Kashi is running a promotion right now, where you can virtually “trade-in” your unhealthy snacks (beef jerky, nachos, cotton candy, etc) for some actual “healthy” ones, free of charge! OK, so maybe a dark-chocolate oatmeal cookie isn’t the most healthy snack in the world either, but at least it’s:
a) whole grain
b) chocolate
c) free through the mail!
Get yours while supplies last.
Are the people who serve your fries getting sick leave? Does your barista get paid for overtime? Are the dishwashers getting paid minimum wage?
The folks at Bema’agalei Tzedek are working to make sure that everyone entering a public eatery in Israel can answer these questions. Their social seal program, which is active in five Israeli cities, takes the idea of fair trade one step further, assesses the whether or not a restaurant or catering hall is living up to its social responsibilities towards it employees and patrons. The social seal sticker makes it easy for customers to do a quick ethical check before they scan the menu. Read more »
My last omer-centric post celebrated the yeastiness of a sourdough starter. Today I wanted to focus on barley. Let’s not forget that the omer period itself is named after the measure of barley, known as an “omer” that was brought to the Temple on the second day of Pesach, marking the beginning of the transition from the barley harvest of early spring to the later wheat harvest of Shavuot.
Hmmm…yeast, barley….what else might be used to celebrate this period? Some commentators say that the transition from barley to wheat marks the transition of the Israelites from a slave people (who lived like animals, the main consumers of barley) to freedom (since wheat bread marked the culmination of civilization). Not so fast, says professor Charlie Bamfourth in a recent Scientific American article: Read more »
Smoky white fish, tangy sauerkraut, succulent tempeh and sweet root veges laced with cream…
Here is winter supper from my forth coming book “The Flexitarian Table” (Houghton Mifflin June 2007).
Whether you’re a Meat head, Veg head, or a serious Omni-Locavore like my friend Sarah Rose or my cat Bambu you’ll find something tasty here. Yes dear reader it’s time to wake up and smell the sauerkraut, whip out your immersion blender, and get cracking! Cooking is an adventure not some sort of chore! On your way from the green market to your table you will get back to your shtetl roots and even take an excursion to Southeast Asia. You’ll be braising sauteeing, toasting, pan frying, simmering, pureeing and seasoning your way to a sumptious yet deceptively simple supremely satisfying supper.
I’ll leave the dessert up to you…
A friend of my sent me an article written in the Washington Post about Google with the subject, “we should all be as lucky.” It talks about the amazingly top quality café (notice how they chose not to use the word cafeteria instead) which Google offers its employees. Did I mention that it’s free? For all three meals every day? And how by noon menus are distributed electronically for all the 11 cafes on its campus? Furthermore, I am happy to say that “Google supports local farming, organic produce, hormone-free meats and healthful eating.” Don’t you wish you could work there?
Just got back from the annual New Year’s Contact Improvisation Jam at Earthdance, an ecologically focused, intentional community for (transient) resident dancers that I’ve been visiting for a dozen years or so.The food is great - lots of root vegetables, leafy greens, hearty soups, and other healthy wintery fare - with much of the food coming from the organic Earthdance garden. Add a hot tub, sauna, and about 125 wooded acres with a cold, deep quarry for swimming, and of course lots of yummy people, for full effect.
Eco-Kashrut, Events, Holidays, Jewish Culture, Judaism, Neat Projects, Sustainability, Synagogues, Uncategorized(xposted by Lenny on jspot.org)
Related to thoughts about fruit platters, wedding foods, and such, jspot.org recently highlighted a program in Washington DC called Ethical Smahot.
Ethical Smahot is a project initiated by Rabbi Alana Suskin and Rabbi Joshua Ginsberg as an attempt to control the excesses of some Jewish lifecycle celebrations and infuse them with an ethical, meaningful spirit. The project took inspiration from an earlier statement by some Orthodox rabbis in New York City regarding the necessity to control conspicuous consumption during lifecycle celebrations.
In its current incarnation, Ethical Smachot centers on a statement of seven principled elements that should be reflected in every Jewish lifecycle celebration: Tzniut (modesty), Kavod HaBriot (respect for one’s fellow human beings), Talmud Torah (study and learning), Seudah (festive meal), Tzedakah (charity), Tzedek (righteousness and justice), and Shomrei Adamah (guarding the Earth).
To Blog or Not To Blog (on Shabbat) - that is the question.
The traditional halachic answer would have been “of course not” - end of subject.
The pluralist answer would be “why not?” - different Jewish people observe (and don’t observe) shabbat in myriad different ways. If someone wants to blog as part of their celebration of shabbat - or because they don’t keep shabbat at all, then why on earth not?
Here’s a third view. We respect tradition - but we’re not _not_ blogging because of a traditional understanding of shabbat. And we do respect the myriad ways that Jews keep or don’t keep shabbat.
But here’s the scoop - we’re not gonna blog on shabbat - but from a different place.
Not because we believe in a traditional sense that it’s against halacha.
But because in a postmodern sense, we still see the Jewish people as being against paganism; and the paganism of this generation isn’t Wiccans and witches, it’s the world of 24/7. It’s bad for the world, and it’s bad for people - and as Jews, we’re the people who introduced into human history the idea of shabbat, and the related ideas of shmitta and yovel. Resting reminds us that we inherit this earth, we don’t own it. Resting is good for us, good for our families, good for our communities.
So we respect the ways that you keep or don’t keep shabbat. We actively defend your right to fly to Vegas and buy a bacon breakfast - on Shabbat. But we nevertheless, for ourselves, aren’t blogging on Shabbat, because we choose to rest and celebrate - and we invite you to consider doing likewise. Including switching off that fine computer you’re using right now…
Shabbat shalom - and chanukah sameach. May this year’s candles see miracles and happiness for all…
:-)
The Jew !
