Whole Foods = Eco-Kashrut?
Integral Judaism, Eco-Kashrut, Online Media May 16th, 2007
Up until last week I didn’t know much about Whole Foods or its president John Mackey but with what little information I did know about the company and based on what I saw when I was in Los Angeles last fall, I was more than a little skeptical. However last week I came across an interesting video up on Google featuring none other than John Mackey himself. I watched it on the weekend and liked it so much that I watched it again this morning with breakfast.
The first hour was basically a presentation where Mackey provided a detailed overview of the company’s approach to food production, including various projects and plans for future innovations. Watching him I quickly moved from a place of skepticism into one of complete awe. I couldn’t help but think to myself that this guy whether he knows it or not, is actually working towards establishing what may well be the first comprehensive expression of Eco-Kashrut. He’s certainly way beyond anything crunchy granola Jews are trying to do. Come to think of it he’s pretty much any serious Eco-Kashrutist’s wet dream come true. Okay maybe he’s just my wet dream come true but I’m hoping I’m not alone on this one.
I’m impressed with him and his approach to business and thought he was extremely honest. He’s actually putting together a plan for implementing a new type of organic certification which I believe is a perfect example of what an eco-kosher certification process might look like.
I’m working from memory so I might get things wrong but here is the basic breakdown of this process as I remember it.
He called it something like a star system with one star for meeting the basic organic food production criteria. You know stuff like no GMO’s, no pesticides or chemical fertilizers etc. But this is the bare minimum and only gets a company one star on the certification process.
The other proposed considerations include (again that’s if my memory serves me right)
- Healthfulness of the food - as in is it healthy with vitamins, low fat etc.
- Animal welfare considerations - Are the animals being raised in a humane fashion
- Environmental considerations - what impact is food production having on the environment.
- Economics/social justice considerations - is the food being fairly traded and what our worker conditions and wages like.
Anyhow as far as I’m concerned what he’s outlining here is a near-perfect example of what Eco-Kashrut might look like in practice.
The entire video is worth watching but if you don’t want to commit an hour you can jump to about 40 minutes in because that’s where he starts laying out his plan. At bare minimum I recommend watching the last 10 minutes because he makes some excellent summarizing points.
Anyhow here it is for your viewing pleasure.
Oh also there is a part two which features a Discussion between Mackey and Michael Pollen. It is also worth checking out if you have time.
Technorati tags: Eco-Kashrut, Whole Foods, Organic, John Mackey, Michael Pollin, Conscious Capitalism, The Omnivores Dilemma
Listen to this podcast
May 16th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Hi! I was talking to Tamara today about a CSA that Henry and I joined, as part of a group called Hazon.org. I was going to link to their blog here, The Jew and The Carrot but Tamara tells me you already have it on your blogroll. Why am I not surprised? Anyway, Henry and I excited about the CSA, about supporting small farms and being part of a Jewish environmental group.
May 16th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
LOL I was going to send you a link to Hazon.org last week because i thought you might dig the bike ride stuff in NYC.
May 17th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
I just have to say … I love Whole Foods. Yes, it’s overpriced. Yes, Trader Joe’s is cheaper and probably better. But Whole Foods has some good things going on …
May 17th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
hey Chaviva
To be honest I’m not sure that Trader Joe’s is much better in terms of eco-Kashrut principles but I dont know. Although I hear from a lot of people that it is in fact cheaper. However I’m pretty sure that at one point in the second video Mackie points out that if you are educated and disciplined and use their in-store 365 brand. One can shop at whole foods quite easily on a budget.