Nine Faiths, One Vegan Lunch at Windsor Castle

On the Agenda — The Largest-Ever Commitment To Take Environmental Action
By Leah Koenig
Published October 27, 2009, The Forward


On Tuesday November 3, His Royal Highness Prince Philip will host over 200 guests for lunch at Windsor Castle, the 900-year-old palace that serves as an official residence of his and Queen Elizabeth’s. But this lunch will be noticeably different from the roasted quail and crème fraîche typical of castle meals. Instead, the menu is entirely vegan and centered on seasonal, regionally sourced ingredients.

The reason: an interfaith conference called “Many Heavens, One Earth: Faith Commitments for a Living Planet,” to be attended by leaders from Jewish, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Daoist, Hindu, Muslim, Shinto and Sikh backgrounds. Co-sponsored by the Unite d Nations Development Program and Alliance of Religions and Conservation (or ARC, a faith-based environmental organization co-founded by Prince Philip in 1995), the conference has the goal of presenting unique seven-year commitments that outline each religion’s plan to foster action around climate change within the participants’ communities.

The seven-year framework resonates deeply within Jewish tradition, which mandates a weekly day of rest on Shabbat and a septennial resting of agricultural land in Israel during the shmita year. At the conference, eight Jewish delegates — a collection of educators, entrepreneurs, rabbis, activists and politicians from the United States and Israel — will present a commitment that calls upon Jewish individuals and organizations to “play a distinct and determined role in responding to climate change” between now and the next shmita year, which starts September 2015.

“Jewish people have moved through history by marrying small steps with big vision,” said attendee Nigel Savage, whose organization, Hazon, played a lead role in crafting the Jewish commitment. Now is the time, he said, to connect small actions — like switching to energy-efficient light bulbs or planting a synagogue vegetable garden — with education and advocacy.

While not the first gathering to marry faith and sustainability, this conference marks the largest-ever commitment by faiths to take environmental action. “Religions have the unique capacity to think beyond the next business cycle to long-term generational change,” said delegate Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair, who founded the Jewish Climate Change Campaign in Israel.

Not coincidentally, the conference has been scheduled to precede the international climate-change talks that will be held in Copenhagen in December. “The U.N. and World Bank (which will attend both gatherings) are among the world’s biggest, multilateral organizations,” said Rabbi Sinclair. “These organizations are beginning to realize that religions have a crucial role in addressing climate change.”

So what about that lunch? The meal at Windsor will be, in effect, a model for the type of eco-minded choices that the delegates hope to encourage within their constituencies. Co-conference organizer Victoria Finlay said that ARC chose vegan food to provide a low-impact meal that accommodates the widest spectrum of the delegates’ dietary needs. Daoists, for example, cannot eat onions, garlic or other ingredients that might cause a disruption of airflow within the body. Religious Hindus avoid meat and eggs and observant Muslims eschew pork and meat that has not been ritually slaughtered. (Understandably, the organizers avoided the logistical headache of offering separate meals that cater to nine different religions.)

The resulting menu includes roasted pear salad with cobnuts and chicory, Portobello mushrooms stuffed with artichoke and herbs, pearl barley risotto and organic wine bottled by Orthodox nuns in France’s Rhone Valley. This will be the first-ever vegan effort undertaken by Edible Food Design, one of Windsor’s regular catering companies. Head chef Sophie Douglas-Bate said her “heart sank at the thought of cooking without butter and cream,” but she ultimately enjoyed the challenge.

Despite the organizers’ least-common-denominator approach, however, the lack of a mashgiach and separate dishes means that kosher-keeping Jewish delegates will not be able to eat the lunch — they are the only participants unable to do so. And although they were offered the option of ordering food from an outside kosher kitchen, some of them declined. “I realized I’d be eating food that was triple-wrapped in plastic with disposable cutlery at an environmental conference,” said Rabbi Sinclair of the kosher offerings. “That was a moment when I realized kosher is important, but not enough.” Instead, Sinclair plans to eat fruit, salad and “a few granola bars,” brought from home.

