Fire up your grill and cook these aromatic vegetable chunks to delicious perfection. If there’s one favorite way to cook in the Middle East, it’s the outdoor grill. There really is no way to produce that smoky flavor. We’ve gotten away from the traditional picture of a paunchy, unshaven guy in a T-shirt taking gulps […]
Can urban agriculture save Cairo? We think it’s a pretty good start There has been an important spotlight on agriculture not only in Egypt, which is suspected by the EU of causing the E. coli outbreak in Germany earlier this year, but also other Middle Eastern and North African countries such as Morocco whose poor […]
If you rub these recycled tire jugs three times will an eco-genie pop out? In the medina of Marrakesh at Jemâa el Fna, minutes away from the Jewish spice market, and the snake charmers, who Tafline finds aren’t so charming for animal and snake rights, we found a small eco-stall. A couple of old men […]
This really bad picture of former Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Youssef Wali should not blur his egregious crimes. Hosni Mubarak is not the only official to lose tremendous face following the dramatic Egyptian revolution earlier this year. The former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Youssef Wali also became the subject […]
For years now, Green Prophet has been reporting on the growing water shortage situation in Africa and the Middle East and its economic and geopolitical implications. However, the scale of the problem and the need for urgent international coordination to secure this basic commodity is becoming more urgent today as stories and pictures from Yemen […]
Egypt is losing an estimated 11,736 hectres of agricultural land every year according to UN sources From food contaminated with human waste in Cairo due to water shortages to concerns that the country could be on the brink of famine, Egypt is facing its fair share of food problems. Now, there are reports that desertification […]
Humanitarian crises erupt in Libya, Yemen and Syria as the populations revolt against their oppressive leaders From the very start, the price of food has played an important role in the emerging Arab Spring which has swept across Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Syria and Libya. As food prices rose so did the anger in […]
These warm, fragrant loaves bring Moroccan flavor to any meal. Karin’s stay in a beautiful eco-lodging high up in the Moroccan mountains, and Tafline’s intrepid hike up and down them, inspired me to find particularly Moroccan recipe. And I find that this flatbread, perfumed with anise and sesame seeds, puts dreams of Morocco in my […]
The EU has banned 10% of Egyptian agricultural products after linking that country to the devastating E. coli outbreak that killed 49 people earlier this year. The European Union has linked the May/June E. coli outbreak that killed 49 people to produce grown in Egypt. Following a dedicated probe, officials concluded that a shipment of […]
Latin America, once a part of the Spanish Empire, is home to Trees Give Life, the Muslim ran tree planting project. Read more on the tree huggers in Mexico.
It’s not just excess calories anymore. It could be that environmental chemicals are ordering your body to put on the pounds. We live surrounded by synthetic chemical substances. They’re in our food, our soaps, in hundreds of thousands of things we handle daily. Like parabens, a preservative found in moisturizers and bath products. Exposure to […]
Abnormally dry weather a nightmare for Afghanis who rely on wheat crops for survival. Afghanistan is likely to face a significant food shortage in the coming months, following poor rains which have affected this season’s wheat crop. Wheat is the primary food staple for most families. “There have been problems with rainfall, so there will […]
If you buy vegetables in Cairo, they could be contaminated with human waste. Faced with a shortage of water for irrigation (and the fact it might lose its right to the Nile), Ahmed Osman, a farmer in his late thirties, opted to divert local sewage water to irrigate his two-hectare vegetable plot in the heart […]
You don't have to be Muslim, to eat Halal. Green Prophet's eco-Muslim Zaufishan provides ten top tips for a more organic and Islamic diet, leading up to Ramadan.
Call it Bamyeh in Arabic or Bamiah in Hebrew, but okra is relished all over the Middle East. Okra is a vegetable with an inferiority complex. Its delicious flavor hides under a certain goopiness, or mucilage released in cooking, and some people don’t like it. On the other hand, you may want the beneficial mucilage. […]
Sweetly-scented rose geranium makes a delicate cream and a soothing tea. It’s growing somewhere near you. Peaches, melons, apricots, plums. All in season right now in the Middle East, all sweet and juicy. Cream infused with rose-like pelargonium graveolens makes a delicious background for any of those summer fruits. I pick a few sprigs of […]
Competitive and in tune with the Muslim market, ZABIHA.com is the official world guide to halal eating from around the world. Should we live more halal? Should companies invest in halal? Find out for yourself.
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 […]
There are several compelling reasons to re-think veggie burgers and other non organic soy-based products. If there is anything to be learned from America’s industrial food machine (in case you missed Food Inc. and other seminal critiques), it is this: nothing can be trusted. Until recently, many vegetarians have been all too happy to jump […]
Fresh apricots have so short a season in the Middle East that bukra fil-mishmish (tomorrow, in apricot season, said in Arabic) is what you say to promise you'll get something done quickly.
Under normal conditions, her baby has a slightly higher chance of being a boy, but new research suggests that exposure to radiation unnaturally skews the sex ratio. The Japan nuclear disaster confirmed what we already know for certain: radiation is dangerous to human populations. In particular, mutagenic effects have long been reported, and we also […]
Egypt’s fertile lands fed the Pharoahs, but a new report throws into doubt whether it can feed today’s 85 million strong population. It is no secret to Professor Mohamed Kassas that desertification is one of Egypt’s greatest environmental threats. But the United Nations recently removed all doubt on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought […]
Hot weather meals call for lots of cool salads. Here’s an easy and attractive one featuring summer’s tomatoes. Sometimes all I want for lunch is about six kinds of salad. I can get my protein from one like our luscious quinoa salad, fill up on a satisfying potato/fava bean salad, go on the sweet side […]
A recipe for making your own whole wheat pita bread. If you don’t live in the Middle East, where the pita is the staple bread, and can be used instead of napkins for wiping humus off your face, chances are the pita breads you will find are old and stale. Or packed with chemicals, or […]
Asbestos is all over the place in Israel. Now the rare form of lung cancer that asbestos causes is not the only worry: asbestos leads to mutations in mice. Asbestos covers parking garages in Tel Aviv, and the roofs of small buildings and sheds all over Israel. Look in landfills or even playgrounds, and don’t […]