supported agriculture) program, hundreds of Jewish families across the US are sourcing their weekly vegetables from local organic farmers.  Countless people have been inspired by Hazon to shop at their local farmer’s market.

Now, to address the issue of shechting animals at the Food Conference.  I am not going to address whether shechita is cruel – that is a conversation on Jewish tradition that I will not address here.  But I will address how participating in the shechita process impacts the community that has become the Food Conference participants.  Hazon does not tell people how to be Jews, let alone how to be environmentalists.  We do provide the richness of education and experience that enables and empowers personal decision.  For too many people, animal consumption is disguised by neat packaging and the neutral term “meat.” By shechting animals at the Food Conference, we provide the space for people to engage with the intimate reality of eating animal flesh. And that experience has proven, time and time again, to do more to influence long-term changes in personal consumption behavior.

Again, thank you for taking the time to engage us on this important issue.

All the best,

Liore
Assistant to the Executive Director
Hazon

Recently I had the chance to speak with Noah Alper, founder of the eponymous Noah’s Bagels.  Noah, who sold Noah’s Bagels in 1999, has been in the food business since the 1970s, when he started Bread and Circus, the East Coast natural food chain (bought by Whole Foods in 1992).  He’s kept kosher since the early 1990s, and at one point Noah’s Bagels was the largest kosher retailer in the country.  (For those on the prowl, there’s still one kosher Noah’s Bagels, in Seattle.)  Nowadays, he’s committed to preaching the gospel of socially responsible business practices, and to that end he’s come out with a book called Business Mensch that aims to connect Jewish principles to good business practices and convince business leaders that community values are good for their bottom line.  Basically, it’s a Jewish business handbook for the post-Madoff world.  Noah and I chatted about how the food movement has changed since his days as a natural foods grocer, how the Hazon food conference stoked his interest in eco-kashrut and why the Bay Area is a foodie mecca.

Q: What drove your interest in going into the food business?

Noah Alper: My father was a manufacturer’s representative for main brand food brands in the New England area, so I grew up with it as a kid.  It was a kind of logical transition.

Q: And how did you become interested in natural foods?

N.A.: In the early 70s, the natural food movement was just beginning, and my former wife was very interested in natural foods.  Through her I got an understanding that this was something important.  In those days, it wasn’t so much of a sustainability issue, but it was more about health, getting rid of processed foods and what alternatives were available.  There were also almost no natural food stores, so it interested me as a business opportunity.

Q: How has the food movement and the public’s interest in organic and sustainable food changed since you opened Bread and Circus?

N.A.: When we were getting started, brands like Celestial Seasonings and Tom’s of Maine were just beginning.  Now they’re mainstream American items, as are natural food stores themselves.  Natural food went from Ma and Pa stores to a Whole Foods in every neighborhood across America.  It’s like a whole generation of people came to see the importance of eating natural foods and leading a healthy lifestyle.  Probably around the early turn of the century, I saw the sustainability issue becoming more important.  I think that Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth movie was a major influencer in people’s understanding of their impact on the earth.  The ecological movement kind of merged with the health movement, and also with the gourmet movement, which I was also involved in the late 80s.  For different reasons, Americans were going to fresh ingredient meals, partially for taste and aesthetic reasons, and that merged in with the natural foods movement as well. 

Q: Why did you choose to open Noah’s Bagels as a kosher chain?  Did it add complications from a business perspective? 

N.A.: It was about making a whole community feel comfortable eating there. It had a perception amongst the population at large that there was a higher level of inspection, and we attracted kosher eaters, travelers, and so forth who were drawn to the restaurant because it was kosher. There were complications in certifying the stores, but most of the ingredients, like bagels and lox, are kosher anyway.  We also had an image and reputation, by closing for Passover and keeping kosher, that this was authentic, this was the real deal. It was good for business. 

Q: Do you feel that your kosher practice has an ethical as well as a ritual meaning?

N.A.: I think it should, and I think that things like Magen Tzedek [the Conservative movement’s forthcoming eco-kosher hekhsher] and these new movements are trying to make that connection, which I don’t think has typically been made.  I’ve long felt that way regarding unhealthful ingredients.  They may be within the letter of the law, but they’re certainly not in the spirit of the law, which should be offering healthy food that is kosher.  Not to mention recent discussions about fair trade and ethical treatment of workers.  We’re getting beyond the previous narrow definition that’s just about being ritually correct. 