While Rabbi Sinclair’s lunch might not be entirely satisfying, ultimately the more important challenges lie beyond one lunch at Windsor. “We’re interested in what happens next.” Savage said. “The next shmita year is far enough away to imagine big changes, but near enough that it’s not pie in the sky.”

For Hazon, the seven-year plan is part of a larger campaign that has already begun to galvanize action around climate change in the Jewish community. Delegate Naomi Tsur, a seasoned environmental activist who recently became deputy mayor of Jerusalem, intends to use the plan as a springboard toward a more thoughtful approach to the shmita year in 2015. “Shmita is big business in our city, but the way it is currently observed is a tragedy,” she said. Tsur hopes to involve Jerusalem’s city gardens in raising awareness around sustainable agriculture’s connection to climate change. “This is our opportunity to think globally and act locally,” she said.

Addendum

Neglected to include that the first recipe is for INCREDIBLE pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Riverview and Recipes

Box this week:

apples
sweet potatoes
collards
arugula
lettuce
grits
muffins
turnips
cilantro

We enjoyed a beautiful day up at Riverview Farm on Sunday. We got a full tour of of the farm - pet pigs, saw where the corn is milled into the grits we get to enjoy this week, and sampled turnip greens and cilantro along the way. Of course we shared a delicious meal that ended with some seasonal and super yummy dessert - the recipes generously shared by Robin Rosen and Louise Spiro

INGREDIENTS

1 cup canned pumpkin (try subbing some pureed sweet potatoes for some of the pumpkin)

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 bag semisweet chocolate chips 12 oz.


DIRECTIONS

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.


Apple Coffee Cake

3 cups flour
1 /2 cup orange juice
2 1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup oil
3 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
3 1/2 tsp baking powder



Combine and beat for 3 minuets

apple mixture

4 apples sliced

add 3 tsp cinnamon and 3 Tablespoons sugar ( I used brown sugar)

optional to add to apples:3/4 cups melter butter (or margarine)

2 cups graham cracker crumbs 3/4 cups brown sugar

3/4 cups chopped nuts

Grease and flour tube pan. pour 1/4 of batter into pan and place 1/2 apples on top. Add remaining batter and cover the top with remain apples. Bake 350 degree for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until brown.


Upcoming Events:

Vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes with Rabbi Norry

Whether you are thinking about a bird free feast, or simply looking for some new vegetarian sides and option - join us for an evening of inspiration with Rabbi Norry. Be in touch (shearith.organic@gmail.com) if you are interested in participating, as space will be limited (Tentative date, Thursday, November 19th)

A Contrarian View on Apple Picking

This article comes from Slate.com, and it's a rather cranky view of Pick-Your-Own Apple operations. We tend to get very righteous and rhapsodic about fresh food in our CSA, so just for "fun" I thought a contrarian point of view might generate some thinking or comment. By the way, our visit to Riverview Farm yesterday was magical and delightful -- a great outing and community builder. Anyway, if you'd like to respond to this article, I'm happy to post other points of view. Just send an email to ninarubinatl@gmail.com

Against Apple Picking
Why pick-your-own orchards are a wasteful scam.

By Daniel Gross
Updated Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, at 7:00 AM ET

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Every autumn, as the leaves change and brisk winds banish all remnants of summer, many of us head to the country to participate in a feel-good seasonal tradition: apple picking. But as Daniel Gross argues in this article from October 2006, it's delusional to think that the activity is good for the environment, farmers, or the economy. Apple picking may be a satisfying ritual and pleasant day out with the kids, but it's also a wasteful scam.

A few weeks ago, the New York Times ran a poignant article about anguished fruit farmers in California. Because of a crackdown on illegal immigrants, they couldn't find workers willing to pick their pears, even at $150 per day. And as a result, perfectly good fruit rotted in the fields.

