Miriam sees Israel’s most famous open-air market through new eyes. When I lived in Jerusalem, the Machane Yehuda shuk (market) was my grocery store. Vegetables, grains, fruit, chicken for Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. There were nuts and sweets…everything we ate came from the shuk. (Read about 5 Israeli shuks here.) My kids grew [...]
Tasty, high-protein and low-cholesterol, camel meat even has the approval of the Australian Heart Association. Sustainability in the kitchen is our creed, and camel is a far more sustainable meat than beef (which the world was horrified to discover may be contaminated with horse meat). We have posted about camel milk and its health benefits. [...]
Cut your meat consumption by half to combat global warming, urges UN Environment Program. All over the US, Europe and even in the Tel Aviv University, people are adopting Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono’s Meat-Free Mondays. But one meatless day a week isn’t enough to undo the environmental damage that industrial farming methods cause. The [...]
A vegetarian slow-cooked casserole with a fine Middle Eastern blend of flavors. Sustainable cooking means healthy food from local sources and fair worker’s wages. Sustainable agriculture not only maintains, but also enriches the natural resources that our food supply depends on. Join Green Prophet as we tour the Middle East region offering the quintessential sustainable dishes [...]
Miriam shows you a practical plan for constructing a living herb wall that fits your space. If growing organic culinary or healing herbs at home grabs you, a wall garden will bring you joy. As gorgeous as the massive system at the Al-Sultan Ibrahim restaurant in Maameltein, Lebanon is, the home owner can plan for [...]
The British fast-food chain hid up to 30% horse meat in its juicy burgers, then denied it. The British, most of whom regard eating horse as something like eating dogs, were rocked by the news that the burgers they loved were filled out with cheap horse meat. Burger King’s supplier in Ireland, ABP/Silvercrest, supplied the [...]
33 exotic Moroccan recipes from the women who make and cook with argan oil. The argan tree is a Berber identity icon, and production of its oil is traditionally a woman’s job. But as with many folkways, interest in argan began to dwindle. It’s a finicky process with low yield. Unless marketed wisely, it’s hardly [...]
The Hebrew University in Jerusalem improves one of the world’s most important food staples. In a world where rainfall is no longer predictable and droughts hold sway, even affecting politics in the Middle East, we are less and less complacent about food security. Developments like wine produced under desert conditions and pest-resistant wheat brighten the [...]
Moroccan flavors blend deliciously in a hearty chickpea soup. Our previous posts on sustainable eating in the Middle East/North Africa region featured rice and chicken kabsa from Saudi Arabia, Jordan’s traditional mansaf, and wheat berry pudding from Iran. All very delicious – but what about North Africa? Regional, seasonal, fresh and harvested under fair conditions. [...]
Did December gifting or a year-end bonus put a new smartphone in your hand? Check out ten mostly-free apps that will help you live healthier, smarter and more sustainably in 2013. Call It Quits is for smokers wishing to quit and quitters who could use some added support. It provides cessation tips, motivations and coaching [...]
This traditional Persian pudding makes a great winter breakfast or a satisfying dessert. Eating sustainably connotes regional foods that are available locally and in season. Fair conditions for workers and careful use of natural resources are part of what makes foodways sustainable. To draw attention to what is sustainable in the Middle East, we’ve embarked [...]
Our continued investigation into sustainable Middle Eastern food focuses on Mansaf, the Jordanian national dish. Regional cuisines evolve from foods that are available locally and in season. Eating this way implies sustainability from the very source, in addition to fair conditions for workers and mindful stewardship of natural resources. When it comes to the delicious [...]
Miriam introduces a new series on sustainable eating in the Middle-East/North Africa region. What does eating sustainably mean to you? By definition, sustainable food is nutritionally healthy, supports local agriculture and guarantees a fair wage to workers. Sustainable agriculture maintains and enriches the natural resources that our food supply depends on. On a personal level, [...]
A study from Stanford University, California, concludes that organic food is no more nutritious than conventional. But how correct is that? A furor of debate is breaking over a statistical analysis of data on food. Over 200 studies on organic and conventionally raised produce, grains, eggs, milk, poultry and meat were collated by Stanford University’s Center [...]
With a solar cooker, you can set a pot down outside and come back later to find lunch ready. We’ve only just begun harnessing the non-stop, 800 trillion-watt light bulbs’ worth of energy that sweeps our planet. The move towards solar energy is growing. In large areas of China, India, Africa, North America and the [...]
MADE is encouraging Muslims to embrace ethical living this Ramadan and to break their fast with Fair-trade A UK-based organisation called MADE is asking Muslims to look again at the way that their food is traded and to consider going Fair-trade this Ramadan. As they explain, whilst many Muslims are concerned about whether their food [...]
When mothers want to give their little ones the best (and most environmentally friendly) nutrition there is – breast milk – but can’t, they can turn to the breast milk bank. The health benefits of breastfeeding have been praised by health care professionals for years, and breastfeeding is obviously a healthier choice than formula. What [...]
This creamy vegan rice dish, dotted with little chunks of aromatic asparagus, satisfies the taste for something substantial and savory. Asparagus has been in the markets for some time in the Middle East. It’s worth buying it for this low-fat, creamy risotto. And don’t forget another great vegan recipe – Chickpea and Artichoke Salad. Two [...]
Rainy, muddy winter brings out the best of January produce in the Middle East. Our hot summers seem far away right now, but Middle Eastern winters are all too short. With ever-present water problems, we treasure every drop of rain and rejoice in the sight of succulent greenery springing up everywhere. Wild edibles are at [...]
It’s not a stretch. Vanishing shark populations affect the food chain in a very concrete way. Karin’s post on shark meat’s high mercury levels made it clear: a bowl of shark fin soup is a bowlful of poison. But a slower death awaits people who depend on healthy seas. That means all of us. Because [...]
