Once, a man came to his rabbi and said, “Rabbi, at home I keep strictly kosher. I do everything by the book, but when I go out, I can’t be so kosher. I’m not so strict when I eat out, but at home everything is 100% kosher.” The man’s rabbi replied, “Ok, you’re very lucky, all of your dishes will go straight to heaven!”
I’d like to turn this old joke on its head for a moment. We’re here at this site because we care about our food’s impact on our bodies, our community and our planet. Many of us consider the choices we make as conscious consumers to be “eco-kosher.” That is, we want our food to be “fit” (ethically, chemically, socially, spiritually) for consumption, and we try to base our purchasing decisions on these values.
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Now you can imbibe and toast to a healthier ecosystem! From MSNBC.com, watch the video report here or read more below:
“Having fun, brewing world class beer, promoting beer culture and being environment stewards,” Kim says, recounting the rules.
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The coolest home science experiment ever — no, really EVER — is the home cheesemaking kit. I am just dumbstruck at how nifty this is: A gallon of warm milk, citric acid, a rennet tablet (OU hecshered vegetarian rennet, actually) and poof! Cheese. Stringy gooey mozzarella. Or milky, creamy ricotta.
And it’s so ludicrously easy: perfect for kids since nothing gets warmer than tepid bathwater. They get to stretch and pull the mozzarella to make bocconcini or string cheese. It’s so much fun to play with your food. Milk magic in your kitchen.
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This just came to my inbox–and begs some unpacking. The ad boasts “Stay fit, keep Kosher.” …But am I missing something about where the first part of that slogan fits in? (Click the pic for a better view of it.)
So rather than let my skepticism get away with me, I checked out their web site which is very patriotic light blue motif with “healthy” written here or there. Complete with advice from a certified nutritionist, perhaps it wasn’t so bad. But there’s a small devil in the fine print:
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If the science of cloning can take stem cells and regrow organs and tissues such as stomachs, skin, and muscle then here’s a creepily not too distant question: Will you one day purchase meat which is grown in a vat rather than slaughtered from an animal?
Says Jason Matheny, the leader of a team to do just that, “With a single cell, you could theoretically produce the world’s annual meat supply. And you could do it in a way that’s better for the environment and human health. In the long term, this is a very feasible idea.”
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Israeli company, Veterix, has developed a way to ensure humanely raised, antibiotic-free livestock using wireless computer technology. Sensors are implanted in a cow’s second stomach, reporting back data on heart rate and other indicators of stress levels.
Currently, when a farmer suspects disease in one member of a herd, she is often forced to innoculate every animal prophylactically. Veterix says its technology can help farmers locate animals experiencing trauma, either because they’ve been separated from the herd or because they’re suffering illness such as hoof and mouth disease, or just because they’re horny.
“Healthy animals mean healthy people,” says Eliav Tahar, the company’s CEO and co-founder. “We have built a system that ensures animals will give better meat and milk.” The cost of the transmitter is about $75 per head.
Veterix hopes consumers will drive adoption of the technology, searching for Veterix stamped meat, in much the same way they look for other symbols such as Organic or Kosher.
At Hazon’s food conference two weeks ago I was shocked when I tasted the latkes. They were delicate, lacy, not greasy, flecked with tiny bits of green, and utterly heavenly. I had never tasted a latke made for more than 20 people that was worth eating, and this preparation was for 150 people.
It took some sleuthing to figure out the recipe. First I cornered the very busy chef of Isabella Freedman, insisting on seeing the machine he used to grate the potatoes so finely. He showed me his industrial-sized Robot Coupe, and I realized the grater holes were about 3 mm wide rather than the usual 5 or 6 mm wide in a standard Cuisinart. That was my first problem. How to grate my potatoes so finely?
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A bit belated, but still useful for those of us who are total slackers in our shopping:
By the numbers:
25: percent increase in the trash generated during the holiday season.
86: percent of TreeHugger readers who say their kids have too much stuff.
97: percent of restaurant gift certificate receivers who say they would like to receive a restaurant gift certificate again.
83,000,000: square meters of gift wrap which winds up on the UK rubbish heaps after the holiday season.
300 million: dollars spent in the USA on mass market women’s bath gift sets.
Want to cut down on your holiday waste (or regifting)? Read Treehugger.com’s Green Gift Guide and take advantage of their well-compiled advice. From top tips to greening un-green gifts to buying the eco-conscious ideas out there. As they say:
To help you in your quest to find organic chocolate for your vegan girlfriend, or eco-friendly golf tees for your not-so-vegan dad, or a hemp T for your fashionista sister; TreeHugger has put together an eco-gift guide to help you and your family have a greener holiday. We’ll be adding new ideas throughout the season, but here’s something to help you get a jump on your holiday green giving.
Post idea courtesy of Venture Cycling.