Perhaps the California farmers, who depend on migrant Mexican labor, have got the wrong business model. Instead of paying workers to pick their fruit, they should try another strategy: making customers pay to pick the fruit themselves. Savvy farmers all over the country have discovered a practice that might not work as a nationwide agricultural policy, but that has allowed some economically inefficient orchards to thrive: Encourage yuppies and their progeny to come pick your fruit—they'll pay handsomely for the privilege, buy more than they'd ordinarily consume, and then shell out for all sorts of other value-added products. It's the best use of child labor since Manchester's early 19^th-century textile mills.

Apple picking is a cherished rite of fall, a wholesome and fun family outing, a throwback to a simpler time when people weren't so disconnected from the production of their sustenance. I look forward to it every year. It's also a wasteful scam.

We've been educated (or bullied, depending on your outlook) by foodies like Alice Waters and Dan Barber to adopt the European concept of terroir—the best stuff to consume is the stuff grown in closest proximity. For people in the Northeast, that's fine in the summer, when the Union Square greenmarket bursts with locally grown exotic greens, yellow squash, and heirloom tomatoes of such flavor (and cost) as to make a gourmand weep.

But in the fall, while the region's landscape lights up with foliage, the farm stands' color palette becomes more drab: potatoes, root vegetables, pumpkins, gourds, and, of course, apples. And so, to the pick-your-own orchards we go.

Silverman's Farm, the farm I frequent in Fairfield County, Conn., is a pick-your-own farm for Type A's: a high-volume, diversified joint. It attracts pickers from New Haven, New York, and all points in between. (You can rusticate and still be back to Park Slope in time for dinner.) Several tractors take turns hauling wagons with families up the slopes, and then back to the large store, where pumpkins, jams, ciders, pies, and flowers are sold. After jostling through the crowds—gaining access to the choice apple trees and a quick checkout lane requires the same level of competitiveness, foresight, and sharp elbows as winning admission to top nursery schools—it's across the street to the petting zoo for the exquisite pleasure of having llamas and goats lick pellets out of your hands.

On Sunday, we experienced a more laid-back, echt version of apple-picking on a postcard-perfect day at Bartlett's Orchard in the Berkshires.

The apple-picking experience sheds light on some unflattering truths about the American economy.

First, we regard nature as a realm to be conquered and tamed for our recreation, not to be preserved and nourished for its own sake. At the orchards, kids are instructed on how to pick apples—twist them gently—in such a way that leaves the tree intact. (Of course, for every child who closely adheres to the instructions, there's another who shakes the branch heartily, sending a cascade of smaller apples, leaves, and branches down to the ground.) But these trees are hardly natural. They aren't the sort of majestic, voluptuous apple trees you would have found in the Garden of Eden. They're dwarf apple trees, stumpy bushes engineered so that their fruit grows just a few feet off the ground. They're the veal calves of the fruit world.

In the United States, overconsumption is encouraged as a positive good (see under: McMansions, SUVs, all-you-can-eat buffets). Add pick-your-own apples to the list. At Silverman's Farm, pickers have a choice: $14 for a small bag and $24 for a large bag. At Bartlett's, it's less: $9 for a peck (10 pounds), $15 for a bushel (20 pounds). But even though consumers here avoid all the supply-chain costs they would pay at a grocery store, it's not that much cheaper. At Peapod, a three-pound bag of apples goes for $2.79, about 93 cents a pound.

And, just as people who visit wineries end up walking away with a case instead of a bottle, it's a given that people leave pick-your-own orchards with a surfeit of apples. We left with two almost-full small bags, about 20 pounds, or between 60 and 70 apples. In a good week at home, we'll go through a dozen. Pickers tell themselves they'll put the farm-fresh apples to good use: making homemade apple sauce, or whipping up an apple pie. But most people don't have the time. Besides, pick-your-own orchards sell the processed versions right there, in the irresistible form of apple cider and apple-cider donuts. (Even when they go to pick fresh produce, Americans use it as an excuse to consume deep-fried, carb-loaded junk.)