Q: As a businessman, do you think that Magen Tzedek will be successful in attracting producers to pay for certification?

N.A.: I think on the consumer end of it, there’s a big demand and interest.  On the part of the producers, I think they have to be convinced that it’s important enough for their clientele to spend the money.  I think it’ll take some time, but I think it will catch on.   You’re already seeing fair trade coffee being a gold standard now.  I don’t see why it shouldn’t be across the board in the food milieu.  I think it will be up to Magen Tzedek or whoever leads to pack to demonstrate there’s enough interest on the part of the consumer to make the manufacturer interested.  It’s up to anyone who’s going to do this to appeal to the non-Jewish audience as well.  Something like 70 percent or more of people who buy kosher are not Jewish.  It’s because they’re vegetarians or they eat halal or they think there’s a higher level of inspection, and I think likewise Magen Tzedek has to make that case to the manufacturer at large.

Q: How long have you lived in the Bay Area?  Why do you think this area is so energetic about food issues? 

N.A.: I’ve lived here for 25 years.  We’re so close to the food source here, many, many food sources.  I don’t know what percentage of the country the Central Valley feeds in terms of fruits and vegetables, but I have to believe in the winter it’s pushing the 80 percent level.  I think the other thing is the Bay Area has always been a nexus of fresh ideas and new ideas that have socially redeemable values at the core of it, from civil rights to gay rights to 60s antiwar stuff.  Again and again and again, California leads the way.  Also, in the late 80s the whole gourmet thing started in San Francisco.  You get all of those things impacting one another and you come up with the origins of new movements.

 For more about Noah Alper and his book, Business Mensch, go to his website, www.businessmensch.net.

Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals is not for the faint of heart. His recent article in the New York Times (excerpted from the first chapter) includes stories of his grand-mother, a holocaust survivor, which he uses to define himself as well as frame his book. The Jew and The Carrot’s Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus wrote a nice post about it, including:

“But I what I found most moving was the way he connected his own ethical commitment to vegetarianism to his grandmother’s commitment to kashrut, even under the most extreme circumstances. She gets the last word in the dialogue he recalls,

“The worst it got was near the end. A lot of people died right at the end, and I
didn’t know if I could make it another day. A farmer, a Russian, God bless him,
he saw my condition, and he went into his house and came out with a piece of
meat for me.”

“He saved your life.”

“I didn’t eat it.”

“You didn’t eat it?”

“It was pork. I wouldn’t eat pork.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“What, because it wasn’t kosher?”

“Of course.”

“But not even to save your life?”

“If nothing matters, there’s nothing to save.”

Foer spends the length of the book trying to explain why eating animals matters, and searching for a way we can save ourselves. The book is exceptionally effective in illuminating the horrendous practices of the industrial fish and meat industries. In some cases, he relies on other people’s research (especially government sources), and then effectively channels this into relatable paradigms. For example, Foer takes on the fish industry, explaining the extensive loss of sea life (in some cases 80 – 90% of the total haul) that accompanies each intended catch, also known as ‘bycatch’. He writes, “Imagine being served a plate of sushi. But this plate also holds all of the animals that were killed for your serving of sushi. The plate might have to be be five feet across.”

In another section, Foer goes undercover to see poultry farms for himself, and witnesses first hand the cruel conditions, deliberate breeding of weak (even ill animals), and lack of sanitary practices. He weaves in narratives from interviews with animal activists, farmers, businessmen, processors, and even PETA. Like many before him, he was unable to get into a cattle slaughterhouse, but he attempts to construct the experience in graphic detail based on third party accounts and research. At one point, Foer visits a pig processing plant and observes the operation closely. In the end, they invite him to sample the fruits
of their labor, a plate of ham. Foer writes,

“I don’t want to eat it. I wouldn’t want to eat anything right now, my appetite having been lost to the sites and smells of the slaughterhouse. And I specifically don’t want to eat the contents of that plate, which were, not long ago, the contents of a pig in the waiting pen. Maybe there is nothing wrong with eating it. But something deep inside me — reasonable or unreasonable, ascetic or ethical, selfish or compassionate — simply doesn’t want the meat inside my body. For me, meat is not something to be eaten.

