The frum Jewish population isn’t exactly known for its fresh produce intake and there are a lot of reasons for this, now before I get into the nitty gritty of our lack of healthful eating let me counteract your angry responses. I know that some Jews do in fact eat veggies, fresh ones at that, I have seen my fare share of cholent made with fresh beans, potatoes and barely. I have also had my fair share of coleslaw’s, potato salad’s and other vegetable offerings drenched in mayonnaise and other forms of sugar and egg yolk filled condiments. I have even seen the nutrient filled broccoli floret in frum homes, albeit flash frozen and drowned in some form watery sugary sauce with dried sugary cranberries floating amidst the once glorious now soggy, but insect free broccoli floret. So yes frum Jews eat their veggies, but rarely are they on the madreiga that they ought to be and I have come to that sad realization whenever I leave this glorious area of farmers markets filled with the freshest and most beautiful produce I have ever seen that many frum Jews have never experienced what I take for granted.
Why frum Jews have shunned the vegetable:
There’s bugs in there man: It’s true, I admit it, some of the best produce has the best and most heartiest bugs – for God sake don’t buy dyno kale, baby collards or minzuna, but please buy the watercress, wild arugala and miners lettuce, they usually have no buigs and make glorious fresh salads. Have we become such lazy Jews that we shouldn’t check our produce for insects? It may just be that most frum folks have never experienced produce on such as lofty taste level and so they don’t feel that it’s worth the time and effort and so they avoid it…
It’s goyishe and it’s not part of our mesorah: Bright colored healthy veggies are pretty goyishe if you think about it, first off they are colorful and our ancestors were anything but, they never had peaches in the shtetl and indulging our physical bodies with such goodness may not only be feeding the yetzer harah, but going against our mesorah as well. I’m willing to bet that they didn’t have much more than root veggies in the shtetl, so I guess beets, rutabagas, sweet potatoes and parsnips are cool then?
It’s untznius: You have got to admit that the strawberry ban must have had some sexual connotation to it, after all the strawberry is incredibly sexually looking and it’s the official fruit of the goyishe tu b’av known as valentines day. Also, when you cut a strawberry in half it kind of looks like a vagina, not that I would know of such things – what;s a vagina look like anyway? Did you know that many people only eat fruits and veggies to lose weight and this is purely indulging the physical – proof that veggies are only about looks, not about appreciating Gods glorious creations.
They’re expensive: It’s true fruits and veggies are pricey, especially if you buy good ones (unless you live in my neck of the woods where they grow the darned things) and I cannot counteract on that, except to say that everything kosher is expensive and once you taste a freshly picked white nectarine or Asian pear you may be able to fit fresh produce into that budget of yours – unless you happen to be learning in kollel – then I csan’t help you.
I’m a Jew and I find your entry interesting.
Funny post. In the “untznius” category, let’s not forget that fruit are the impregnated ovary of the flower. If that imagery doesn’t evoke the hottest of Shir Hashirim (Akiva-nik won’t get this, ‘cuz Artscroll doesn’t translate Shir Hashirim) p’sukim then I don’t what does. 😛
we love fresh fruit and veg and the farmer’s market is so much fun but I guess we’re lucky to live somewhere that has such great produce.
but i do remember a while back hearing about a friend from the NY area who was surprised at how colorful our meals were, they were so used to boring brown of kugels, meat and the like.
in our mesorah – for sure! you think they ate chulent back in eretz yisrael when the jews arrived? mediterranean foods more like it, so much color and freshness there! grapes, figs, pomegranates!
Bugs: Wash your veggies. Even if you’re not Jewish it’s a good idea. Just don’t think too much about the kugel and challah. Flour has all kinds of insects and insect fragments in it.
It’s goyishe: So are healthy arteries. Fresh veggies were thin on the ground in Russia and Poland no matter what your “mesorah” was. People ate them when they could get them. Meanwhile the Mizrahi and “Sephardic” Jews eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Their diet is more like the Ancient Israelites’. Who is more important, Moses or some potato gobbler in the 17th century?
Untznius: Got me there. Fruits and flowers are plants’ s*x organs. That’s just wrong. Of course, grain is the mature, bursting naughty parts of plants that have already done the Dirty Deed!!!