Apple-picking also makes us vulnerable to that peculiarly American malady: the paradox of choice. Sophisticated American consumers must develop the ability to pick and choose among hundreds of varieties of wine, cheese, chocolate, and coffee. Well, like everything else in life, apple connoisseurship can be reduced to a convenient spreadsheet. Did you know that Granny Smith apples are tart and are superb for pies but poor for sauce, while Sun Crisp are tangy sweet and are very good for salad but only fair for pies? And how can you keep track of all the different varieties once they're in the bag? If you thought comparing apples to oranges was a fruitless endeavor, try comparing apples to apples.

Daniel Gross is the Moneybox columnist for Slate and the business columnist for Newsweek. You can e-mail him at moneybox@slate.com and follow him on Twitter. His latest book, Dumb Money: How Our Greatest Financial Minds Bankrupted the Nation, has just been published in paperback.

Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2233467/

Visit our famer -- Sunday October 25th

1. Box Items this week:

apples, greens, lettuce, peppers
Charlotte's neighbor made the cane syrup from sugar cane he grew and hand stripped and turned into syrup - great for baking and biscuits!

2. Reminder - this Sunday, October 25th 2:00 PM - if you haven't responded to the evite - let us know if you're planning on coming (via evite or write to me at naomi.rabkin@gmail.com - We'll send out directions and caravan/carpool information on Friday morning.

3. A few of us have been discussing the possibility of donating a portion of the Tuv Ha'Aretz administrative fees to the relief efforts of local farmers after the flood. Please respond to the poll when you RSVP to the farm visit event, or email naomi.rabkin@gmail.com by Friday, October 23rd.

Naturally Wrong

By, Liat Racin, found of kosherslowfood.org
This piece was adapted from the Jew and the Carrot Blog

“These are the bad guys,” I whispered to myself in dismay as I exited the Natural Products Expo East at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Hall. I felt disappointed and ‘empty,’ even though my bag was completely full of free food and beverage product samples. I came to this three day exhibition with high expectations. I envisioned a room full of like-minded entrepreneurs and retailers, dedicated to selling and promoting organic and environmentally sustainable products. Though businesses and their respective products were cannily marketed in this manner, they seemed anything but. It was a clear exhibition, rather, of how industry is undermining the true mission of the organic movement.

As I roamed past the 1,500 some booths, most of the products on display seemed identical. In addition to most food samples being distributed with plastic cutlery (with no recycling bin in close proximity most of the times), ‘organic cookies’ followed by ‘organic ready-made dinners’ and ‘organic electrolyte filled’ beverages seemed to be the major trend within the food section. It all seemed like one big fast food and sugar-albeit organic- loaded event wrapped up in a convenient microwavable plastic package. Sadly, only a few businesses seemed to market genuinely sustainable and natural products.

Disheartened, I traveled a few hours north to attend Maine’s annual Common Ground Country Fair, organized by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. It was a breath of fresh air. Family owned farms and businesses offering a unique assortment of organic food, fiber, cosmetics, and wisdom reminded me that local economics is the most natural and environmentally sound production and distribution practice. With no bottled plastic water beverages in site, I happily drank the ‘naturally’ electrolyte filled local tap water while celebrating local culture and traditions. I was forced to question my consumption habits rather than convincing myself that the most difficult change I would have to make was buying organic or natural at the nearby supermarket giant.

In retrospect, my mistake was simple; I falsely equated organic and/or natural foods and other consumer products to being sustainable and healthy. But to really go natural, we must be able to look past the shiny packaging and see the true product inside along with the people who helped produce it. For many of us who are busy and work full-time, the shrewd industrial marketing schemes are indeed dangerous. As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to follow this simple rhyme: anything that may appease our conscious about going ‘green’, while conveniently requiring minimal changes to our daily routine, is naturally, naturally wrong.