And yet, something else deep inside me does want to eat it. I want very much to show Mario my appreciation for his generousity. And I want to be able to tell him that his hard work produces delicious food. I want to say, ‘Wow, that’s wonderful’ and have another piece. I want to break bread with him. Nothing — not a conversation, not a handshake, or even a hug — establishes friendship as forcefully as eating together.

‘I’m kosher’, I say

‘Kosher?’ Mario echoes as a question.

‘I am.’ I chuckle. ‘Jewish. And kosher.’

‘Kind of funny to be writing about pork then.’

‘Kind of funny’, I echo.

But it isn’t.”

Foer is as flawed and torn as any of his readers. Reading this and other candid passages about his own personal ethics is refreshing, and the larger implications are profound. Foer strives throughout to personally reframe the stories in an effort to make us conscious of his painfully obvious conclusion. ”When we eat factory-farmed meat, we live, literally, on tortured flesh. Increasingly, that tortured flesh is becoming our own.” It’s a compelling argument, and extends to our environment, health, and humanity.

Foer goes further to inquire if there are any circumstances that would make it acceptable to eat meat. For himself, the answer is a firm no. But he also acknowledges that people do eat meat, and that there are farmers and business people who are sincerely trying to satisfy these demands while creating a more humane, effective process. So much so that he, a practicing vegan, has actually gone so far as to fund a slaughterhouse for one farmer friend, whose food he will not eat but endeavors he views as worthwhile.

There are not many references to kosher meat practices in this book, nor to the Jewish philosophies on eating or not eating meat. Foer seems to imply that most meat (99%), kosher or otherwise, is industrial and therefore subject to the same problems outlined earlier. Coincidentally, on the same day that I finished reading my review copy, Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster posted a piece about a new grass fed, organic, kosher meat service. Kol foods seems to have many of the qualities of the non-industrial meat farmers Foer interviewed in his book. They also seem to struggle with the same dilemnas, including the demise of local kosher slaughterhouses. I spoke to the owner, Devora Kimmelman-Block about the book and asked for her perspective on the business of eating animals.

“In order to make an effect on the kosher meat business, they have to see that there is a strong consumer interest in sustainable, ethical meat. The only way to illustrate that interest is for folks to have consistant access to non-industrial meat – not just for special occasions, but for whenever they cook it.

Everyone has to come to their own conclusions (about their comfort level with eating meat); it’s a very personal issue. However, it’s key to be open minded about solutions to the issues with industrial meat (including the environment, the consumer’s health, the people who live and work in communities housing industrial meat companies, animal welfare, and even taste). It’s important that folks have multiple options to combat those issues. Being a vegetarian or vegan is not the only solution, although it is important to consume meat sparingly.

From a Jewish perspective, if we eat meat, we must be conscious of the act, know where it is coming from and make it special. The Rabbis had to encourage people to eat meat on the holidays because they lived in a society in which eating meat was rare luxury. It isn’t special if you eat it at every meal. Take a breath, say a blessing before eating. It’s important not to swallow your ethics.”

Foer does not swallow anything in this book. He takes his readers on a journey that is alternatively funny, angry, bloody, thoughtful, sympathetic, judgemental, confrontational, conciliiatory, and wholly unexpected. The tone and the tale often seem uneven and erratic. In his works of fiction, this dissonance enhanced an incredibly compelling story. In this work of self described journalism, it seems less effective, and I often longed for a more consistent narrative. Moreover, this highly ambitious book attempts to be a memoir, an investigative news piece, and a philosophical inquiry – a broad brush for any one volume. It does not neatly fit into any one category, and perhaps this is its greatest strength and weakness.  All told, it is well worth the read. Regardless of your current views and practices, you will learn much and undoubtedly re-think your own role as an eating animal.

Want to read the book? Enter our contest for a free copy by leaving a comment below about your thoughts on eating animals. Last day to leave a comment is 11/7 – the winner will be contacted the following day.

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Note (10/31/09): Here is a link to a very interesting, recent OpEd piece in the NYT by Nicolette Hahn Niman.  She and her husband Bill Niman were interviewed by Foer, who had positive feedback about their contributions (with some reservations).  

Note (11/02/09): I got the green light to give away 5 copies.  So please comment away.  Last day of the contest is 11/7.

Note (11/04/09): Thanks to Hannah Lee and Jeff Shapiro for this video link on Foer.