The Sacred Food Project

The Sacred Food Project

Innovations in Jewish Life Collection

2023

Gregg Drinkwater, Hilary Kalisman, Samira Mehta, Maggie Rosenau

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Portable Document Format

English

From 2005-2007, the Jewish Renewal community’s national governing agency, ALEPH, served as the leader in an interfaith project to incorporate religious and ethical principles in the production and distribution of food. The project brought together religious leaders, faith-based and civic institutions, and members of the food industry to consider ways to improve the quality of the land, air and water, to provide healthier and more sustainable food, and to improve the lives of agricultural workers.

The project included a 2006 conference at which participants discussed ideas about sacred food in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, engaging with the links between food, ecology, and religious traditions. Participants proposed “eight dimensions” of sacred food:

1. Growing Food in Ways that Protect and Heal the Web of Life
2. Treatment of animals
3. Protecting the integrity and diversity of life
4. No One Should Go Hungry
5. Fairness toward and empowerment of workers
6. Responsible and ethical forms of business
7. Food as an Aspect of Spirituality
8. Reflection on our Actions and Impact