I think I’ll take the opportunity to use this forum as a platform for ethical animal husbandry. Six months ago, we decided to take the first step towards self-sufficiency and true consideration of the food we eat, and bought three chickens for eggs. While it was sometimes difficult not to, we have not bought one single egg since then. It was a step that seemed huge at the time, but now our flock has increased to eight (a good amount of hens for six people).

We are STARTING to think about the possibility of keeping and slaughtering our own (my father-in-law is a shochet), as it seems increasingly difficult to countenance eating animals that have been kept in horrid conditions and die surrounded by the smell of fear and blood. The ’spark’ that Judi talked about makes you wonder… what kind of spark would such an animal possess? In my family we analyze everything to death – would any thinking person want to eat an animal that had lived and died in misery? Would eating such an animal pollute you in some way, if not physically then spiritually? Is such an animal even kosher? We are beginning to think not.

We cannot pretend indefinitely that our food comes from the supermarket. I completely agree with Judi that you get a different feeling from eating quality food than from its bland supermarket counterpart. The first time we used the parsley we had grown ourselves we thought it might be something different, because it tasted so strong. If green has a flavor, that is it. The supermarket counterpart just can’t compare.

Enough rambling… I could go on all day about this subject. I loved your article and look forward to others.

Sorry to get wishy-washy and esoteric (I’m not normally like this, I promise), but I have different feelings when I finish eating an apple that I’ve selected from a tree at the top of a bluff in a CT shoreline town, a golden apple slightly reddened from where the sun hit and tasting almost exactly like honey- than I do when I eat a generic Gala apple from Stop & Shop. Why? Same when I make a meal from organic vegetables from a local farm. I feel… energized, sustained, happy.

Chabad (and Hassidus, in general) has an interesting paradigm: everything has a “spark” and when you eat something, its “spark” becomes part of you. I’ve heard that mostly in terms of eating meat. In theory, you “elevate” the “spark” in the meat when it becomes part of you. In my overly hyper-analytical mind, I can postulate that that’s a way of getting people to slow down with the cholent- my best-case scenario. Or it could be a way of promoting what would normally be considered an unhealthy and unethical meat-centric diet as one that actually performs a “vital” purpose. This is just part of the reason why I’d make a lousy Hasid.

Your post is great – I’m reminded of some texts we learned at Hazon that talk about the reason we eat food. If I remember correctly, one side said it was for pleasure and nourishment and the other side said it was to serve God. I like the way you twist and nuance that idea.

Sadly, I’m not familiar enough with the texts to quote the source of what we learned…do you happen to know what passage I’m talking about, and if I got the passage right??