MJM:  Tell me about the "amazingly complex relationship" the Jewish
community has with food and how you see that changing/evolving.

LK:  That's a great question. On the one hand, Jewish tradition has thousands of years of rich food history - from "kashrut," which literally designates foods that are "fit" to eat, to food blessings - separate blessings for bread, wine, food that grows in the earth and on trees etc. - to historical roots as an agriculture-based people. (It can be hard to imagine that now that the word Blackberry conjures up a hand held device instead of a fruit!)

On the other hand, the Jewish people are incredibly mobile and have had to adapt culturally wherever they've lived. So we've got Ashkenazi foods like blintzes and matzoh balls, Sephardic dishes like Hamin, and Middle Eastern dishes like hummus and falafel hanging out all under one culinary tent - just to name a few!

Recently, a lot of Jewish people in America (and elsewhere) have started to get excited by what I like to call "conscious eating" - eating foods that are good for the earth, as well as delicious and healthy for our families. So foods that are organic, free range, or locally grown, or sourced from sustainably-raised animals. So, just like it always has, I think that Jewish food today is in the process of adapting towards this sort of eating as Jews ask the question, "how can I continue to honor my ancestors while eating more healthily and sustainably?

MJM: What came first for you--the Jewish/kosher angle or the sustainable food angle?

LK:  I was what you might call a typical "Hebrew School drop out." I was bat mitzvahed at age 13 at my Conservative synagogue, and then more or less stopped actively participating in Jewish life. All the while, however, I was an active "environmentalist" - the thought that we have a responsibility to take care of our world just made a lot of inherent sense to me.

Little did I know that this love of being green would be my entry point back into Jewish life. Intrigued by the title, I took a class in college called "Judaism and Ecology" which explored the connections between Jewish tradition and the natural world. Wow - did that class change my life! I ended up majoring in Environmental Studies with a focus on Religion and coming to work for Hazon - a Jewish Environmental non-profit in New York
City. Once I found a relevant connection between Jewish tradition and my values - something that really inspired me - I couldn't get enough!

Since then, my two passions - Judaism and green living/sustainable food - have really grown together to the point where I can hardly think about one as separate from the other.

MJM: How did you get involved with The Jew and the Carrot?

LK:  The Jew & The Carrot was really a gift that fell into my lap! I've worked at Hazon for the last 4 years. For the first three years, I ran our Jewish Community-Supported Agriculture program, Tuv Ha'Aretz, connecting farmers and synagogues to help Jewish families purchase local, organic food in their communities.

Then, about a year and a half ago, when I went part time at Hazon to try my hand as a freelance writer (www.leahkoenig.com) - something I've wanted to do for a long time. At that point, with the blessing of my supervisors, I switched over to editing Hazon's wonderful food blog, The Jew & The Carrot, which was still in its first year. I feel incredibly blessed to have the chance to write about the connection of food and Jewish life for my "day job."

MJM:  What would you tell people who think the laws of kashrut are outdated and unnecessary (those who say we no longer get tricynosis from pigs so feel free to order up that BLT)?

LK:  Kashrut is anything but outdated - we just have to find the connections
between our rich tradition, and the way we live now.

One of the things that has been reinforced for me, as editor of The Jew &
The Carrot, is that Jews are just an incredibly diverse group of people!   We have readers who are card-carrying bacon eaters, as well as readers who go beyond the letter of the law when it comes to kashrut. Hazon openly embraces this type of diversity within our community, and strives to be inclusive to people, regardless of where they fall on the spectrum.

I personally also believe it is up to each individual to decide if, how,
and when to observe the kosher laws. Personally however, I deeply value the message behind kashrut that tells us to "slow down" when it comes to eating. We live in a society where we can eat mangoes shipped in from Peru at anytime of the year, and a gallon of milk at 3AM from 7/11. But although this is a convenient way to live, what are we giving up for this convenience? What ecosystems or communities are we damaging in the process?

The inherent message of kashrut is "just because certain foods are
available doesn't mean you should eat them." I love that kashrut reminds us to check our food choices against a larger value system. So whether you choose to follow the traditional kosher laws or not, there's something relevant in kashrut for everybody.

MJM: How can we help our kids connect the ideas of being green with keeping kosher?

LK:  I think one of the best ways to connect kids to being green - especially when it comes to food - is to take them to a farm. It's interactive, and kids will get a visual understanding of where the carrot on their plate comes from, once they've pulled one out of the ground.

The Jew & The Carrot put together a resource list of "family farm vacations" - to help people plan family day trips (or longer excursions),
to working organic farms.

As for keeping kosher, like instilling any value in our kids, this sort of thing takes time. Starting conversations at the dinner table about food values in general, and keeping kosher in particular, is a good way to go. The food helps to ground the conversation in something practical, immediate - and delicious!

MJM:  What are some of your favorite recipes/tips?

LK:  Although I'm a big fan of convenience when I'm tight on time - I think that striving to make homemade foods whenever possible, is very important. How often do we remember a particular TV dinner we ate as kids? Probably not as much as we remember our moms' (or dads') amazing vegetable soup or brisket.

Lots of delicious, nourishing vegetable dishes are easy to make, can be made with ingredients from the farmers' market - and are even kid friendly! Here are a couple to try:

Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip:

Mushroom Soup with Chives

Quinoa Salad with beets and orange:

Rhubarb Crisp (best in spring):

 

 

Leah Koenig is the Editor of The Jew & The Carrot: Hazon's blog on Jews, food, and contemporary life. (www.jcarrot.org)

The Jew & The Carrot features the latest in food news, celebrity interviews, cookbook reviews and giveaways, delicious, healthy recipes, and much more. Leah is also a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, New York Press, Jewish Living Magazine, Lilith, Jewcy, and others.
www.leahkoenig.com

 

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