They’re expensive: True ‘dat. Of course the only reason junk like corn and HFCS is cheap is massive government subsidies. Read The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Grow a garden. Go to farmers’ markets. Buy in bulk.
In my house we sift the flour.
You’re still getting insects and insect fragments. Trust me on this.
Of course, you’re getting less of them than our ancestors a couple thousand years ago.
Insect fragments is not a problem. And insects which fit through the sifter are also not a problem.
at least you’re getting some additional protein.
That’s it… this whole conversation has made me look at butternut squash in a whole new light. I’m totally turned on right now.
Wait until you’re sitting down before you think about bees and flowers.
Phew! Hot in here, isn’t it?!
All the rest, to me are just excuses, but if someone is really concerned about bugs, then why not grow your own food indoors? I’ve seen this in the ashkenazi culture; you can’t swing a tallis there without hitting a chicken or something fried, but heaven forbid someone should make a nice plats of crusted asparagus, or toasted brussel sprouts.
Excuses. What law is there against apartment-gardening? Where does it say dark leafy greens are goyishe? You know what makes us look like shkutzim? When you’re fat, your clothes are stain, and your pants are half way down your bottom, because you can’t be bothered to purchase a belt. There’s a line between yetzer harah, and just general maintenance of what you’ve been given.
This whole phenomenon of believing that hygiene, grooming and healthy eating (and living in general) are somehow “goyish” or not “part of the mesorah” is something that I only recently became aware of. And frankly, I don’t get it. Is living a jewishly observant life so oppressive that taking on any more physical demands (exercise, balanced eating), so hard to do? The halachik emphasis in these communities seems so twisted. On the hand hand, they have all this narishkeit about “lifnei meleach” that they contort into having to wear these enormously brimmed hats when davening because they compare davening to being in front of a king. Or the twisting and turning of pesukim to justify various Tsnius laws (kevodo penemeat). But somehow it’s not a chilul hashem to be 75 pounds or more overweight, dress like its 1780 Poland or not shower for three (or more days) in a row. I believe we are all required to reflect God’s holiness in everything we do, and to me that means treating your body and health with care and respect and presenting yourself as a descendants of a great nation, not a bunch of shtetl dwellers who never wanted to be in the shtetl, were forced into the shtetl and were beaten down, both physically and emotionally, until they walked around acting and looking like third class citizens. We are better than that and we should carry ourselves with dignity.
hey, those enormously brimmed hats are actually made of lead. some of those dudes have the strongest necks you’ll ever see! : D
They make you look good–therefore–not tznius. Also, fruits and vegetables are the plant’s ripened ovaries… Lol
Health benefits of a diet rich vegetables and fruits:
lower blood pressure; reduced risk of heart disease and strokes,
and also full of antioxidants
I grow my own veggies. Tomatoes are coming in now. Lets see…Got me some Lemon Boys, Early Girls, Rutgers, Mr. Stripys, Sweet 101’s, and Yellow Cherry. I forget what other kinds I planted.
Also got jalapenos, bell, cherry red, tex-reds, cucumbers, and zook’s.
Pickle ’em, can ’em, freeze ’em, dry ’em, make ’em into sauce.
Yum!
Shulchan Aruch is very specific about diet and exercise , if people followed you’d have less obese frummies. It’s a mitzvah to enjoy fancy fruit, vegetables, spices, etc. especially on Shabbat and Yom Tov.
People that don’t bother are typically people with either no taste or no money, often both.
As for bugs, there are ways to clean and check berries if you want to enjoy them. But I can see how a woman with 16 kids may find it easier to pick up a few family sized bags of pretzels and pop corn.
I was hiking in Alaska, and we found some salmonberries. Salmonberries are red, and are shaped like a cluster, like raspberries or blackberries.
Now, everyone knows that you can’t eat raspberries or blackberries unless you boil them in insecticide first and then break each piece apart on your light box.
But I never heard that you can’t eat salmonberries. So I broke them open, said “no bugs” and ate them. (I found a moose inside one of them)
did you check for Anisakis worms in the “salmon”berries?
