Here’s the newest article about kosher, ethical meat…this one I wrote for American Jewish Life  (Those of you who read this blog religiously might already be well-versed on the subject - but for the non ethical food-obsessed Jews out there, it’s definitely still hot news.)

Conscious Carving
American Jewish Life
By: Leah Koenig
February 25, 2008

Early on a Friday morning this past December, 70 Jews gathered in a frost-covered field in rural Connecticut. Some of them huddled in small groups, talking in hushed tones and blowing on their frozen fingers. Others stood at a distance, quiet with thought. They were all there for one reason — to witness three goats being slaughtered for meat, in accordance with Jewish law.

No, these people were not part of some underground Jewish cult. They were attendees of a food conference hosted by the New York-based non-profit, Hazon (which, for full disclosure, is my employer). The purpose of the ritual slaughtering, was to “enable people to have a more direct understanding of where kosher meat comes from,” said Hazon’s Executive Director, Nigel Savage. In this case, it would be the same meat that many of the participants would eat that night for dinner.

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The Potrero Hill Community Center in San Francisco is still ringing with the laughter, song, and meditative silence of 160 young adults who came together from across the Bay Area last night in an unprecedented Tu B’shvat gathering. It was really a blast!

We packed into the Community beyond its capacity (the event beyond sold-out), we drank wine from the four worlds (local, organic, kosher wine from Santa Cruz, CA) and we ate a bounty of fruits from the four directions (literally from all around the world). Even in this room packed wall to wall with tables and chairs, Josh Miller who co-lead the Seder, got everyone on their feet dancing to Tzadik Katimar.

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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.

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Just a thought, but could the new food credo of “Eat food not too much, mostly plants,” be a threat to the Kashrut industry as we know it?

I just finished watching a promotional video from the OU. Targeted to the food industry, this video demonstrates the process by which a product receives certification. Using a fictional cake made by Drakes (of Seinfeld lore), the OU rabbi shows how, early in the process the ingredient list of the new cake is sent to the OU to ensure that all ingredients are kosher. Some of the ingredients are found to be problematic, the red sprinkles on top and the emulsifiers that in the words of Rabbi Moshe Elefant “make ingredients mix when they normally can’t.”

According to Rebbe Michael Pollan, food is defined as something your grandmother would recognize. I would bet a big bunch of kale that your grandmother didn’t use emulsifiers to make sure her cake was delicious.

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The Jewish Week published an article this week that examines: The Yom Kippur tradition of kaporot, the Jewish ethical food movement. Hazon and The Jew & The Carrot both get significant shout-outs. Read the full article here (or below).

Swinging No More
Kaporos and the new eco-kosher movement.
Steve Lipman - Staff Writer

Growing up out of town, in a non-Orthodox household, I never knew from kaporos.

It’s a post-Talmudic, pre-Yom Kippur custom in some traditional circles that involves swinging a live chicken three times over your head, reciting some verses that symbolically transfer your sins to the fowl — a rooster for a man, a hen for a woman — then leaving it behind to be slaughtered, in a kosher manner of course, and given to a needy family.

Kaporos is Hebrew for “atonements.” The custom is supposed to teach sensitivity for God’s creatures and awareness of one’s own transgressions. Orthodox, but a rationalist, I wasn’t interested. Then Tami called.

“Do you want to do kaporos with me?” she asked.

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Leadership of the JCPA (Jewish Council for Public Affairs) will be participating in the now-famous Food Stamp Challenge during the Days of Awe period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Sept. 14th-21st).

Executive Director Rabbi Steve Gutow and JCPA Chair Lois Frank will stick to the $1 per meal or $21/week budget of an average food stamp recipient, as part of the organization’s new Anti-Poverty Campaign, to highlight the connections between Jewish teachings surrounding poverty and the current Food Stamp reauthorization component of the Farm Bill.

JCRC leadership and Jewish communities around the country are being encouraged to also ”Take the Challenge,” coinciding with the Locavores’ September Local Food Challenge. Do any of us dare to take the double challenge? I think this would result in nearly an 11-day long Yom Kippur fast, or perhaps subsistance only on apples, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and the remains of nectarines and melon.

Ideally, an organized Jewish participation in the Food Stamp Challenge, including Rabbis and other national Jewish leaders, could have an impact on federal legislation, if it is publicized appropriately for advocacy. Hopefully, continued action surrounding Food Stamps will have an impact on the Farm Bill, which has yet to pass out of the Senate Agriculture Committee (expected in mid-October).

On the Friday night of last year’s Hazon Food Conference I said, “put your hands up if you eat meat - but would not do so if you had to kill it yourself.” And a good number of hands went up.

