What kind of meat do Jewish food activists eat?
PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. — When the executive committee for the Hazon Jewish food conference got together last July to plan the menu for the four-day gathering, they agreed that, as much as possible, the food served should be local. No problem with produce. California’s Central Coast is one of the nation’s most fertile growing areas. It is rife with farms that grow a variety of fruits and vegetables; nearby dairies produce organic milk from free-range cows. But when it came to meat, the discussion grew heated. First, should they serve it at all? The Jewish food movement, like the environmental movement in general, is filled with vegetarians. Second, food activists like to keep things local, and kosher meat — the only kind they would consider — doesn’t always jive with making sure the animals are humanely raised, organically fed and ethically slaughtered. There are a handful of alternative kosher meat productions based on the East Coast, run by leaders in the new Jewish food movement, but
