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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/40482/full/40482/food-for-thought-slow-down-before-you-take-that-next-bite/ <br /><br /> <b>Food for thought: Slow down before you take that next bite</b> <br /> Thursday, November 12, 2009 | by <br /><br /><p>Remember the old refrain, “You are what you eat?”</p> <p>Some in the Jewish community have taken that message to heart, and are pushing to redefine the boundaries of kashrut.</p> <p>Addressing the Union of Reform Judaism’s biennial this week, its president, Eric Yoffie, pushed the Reform movement’s Green Table/Just Table initiative. The rabbi urged his audience to “think about how the food we eat advances the values we hold as Reform Jews.”</p> <p>In that regard he proposed that Reform Jews develop more ethical food practices, such as eating less meat, consuming locally grown produce and even eating more slowly.</p> <p>One need not be an environmental scientist to acknowledge the facts about food production, especially regarding the cattle, poultry and dairy industries: Together those three harm the environment more than the oil and automobile industries combined.</p> <p>Have you driven down I-5 through the San Joaquin Valley breadbasket lately? On most days, the air is dirtier than L.A.’s.</p> <p>A few years ago, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization reported that raising cattle generates more greenhouse gases than driving cars. Factor in the drain on water and land resources in meat production, the resulting mountains of waste and — let’s not forget — that eating too much red meat is harmful to your health, and it’s clear people should reduce their meat consumption.</p> <p>What makes any of this Jewish? Yoffie says his recommendations are “not about kashrut,” but Jewish activists some time ago launched the eco-kosher movement. Those activists urge sustainable agriculture practices, cruelty-free meat production and healthier eating. Yoffie’s speech suggests these ideas have gained currency.</p> <p>Some would argue that the rules of kashrut already consider the well being of animals. Moreover, they would say, by invoking holiness in everyday acts such as eating, Judaism already imparts the kind of food consciousness championed by the eco-kosher movement.</p> <p>We would agree, but do those rules go far enough?</p> <p>How “kosher” is meat with a hechsher (kosher seal of approval),  if that meat was flown thousands of miles to reach your plate? How “kosher” is it to consume produce picked by migrant workers deprived of basic economic security?</p> <p>Thoughtful Jews ask these sorts of questions all the time. Does it mean we have to redefine kosher? Not necessarily. But we agree with eco-kosher proponents that to live up to the highest ideals of Judaism, we cannot ignore the impact our food choices have on the wider world.</p>

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