Adamah Program Highlights Healthful, Ethical Eating

A panel discussing how Jewish values inform our relationship with food, health, and the land was hosted by the Jewish environmental group Adamah ATL. Moderated by the Adamah national organization’s CEO, Jakir Manela, the panelists – a rabbi, a dietician and a farmer — were local food advocates representing varying perspectives.

The event, on Thursday evening, Sept. 4, at The Dupree, featured a colorful table of healthy foods for attendees and highlighted the ethical, spiritual, and environmental dimensions of growing, harvesting, and consuming food. The program was thought provoking and offered ways that everyone can work toward a more sustainable and intentional future.

At Emory University, Rabbi Jonathan Crane is the Raymond F. Schinazi Scholar of Bioethics and Jewish Thought at the Ethics Center. He is also a professor in the Emory School of Medicine and affiliated faculty in the Department of Religion.

Crane encouraged people to consider why they eat foods, especially animal proteins and ultra-processed foods they know are harmful. “We convince ourselves that it’s natural. We convince ourselves that it’s necessary. We convince ourselves that it tastes nice, and we convince ourselves that it’s normal. Everybody else is doing it.”

Around the question of kosher practices and animal cruelty, Rabbi Crane responded: “I hear that question — to what degree is Judaism complicit in the suffering of animals, of laborers, of farmers, of climate harm? And I think that we should be very honest and sincere and candid. Of course we are, of course we’re complicit with it. The whole industry of kashrut is dominated by five companies, and they put their stamp of approval on thousands and thousands of products. [People] have been taught to believe that those symbols mean that the product has met certain kinds of qualities that may or may not be true.”

Crane encouraged audience members to look into some of the new hechsher companies, such as Magen Tzedek – An Ethical Certification for Food (https://www.magentzedek.org/), that are trying to create alternatives that take animal suffering, fair labor, and environmental protection into consideration.

For her part, nutritionist and dietician Julie Taube’s goal is to guide her clients toward eating healthier by emphasizing anti-inflammatory, whole foods and building nutritional plans for individuals and families. She is also mindful of how eating habits affect the environment.

“As Jews, we tend to buy and eat and serve like a ton of food, and food waste is an ethical Jewish value. I think we should take on some responsibility [around this]. And you know, when we’re being more planful, like being intentional as it relates to grocery lists, planning as you’re entertaining, and just being responsible, we are taking leadership and ownership and not wasting.”

Taube suggested supporting organizations like Bagel Rescue and Second Helpings, which take usable leftover foods from restaurants to distribute to those that are food insecure, as excellent ways to take action that aligns with Jewish values.

From his perspective as a community farmer, Daron Joffe, founder and CEO of Farmer D Consulting and author of “Citizen Farmers: The Biodynamic Way to Grow Healthy Food, Build Thriving Communities, and Give Back to the Earth,” spoke about how to nurture ourselves, the importance of developing patience and gratitude, understanding what it means to be a good steward, the health benefits of actually feeling soil in your hand, and supporting local farmers. Joffe has been instrumental in starting community gardens at schools and at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in an effort to help children, particularly, understand where our food comes from.

“Jewish people,” he said, “have some tools in the toolkit that are ancient and interesting that are worth sharing and are not necessarily confrontational or trying to make arguments. I think there’s an opportunity to engage a little bit with this part of Judaism and [discover] how it can help our own personal health and our communities, and how we can share some of these Jewish ethics and values.”

In summing up the goal for this program, Adamah ATL Director Joanna Kobylivker, shared: “Eating is such a common experience among Jewish gatherings, and there is so much energy that goes into a single meal. I really wanted to assemble a panel of thought leaders who could share how Judaism guides us to be thoughtful consumers of food from seed to fruit. By bringing together a rabbi, a nutritionist, and a farmer, all Jewish, we were able to both appreciate and express curiosity around many of our traditions around eating.”