{"id":7999,"date":"2011-12-07T11:34:49","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T15:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncdata.wpengine.com\/?p=3020"},"modified":"2017-10-04T15:08:34","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T19:08:34","slug":"theres-something-not-kosher-about-the-sustainability-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2011\/12\/07\/theres-something-not-kosher-about-the-sustainability-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"There’s Something Not Kosher About The Sustainability Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It has become increasingly fashionable among some in my Jewish community to promote the notion that kosher food must be, what they call, \u201csustainable.\u201d First, it is important to understand that kosher food laws are strictly religious in nature; it is a myth that they kosher foods are healthier, safer, or even cleaner than other foods. There are entire sets of religious laws, separate from kosher laws, that deal with important issues such as business ethics and environmental protection, a broad concept called tikun olam<\/em>, or repairing the world.<\/p>\n
But increasingly, some liberal activists have been trying to co-opt kosher food laws to push an environmental agenda that is based neither in Jewish law or objective evidence. The latest example is particularly troubling, because it undermines not only Jewish principles, but basic human rights.<\/p>\n
Recently, added as a target of the \u201csustainability\u201d agenda is palm oil, the food additive and vegetable oil that can be found in foods we eat every day, as well as in a range of consumer products.<\/p>\n
The claim is that palm oil is environmentally destructive and thus should be considered not kosher.<\/p>\n