Actually, I was practically raised on raw fresh tomatoes, cucumbers peppers, apples, bananas, oranges throughout the year. And when in season- strawberries, watermelon, plums, peaches. Not that we didn’t have junk food- we just didn’t eat it all the time. We never had salad dressing either. And we aren’t OOT either, nor are we MO. I guess we’re the exception that proves the rule true
Americans in general tend not to eat many vegetables. You hear a lot about low income areas where there are “food deserts” where there aren’t grocery stores or farmers markets and the only food around is fast food and gas station convenience stores. Those kinds of stores don’t usually have vegetables and if you live in an apartment growing your own food isn’t really an option.
the picture is of strawberries. strawberries may be berries, they may be fruit; but they are clearly not vegetables, and the green part does not taste good.
i hope that image didn’t come up when you googled ‘vegetable’
Not in our mesorah? Not in our mesorah? Whose mesorah? Certainly not the mesorah of the people who celebrate Sukkot and decorate huts with fruits and vegetables. Or the people who celebrate Tu B’Shevat, a holiday dedicated simply to planting trees and celebrating their fruit. Or the people whose holy scriptures discuss shivat haminim–seven species of fruit and grain for which their holy land is especially praised.
A great rabbi (I can’t remember which one, but I’m sure someone will enlighten me) once said that we will be held accountable for every permitted pleasure of which we did not partake. I can think of no greater pleasure than a freshly picked fruit or veggie. I honestly never met one I didn’t like. I’ll never forget the day I reached up and picked a giant green fig from a tree in Jerusalem. I bit into it right then and there, without washing it or anything. I never do that, but it just looked so good, I couldn’t resist. Most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted. Israeli produce in general is much better than what we get here in the states. There’s really no comparison. Not in our mesorah! Yeah, I know, I’ve been to homes where the entire meal is in shades of tan, but you know what, they’re the ones who have their mesorah messed up. NOT US!
That would be R’ Hirsch, the famous R’ Hirsch
That would be Rava.
That would be Rava. BTW, I am frum, live in Brooklyn and grew up eating in-season fruits and vegetables.
Fruit and vegetables are definitely an integral part of my mesorah. My mother would deny us desert if we refused to eat our fruit and vegetables. I couldn’t imagine my diet without a nice crispy veggie salad. There is nothing to kick off a great morning with a bowl of fresh fruit.
Damn, this post is making me hungry.I have 6 hours till I could run out to the vegetable market to stock up on some fruit.
It’s cherry season in Michigan! Indulge.
As for arugula…feh!
Not here in Israel where we really have a huge variety of fresh fruits and veggies. Of course the yiddishe kopf here is always messing with the gene pool and making them look sexier but taste more like the shtetl.
What I’m craving right now is a salad. A nice crispy salad with lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, olives, red onions and chickpeas. Served with a side of rich, tomato-ey gazpacho. Yumm!
(It’s a fast day.)
I shouldn’t be reading this because I have about nine more hours of fasting and I’m starving already.
Wasn’t some major rabbi a vegetarian?
Rav Kook was.
On a fast day, think Australian for salad:
http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/856/856,1218053566,3/stock-photo-seasoned-sirloin-steak-garnished-with-parsley-15825901.jpg
Commercial is a lot funnier, couldn’t find it on Youtube…
http://cor.ca/view/186/cor_posts_fruit_and_vegetable_inspection_manual.html
Hannah
i’ll do you if your up to it
Rocky,
I’ve relayed your very kind offer to my husband. I’ll have to demure, and spend my time either doing him, or thinking rude thoughts about produce.
Thanks though!
We eat poorly because we eat mindlessly. Buying, cleaning and preparing produce takes time. Buying or making a greasy kugel every Shabbos is a rote exercise. We need to eat mindfully, by thinking outside of the frum food box. My family engages in a mini riot every week I try to expand our Shabbos menu with healthy foods. For the time being they chant” no choulent no peace.” I guess I will be pureeing zucchini, carrots,etc. into the choulent. If you can’t beat them sneak them.
Isn’t it a halacha that one shouldn’t live in a place without access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
And the Rambam was very big on healthy living.
Eating right, sleeping enough, getting exercise and good hygiene are the sort of things you should be smart enough to do without detailed rabbinical instructions. Seriously. Is looking both ways before you cross the street a controversial practice because goyim do it?
Write. A. Blog. Dammit.
The gedolim should tell us what to do, if they tell us to look only right when we cross the street, then they have an excellent reason for it!