Mostly, on shavuot, we study Torah and giving of the laws.  But aren’t all those dairy desserts also worthy of our analysis? Food,  after all,  is where all laws, values, and psychological dispositions are enacted. There are reasons that the giving of law is linked to eating a dairy meal, not the least of which being that milk sustains the body the way Torah maintains the soul. Mind, body and soul are linked in everything from the Israeli wheat harvest to the dietary laws.   For every studied word, there is also a bowl of ice cream with a scoop of societal meaning, or a slice of cheesecake topped with social values. We ask the significance of a word but not what is the meaning of this food.  A single phrase can be deconstructed to the importance of a single vowel, but we don’t ask who made this food,  what chemicals were used to produce it, how many animals were involved or whether the workers were treated well.  So for the record, thanks to Goodguide here is an another text worthy of study – your dairy dessert. 

Let’s take a look at several familiar kosher products, starting with whole milk,  a dairy dessert staple. If you are cooking with milk try Stonyfield Farm or Organic Valley which are companies that produce a nutritious product and have excellent social and environmental performance.  Horizon, however, and this is a surprise considering the enourmous attention paid to sustainability on their website, has a terrible record (according to Good Guide) with regard to toxic wastes and spills, to compliance with the clean air and water act and to policies that address climate change and greenhouse emissions.

Not up for cooking and looking to buy a ready-made favorite? Sara Lee cheesecake has a poor rating because it is high in saturated fats and is made with trans fats.  Although the company does well on issues of social responsibility despite some diversity related controversies, it isn’t proactive when it comes to global warming and greenhouse emissions, although they are doing a decent job when it comes to resource management and recycling.

Vanilla ice-cream is the quintessential easy read.  That is until you study a bit further.  Do you like Haagen-dazs? The record is complicated.  It is a great product for the environment and a very socially conscientious company, but it is terrible for your body.  The same holds true for Breyers, only it is even worse for your body than Haagen-dazs.  Yet both these products have a better story than Turkey Hill.  This company has a terrible record on the environment and while it does well with philanthropic giving, it musters only minimal good labor practices. And, if this can even be imagined, it is even worse for you than the other two ice creams. For instance, Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream uses artificial colorings, some of which have been linked to ADHD.  (Can someone please explain what is the exact color that gets added to vanilla ice cream?)

So this shavuot, don’t just study words the meaning of words, study the food as well.  Food and words are both symbolic expressions of our complexity. Its one thing to practice the ethics of ideas.  Ethics, however, also live in our bodies, our products and our patterns of consumption. A deep intellectual analysis always reflects back to the reader his or her own mind.  What is your dairy dessert going to teach you about yourself tomorrow evening?