Food it seems, is quite the hot topic these days.  Some people are learning more about sustainable agriculture, some are learning to bake or roast vegetables for the first time.  Some are exploring their connection to their cultural roots through food, while others are learning about the 2007 Food Bill or really excited about food’s medicinal properties of certain herbs, or interested in finding out more about Jewish tradition’s connection to agriculture and what the laws of kashrut mean (or don’t mean) for them. 

The Jew and the Carrot seeks to broaden and deepen the conversation on all of these fronts.  We also get really excited to hear that other publications are starting to take interest in food and eating.  To that end, Jewish feminist publication, Lilith Magazine, has recently started a blog of their own and asked me to write a weekly column for them on - no surprise - Food is a Jewish Feminist Issue. 

I’m excited about this new opportunity to explore the ways in which women’s stories are impacted by and played out through food.  Here’s a short excerpt from my first post:

“I stumbled upon Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party while wandering around the museum that afternoon in New Orleans.  Tucked into a wing of Chicago’s other work, I found a large triangular table covered with 39 ornately designed plates, each set with a napkin, goblet, and silverware, in honor of a famous historical or mythical woman.  The room was darkly lit-sacred and cathedral-like-with single spotlights beaming onto each renowned woman’s plate.  Walking the perimeter, I saw pre-historical goddesses and biblical figures like Ishtar and Judith mingling with Common Era heroines like St. Bridget, and more contemporary revolutionaries like Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Georgia O’Keeffe.

At that point in my life, I didn’t yet know how to cook (let alone have any idea that food and cooking would become such an important part of my life), and had never thrown my own dinner party.  But as I walked around the place settings-wishing I could run my finger along the edges of the plates and peek inside the chalice-style goblets-I could sense a sort of electric power emanating out of the table.  I felt the shadows of these women around the table, sharing their stories of hardship and struggle, quietly murmuring consoling words to another over lost loves, and crying out with delight over triumphs.  Their stories were all their own and also part of a shared history.  And although I probably couldn’t have articulated it standing in that museum room six years ago, I somehow knew that all of their stories were mine as well.”

Read the full post here.

I’ll be cross-posting my entries on Lilith’s blog, but I highly encourage you to check out their other bloggers as well.