Bounty and Deprivation – Reflections after the Harvest of Sukkot

By Liz Schwartz
Liz, a member of the Portland Tuv Ha’Aretz, allowed us to adapt this drash which she gave during Sukkot. We share it now as the topics it addresses of food’s abundance and scarcity, are still relevant.

Judaism is particularly connected to food and Sukkot, especially, to the bounty of our fall harvest. In Portland, now is the time for the first apples of the season, in all their amazing varieties, for winter squashes, for root vegetables, and for the last of summer’s abundance: the tomatoes, the zucchini, the pesto made from homemade basil. It is a time to celebrate the simple pleasure of growing and cooking and eating.

The flip side of Sukkot, the season of bounty, is deprivation. While my sweetie and I have been able to eat like kings this summer from our very own front-yard garden, many in our community never get to eat a fresh tomato or cucumber or any other produce, for that matter. My neighborhood in NE Portland, which is mostly low-income, was, not too long ago, a food desert. Now we have the grocery stores, New Seasons and a Safeway within walking distance. But despite this, fresh produce is still not a regular part of many of my neighbors’ diets.

Awhile back, I had several discussions with friends and acquaintances, including a local farmer, about why low-income people don’t eat local, fresh, organic food. I was surprised at their responses (I’d characterize these folks as liberal progressives). One person said that if people just stopped buying soda they could afford fruits and vegetables instead. Another said that if people took the money they spent on drugs and alcohol and used it for food, they could afford to eat properly (he was apparently equating the term “low-income” with “substance abuser,” something that really surprised me). Several people commented, in rather disparaging ways, that if people understood more about nutrition and health they’d make better choices. Not one of the people I spoke with talked about the cost of food as a barrier to eating more produce. As a low-income person myself, I was amazed at these responses.

Portland’s chapter of Tuv Ha’Aretz has been involved in trying to help with some of these issues through our gleaning parties. We’ve gone out to our partner farm, Sauvie Island Organics, three times now (and we hope to go more), and with the help of over 20 people, we’ve been able to harvest over 700 lbs of food, all of which we’ve donated to local food pantries. It’s been a wonderful experience to be out on the farm picking beans and squash, getting to know new people and, most of all, saving good food that would otherwise go uneaten and giving it to those in need. Your CSA can do this too!

As we move from the bounty of Sukkot, let us be mindful of those who long to buy apples for their children but regretfully pass them by. These people are our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, even perhaps ourselves. Let us recommit ourselves to the true promise of Sukkot, and work to provide healthy affordable and delicious food for everyone.

Great Zucchini Recipe

Zucchini is still much with us, even as the weather cools and the days shorten. If you're absolutely sick of using zucchini in ratatouille or stuffed baked zukes and want to try something really simple, here's chef Michael Symon's Zucchini Crudo. Photo by Donna Ruhlman from a forthcoming cookbook by Symon.

Zucchi Crudo

2 zucchini (about ¾ pound), thinly sliced
2 yellow summer squash (about 1½ pounds), thinly sliced
1 tablespoon plus ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 shallot, finely sliced
Grated zest and juice of 3 lemons, or to taste
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄3 cup slivered or sliced almonds, toasted
1⁄3 cup chopped fresh dill

Combine the zucchini and yellow squash in a colander in the sink and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the salt over it. Toss to coat, and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes, no longer. In a large bowl, combine the garlic and shallot, sprinkle with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, and whisk in the lemon zest and juice. Whisk in the olive oil in a steady stream, then the almonds and dill. Taste for seasoning and acidity (it should be nicely acidic). Add the zucchini and squash to the dressing, toss, and serve immediately.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

This week's Box

Apples

Sweet Potatoes

Butternuts

Eggplant

Greens

Radish or Turnips

Peppers

Eggplant "Pasta"

Ingredients

2 medium-large eggplants

Kosher salt, for purging

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon chile flakes

4 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup cream

4 tablespoons basil chiffonade

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Freshly ground pepper

Directions

Peel each eggplant leaving 1-inch of skin at the top and bottom unpeeled. Slice the eggplant thinly lengthwise, about 1/4-inch thick. Evenly coat each slice with the salt and purge on a sheet pan fitted with a rack for 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water and roll in paper towels to dry. Slice the pieces into thin strips to resemble pasta.