Then I said: “put your hands up if you’re vegetarian - but you would eat meat if you killed it yourself.” And a different group of hands went up. And after a brief pause, everyone laughed.

They laughed because the two responses revealed what a self-selected group we were - and how fascinating our different distinctions. The first group were essentially saying, “I do like eating meat - but I know the process of killing it is awful - it’s actually so awful that if I had to kill it myself, I just wouldn’t eat meat.”

The second group were essentially saying “I’m vegetarian because I hate everything about how animals are raised and killed in our industrial food economy. But if I actually took responsibility for killing an animal myself, I would feel I was acting with integrity, and in accordance with my beliefs - and therefore, in that instance, I potentially would eat meat.”

And my response, when the laughter died down, was to say “Great: next year we’re going to shecht (slaughter according to kosher law) an animal here at the Food Conference..”

And people went: “Oooohhhhhh..”

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Borrowing a page from Jewschool’s “Motzash Mishegaas,” I’m starting a new weekly post “rounding-up” relevant news from the past week called “Ready for a Roundup?” because the world is NOT ready for any more Roundup Ready crops.

This week’s version focuses on the confluence of religion, sustainable agriculture projects and farm policy.

• Last Wednesday, an “interfaith” group released a letter to Speaker Pelosi demanding Farm Bill reform. Noticeably absent: all non-Christian/Catholic faiths, with the exception of Sojourners which is truly interfaith.

With Jspot’s recent post on Jews and the environmental movement and recent efforts by large Jewish institutions and demoninations to begin working on the environmental issue, can we do more than hope that the good work of Hazon, Mazon and others is finally recognized within the larger Jewish community?

• While doing some research at work, I recently came across this Eco-Halal Project organized by a group called Faith in Place in Chicago. While the concept of Eco-Halal now seems completely obvious, it had never occurred to me as a parallel movement to eco-Kashrut, proabably partially because the number of certified Halal products  is far fewer than those that are Kosher.

There are only a few days remaining to vote in the JFSJ poll to shape the upcoming Domestic Jewish Agenda. I’m very excited about this campaign for which Hazon, Isabella Freedman Retreat Center, Jdub Records, Jewcy.com, Jewish Student Press Service, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, Jews United for Justice, Jewschool.com, Moishe/Kavod House Boston, Progressive Jewish Alliance, The Shalom Center, The Tribe, VelveteenRabbi.com , and Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring are sponsors.

I’m only dissapointed that reforming our food system did not make it to the 10 issues that voters can choose from to help shape the new domestic social agenda for Jews/Jewish organizations. Does this mean that food systems will not be included in the agenda? Some might argue that food is encompassed by the “Environment” choice, but there is much that needs reform in our food system beyond its environmental implications. Perhaps someone from Hazon can clue me in to whether this was discused and why it was left out.

(cross-posted on Jewschool)

For its 10th Anniversary gourmet fundraiser, the JCC of Washington DC has changed its kosher policy to “kosher-style”, angering observant supporters, the Washington Jewish Week reports.

The chief reasons cited by representatives of local Jewish organizations for serving kosher-optional fare are that kosher meals are relatively costly and not particularly popular among attendees a combination that can reduce the net proceeds of fund-raisers. (Only 7.2 percent of local Jews eat strictly kosher food both in and outside of the home, according to the 2003 Greater Washington Jewish community survey.)

“Kosher meals appreciably add to the expense involved, but they do not appreciably add to the number of supporters who will come,” said Marilyn Feldman, a spokesperson for the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington.

[Washington Jewish Week]

Following the holiday of Purim, I can be pretty sure that many people have a large volume of the following items in their house: candy, chocolate, and a variety of baked treats. I think that the mitzvah (Torah commandment) of sending Mishloach Manot (sending of portions” which often include wine and pastries; alternately, sweets, snacks, or any foodstuff qualifies) is a beautiful one which emphasizes building community and spreading sweet, warm feelings to one’s friends and family.  

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Covered in the JTA today, the Charlotte B. and Jack J. Spitzer Hillel Forum on Social Justice and the JCPA annual plenum donated $2,000 to negate their carbon impact, requested that no toiletries be delivered to conference goers unless asked, and all paper was recycled.

This is encouraging for a number of great reasons. Last year’s conference was an abominably empty attempt at any environmental awareness, as covered by yours truly and Ilana Sichel in an open letter to Hillel in The Forward, such as the lack of any recycling efforts and the overwhelming amount of complimentary bottled water. It is great to see Hillel (hopefully after that op-ed peice of prodding) take the next step forward.

But noticably, little mention was made of the food at the Spitzer Forum. Read more »