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The (Food) Court Jew?

by · May 17th, 2009
Agriprocessors, Farming, Humor, Notable Press, Opinion, Rant!

Here’s an uncomfortable intersection between Jews and food ethics — the Jewish spokesman for food lobby American Council on Science and Health, Jeff Steir, appeared on the Daily Show last week to receive a royal roasting.

I presume the days when people don’t know they’re on a parody show are past, surely Steir knew what he was getting into. Presumably he thought this was the only way to get a hearing out there. But the entire segment me cringe. How embarrassing:

Little Crop of Horrors
thedailyshow.com

I’m going to state the obvious that his wearing a kipah doesn’t help after Agriprocessors, and so I’d like to publicly say for anybody reading out there: this man does not represent my people. He represents a lobby. Possibly it’s just his job. I don’t want to assume too much (the economy has been hard on everyone, after all). But not only has Steir seriously stretched food health logic to an extreme, he’s openly made a mockery of himself and his lobby. (All for the better, I suppose.)

But has he also made a mockery of his people? Has Jeff Steir opted to become a modern court Jew? Can we get the Anti-Defamation League on the phone — maybe “Abe Foxworthy”? — and defend our good name?

Good God, what a shande.

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8 Responses to “The (Food) Court Jew?”

  1. Josh Says:
    May 18th, 2009 at 7:46 am

    I’m not sure how to say this without sounding condescending, but, it is called, “satire.” Do you really think that he didn’t know what he was getting into? How many takes do you think they filmed because he was laughing too hard? Part of being Jewish is the ability to laugh at ourselves. I think it is great that he wore his kippah. I think being on the show is brave because he knew exactly how they were going to portray him and his cause. Not only that, but it is brave because it opens up the debate. His science may be faulty, but if you can demonstrate how, then show him. Why should he be any more embarrassed than anyone else who takes a position and, in the face of overwhelming evidence gets the chance to reconsider?

  2. Sarah Says:
    May 18th, 2009 at 2:18 pm

    I also felt uncomfortable hearing what he had to say and that he was wearing a kippah…However, I don’t think it’s fair to expect everyone wearing a kippah (and/ or identifying as an Observant Jew) to somehow ‘represent the Jews’, whatever that can mean. It’s certainly true that he represents a lobby that does things to society, the environment and people living in poverty around the world that I find abhorrent. But I also stand against the idea that some people – whether they are part of the Jewish food movement or part of the “organized Jewish community” – get to say what can and should be done in the name of Jews.

  3. Lawrence Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 1:53 am

    Josh, I’m not sure I would feel comfortable speculating as to Steir’s motivations without knowing more about the production methods of The Daily Show than I do. Given the tricks that can be played with simple cut-and-paste film editing, it’s possible that Samantha Bee was not behaving in quite such an over-the-top fashion at the time when he said what he said.

    There’s an old trick that dates at least as far back as Eisenhower’s first presidential campaign: film brief policy statements, then afterward record an actor asking questions to which the statements appear to be answers. Ike’s handlers used this method to create the illusion of frank discussions with common people about government, but the Daily Show could just as easily have used it to make Steir appear oblivious to Bee’s sarcasm as he spoke his mind.

    It’s also worth noting that not everyone is entirely familiar with The Daily Show’s attitudes and methods. If you’re young, educated and politically liberal then it may be that your entire peer group watches the show, leaving you to wonder how anyone could be snookered into making statements like “organic food leads to obesity” to that audience. Please remember that The Daily Show is watched by some two million Americans each night, which means that the other 302 million are not watching.

  4. Josh Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 6:43 am

    Hey Lawrence, I’m not sure I understand what you are getting at. If Mr. Steir was in on the joke, then you’re supporting my point that he isn’t taking himself so seriously. If he wasn’t, and you’re right about the editing of the show, then you’re supporting my point about him being brave for presenting his views in a way which was sure to get publicity, both positive and negative.

    As to the point about not everyone being familiar with The Daily Show, I’m also confused. Your original post asked whether Mr. Steir was a “court Jew” for appearing the fool on a comedy show. If nobody is watching the show, then how could he being embarrassing his people?

    With regard to the idea that he was “snookered” into making the statement about obesity, I’m pretty sure that his point was that because organic produce costs more to produce than industrial produce, poorer people will eat less healthy food which could lead to an increase in obesity among poor folk. That being the case, once again, if he knew they were going to take that line out of context, if he was in on the joke, then he is demonstrating a healthy sense of humor. If he wasn’t, he is simply presenting his point of view.

    I really don’t understand what upset you about his appearance other than the fact that you disagree with his position.

  5. Ben Murane Says:
    May 19th, 2009 at 3:07 pm

    Josh, I’m saying it’s bad for Jews when then lie in public and worse when it’s on national television. It’s particularly problematic that he appears orthodox because religious Jews have suffered a recent trope of special villification (perhaps deservedly so) for the Agriprocessors-fed appearance that Jews, Judaism or kosher eaters care little about animal welfare.

    Also, perhaps I didn’t mention the funniest part of showing up on this funny show: it’s very funny for a guy paid $155,000/year to be complaining about elitism (full info on the SourceWatch page on ACSH).

  6. Josh Says:
    May 20th, 2009 at 7:32 am

    Maybe it is living in Israel that makes me feel this way, but Jews are always being vilified and always will be. And worse yet, we do it to ourselves as well. John Stewart is the host of the show! Bottom line, who gives a rats ass that some guy on TV says something which may be a lie or may not be and he does it with a kippah on?

    Isn’t there that famous quote (which I can’t remember right now) where it is said something like, “They hate us because we are rich and we steal they’re money and they hate us because we are poor and we are the parasites of the world. They hate us because we are strong and we oppress them and they hate us because we are weak and we march like sheep to the ovens.” In other words, who cares?

    That this guy is wearing a kippah makes him no more dangerous to us than the fact that John Stewart himself is Jewish and doesn’t conceal that fact. If the guy who is lying is Jewish and the guy who is telling the truth is Jewish all it means is that they will hate both of them fir different reasons.

    But I don’t think that just because a guy earns a good living that he can’t speak intelligently about elitism. How many times in the campaign did President Obama talk about the middle and lower class or the average guy? How much money did he pull in last year?

  7. Josh Says:
    May 20th, 2009 at 7:33 am

    Oops. That should be, “steal THEIR money”. I am such a bad typist.

  8. Lawrence Says:
    May 24th, 2009 at 2:52 am

    Josh, I think you’re confusing me with Ben. I did not write the article.

    What I’m trying to say is that Steir may have . . .

    . . . been unaware of the nature of the show, and therefore may not have realized that he would play badly to the audience.

    . . . been filmed and subsequently edited in a way that makes him appear to agree with deliberately outrageous statements from the interviewer.

    Or none of the above. We simply don’t have enough information.

    I see the supposed logic behind organic farming leading to obesity, but it does not follow. There’s no reason to assume that poor people, unable to afford organic carrots, will buy Big Macs instead. If they are in the habit of eating carrots, they will save money by buying industrially farmed carrots. These may not be as good as the organic ones, but I doubt they contribute to obesity.

    The fact is that the problem you describe—unhealthy food as the most affordable option—already exists as a direct result of industrial food production. A warning that organic production will cause a problem that predates it seems either uninformed or disingenuous.

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