Most Israelis complacently think that there are no GMO foods in Israeli food. But there are, especially in soy products. “It’s a huge mistake to think that there’s no genetically-modified food in Israel,” said Naama Rosenberg, spokeswoman at the Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research. In a telephone interview, Ms. Rosenberg went on to explain that [...]
Avoid food waste – eat your peels, roots and vegetable “waste” like pea pods, onion skins and cauliflower leaves. Want another reason to feel virtuous? Alright – remind yourself that your local landfill isn’t one tiny bit fuller because you cooked. But let’s not dwell on smelly, pollution-charged landfills when we’re contemplating dinner. Let’s look [...]
It may be winter in the Middle East, but shoppers can still load up on beautiful fresh produce. It’s officially winter in the Middle East. We’d hoped it would be raining now, but climate change is evident in blue skies and dry ground everywhere. Open-air markets ring with the shouts of vendors and the bustle [...]
Nah, nobody does that goat thing anymore… Our recent post about Israeli argan oil caused a few ripples over the Internet. While we now know that the old-fashioned “goat” treatment of the fruit is no longer used in Morocco except as a tourist attraction, we’ve also learned much about the success of growing the tree [...]
More questions than answers in new Saudi refutation of BBCs slam on its holy waters In May, we covered the BBC claim that imported Zamzam holy waters from a sacred well at Mecca being sold in some Muslim bookshops in London was contaminated with dangerous levels of arsenic. Association of Public Analysts President Dr Duncan [...]
“Vegetarian option” doesn’t have to be a dirty word when using one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s luscious Mediterranean vegetarian recipes. For a nation most culinarily associated with fish and chips or shepherd’s pie, a vegetarian food option may not be the most appealing to the English. British-born celebs such as Paul McCartney might be promoting vegetarian [...]
Since 2007, land dedicated to organic greenhouse farming across the United Arab Emirates has increased by 15 percent Despite some debate over the carbon-footprint of locally grown food when using desalinated water, it is widely accepted that growing your own food locally is better and greener than shipping it in from all corners of the [...]
Nourish your garden or potted plants with compost made in your home. Praxxus55712. The nick of a mysterious Minnesota gardener. We’re given only his first name, Ray. He uploads excellent videos for home gardeners to YouTube, freely sharing his gardening expertise with a gentle, humorous touch. Although I’m all in favor of composting and would [...]
With so many food options and food movements out there, what do you choose? Food is a major factor in human health, and in environmental health as well. There are an abundance of eco-friendly food movements out there, including vegans, vegetarians, vegawarians, locavores, and those who eat strictly organic food. By the way, those who [...]
Following the food riots that rocked the Middle East, Algeria is bolstering its agricultural self-sufficiency through irrigation projects and tax breaks for local producers Food security is a tricky topic to grasp because food doesn’t just rely on the water and sun it needs to grow but also on the price of oil, the right [...]
Ramallah celebrated Palestine’s first environment festival March 19-21 2011 This past weekend, Ramallah celebrated what is believed to be Palestine’s first dedicated environment festival. Large-scale ‘green’ development has been making big news in Palestine recently. But this event was on a much more personal scale. According to organisers from community support organisation Juhoud, the Basateen [...]
One testicle or two? Waste not, want not. It’s all good meat. Affluent societies view an animal as so many fillets. But meat-eaters in traditional (read: less privileged) societies don’t turn their noses up at offal – kidneys, liver, head meat, tripe, sweetbreads, ears, and trotters. Testicles and penis meat too. Those bumpy, funky bits [...]
Spring is just around the corner – time to prepare your balcony or window box for crops of leafy greens City folk with just a little sunny space can start growing herbs for salads, and even a few quick-growing vegetables, now. I cultivate a “vanishing garden – ” herbs and vegetables in balcony window boxes [...]
Protests in the Arab world, which were in part influenced by rising food prices, may be adding pressure to global food prices When the protest in Tunisia kicked off in early 2010, we at Green Prophet highlighted the link between the unrest and rising food prices that meant that many citizens were angry because they [...]
A blooming rooftop garden, or a share in a local CSA. Individual actions add up to change for the better in our fragile world. A far-off cry in the wind, that’s what the vital issue of climate change has become. Legislation imposing change on carbon-emitting industry drags. American politicians even argue that the U.S. can’t [...]
Palestinian youth learn about water issues at Al-Auja Eco-Centre Green Prophet has featured news about the Friends of the Earth Middle East (FOEME) Eco-Centre at Al-Auja, a Palestinian village in the Jordan Valley, on a number of occasions. Green Prophet writer Rachel Bergstein has reported on the challenges the inhabitants of Al-Auja face because the [...]
Climate change, peak oil and too many mouths to feed topples the first of the world’s now fragile economies. Egypt is just the first nation to see the instability predicted as a result of climate change, peak oil and the unsustainable numbers of people on this planet. But this is where we are all headed, [...]
Jeddah, the “ancestor of women”, hosts breakthrough food production technology AeroFarms, a company whose vertical skyscraper farming idea we have covered before, is now beginning to introduce a new way of farming to the Middle East that could have as radical an effect on the future of our food supply, as when we switched to [...]
Oil prices and food prices are interconnected. Wealthy Arab states try to create a food pipeline to stave off riots. As oil prices once again begin to climb past $100 a barrel as they did in 2008 so too, as in that oil price shock, food prices are rising, too. As then, there are now [...]
Protect the environment by eating the (animal or plant) species trying to invade it. What does a Middle Eastern invasivore look like? Environmentalists have a lot of crazy eating habits. You’ve got the hardcore vegans who avoid all meat and animal byproducts, the vegetarians who will not eat meat (but eat dairy and eggs), the [...]