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.

This simple yet powerful initiative started two years ago. To date more than 250 establishments have earned the social seal of approval. It is part of a larger program to raise awareness of the connection between social change and the Jewish tradition. Today this program involves Israelis of all religious backgrounds, serving as model of social organizing as well as social change. This is an Israeli idea that could and should be exported!