In a large saute pan heat the oil. Add the garlic and chili flakes and toast. Add the eggplant "pasta" and toss to coat. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Add the cream and increase heat to thicken sauce. Finally add the basil and Parmesan and toss to combine. Season with pepper, no salt needed as the eggplant will have residual salt from the purge. Serve immediately.

Alton Brown Food Network Website

www.foodnetwork.com

Reusing and Recycling Your Lulav and Etrog

Adapted from The Jew and the Carrot Blog, by Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster

As a teacher of Judaism, I am often at a loss to explain one of the most beautiful and yet most pagan Jewish rituals: the celebration of Sukkot with the four species (arba minim) of the lulav and etrog. For me, the beauty of the lulav and etrog is often bittersweet, since my time with the two is so fleeting. Unlike other Jewish ritual objects (like candlesticks or a shofar), the four species are living objects. I have to enjoy them before they wilt away.

But that doesn’t mean you need to throw them out when Sukkot is over. I was inspired by my colleague Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner (founder of the Foundation For Family Education, Inc, a source of interactive Judaic programming, as well as www.jewishfreeware.org), who shared the following list of ways to “recycle” the four species. With his list in mind, I can continue to bring the happiness of sukkot, and the diverse symbolism of the four species, into all corners of my Jewish life for the rest of the year.

Rabbi Lerner wrote: “I save the etrog and use the peel and/or zest to make a vodka or tequila liqueur used on Hanukkah as a historical connection between Sukkot and Hanukkah, either in recipes or as a beverage. With a “kosher l’pesah” potato vodka, I use etrog zest and peel to make a liqueur for the Seder. When the children were young, we saved their etrogim in a vase with their name and the year written on it in Hebrew.

Some people like to insert cloves and cinnamon bark into the etrog and use it as a solid “besammim” (spices) for Havdalah. Others use the etrog as it dries to keep drawers of clothing smelling fresh.

I use the lulav itself to brush hametz during bedikat hametz (checking for hametz before Passover) and then burn both together.

Another use is a decoration for the sukkah in following years, writing in Hebrew the name of the user(s) and the year of use. I use the myrtle leaves included with other spices for besamim for Havdalah. The stems I cut into lengths and then cut a pen point as on a feather quill for writing small Jewish ritual texts such as mezuzot or tefillen. (I should add that I teach how it is done in theory, but I am not a sofer.)

I root the willows because they are not the “weeping willow” with drooping serrated leaves but a special species known as the “River Willow” or “arvei nahal” with a reddish-brown twig and long, smooth and narrow leaves. After they sprout roots in vases with water, I transplant them into containers with soil. Thereafter I distribute them as a Jewish “Johnny willow tree” to as many who would plant them. They can be raised into trees or large bushes as I once did in a congregation from which I had students cut fresh aravot for the lulav each day and then ultimately to tie hoshanot, for Hoshana Rabbah.

I use the box from the etrog for a tzedakah box, although as one person told me “you can always use another box.” They are wonderful for storing Jewish collectibles, and if fragile, they also have today a foam rubber lining.

I used the flax in which the etrog once used to be wrapped to twist into wicks as is described in the Mishnah, and I show how well they work in Hanukkah workshops using my collection of clay oil lamps from the Bronze through Byzantine Israel. Now, because flax is rarely used, I have turned to use the foam rubber in the etrog box from which to cut and create decorations for our Sukkah.

The plastic bag for the lulav becomes a wonderful quiver for my arrows for use in my Lag BaOmer programs of archery and arrowheads, and even a Bible lesson on David’s use of artillery.” Happy Recycling!