Most of us (I hope) recycle all the plastic bottles we use. But do you also recycle the many other small plastic containers you use daily, or do you just throw them away? Cheese and other dairy containers, small salads, yogurts and the occasional hummus container used to make up a large part of my […]
It seems like every day there is yet another toy recall in the news, the odd one was scary, but at this rate it’s downright terrifying. Do not let yourself be discouraged: there are plenty of safer options around and a big freebie too –– our imagination. Unfortunately, toy makers are so aggresive in their […]
Kibbeh is one of the stalwarts of Levantine cooking, and comes in as many versions as there are towns or people who make it. Loosely, kibbeh refers to a mix of burghul (bulgur), ground lamb, and spices. It can be served raw (kibbeh nayye), spread flat and baked (kibbeh bis-sayniyyeh), or formed into small ovals […]
A common misconception about breastfeeding and babies in general is that they require special equipment. But we already know on Green Prophet that a mom who buys less is by default acting in an environmentally-friendly way. So what are the essentials, and what aren’t? This is your guide to making breastfeeding truly green. Products you […]
Whether or not you’re a fan of the overly commercialized holiday of love, Valentine’s Day, we think everyone would agree that when giving your special someone a loving gift you want it to be something that doesn’t cause potential harm to them. Candy and flowers are the traditional Valentine’s Day gifts, so why not show […]
You know that great smell that tickles your nose when you walk into a coffee shop? The wonderful aromatic smell of roasting beans? Well, if you are a resident of Safed – where the Elite coffee factory is located – that sweet smell is currently mingled with the harsh odor of the shale oil used […]
Last week with our recipe for the Syrian dip muhamarra, we embarked on a perilous culinary adventure: trying to recreate authentic versions of classic Middle Eastern dishes. Why perilous? Well, my grandmother and grandfather couldn’t, between the two of them, agree on the best way to make charoset. Trying to come up with a recipe […]
Israelis come from a variety of countries and their diets tend toward the eclectic. My own culinary heritage is staunchly eastern European. But while my mother rendered chicken fat from time to time, she preferred adapting traditional foods to make them lighter. Alternet‘s Terence McNally interviewed Michael Pollan, ecological food expert and best-selling author of […]
Last night, my roommates and I hosted a dinner party for twelve. Out of the eight dishes, only the stuffed peppers had meat; the others were majadara (rice and lentils), garlic-mint carrots, and goat-cheese stuffed eggplants simmered in Hamutal’s amazing pepper sauce. This morning I considered the carbon footprint of the meal. Although the dinner […]
I went to see Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s documentary film, “The Garden,” at Tribeca Cinemas in Manhattan, part of docs on the shortlist for the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund. I went with a group of farmers living in New York, some of whom work on urban farming projects in and around the City. The film tells […]
Winter cooking is often pantry cooking. When the rain is coming down at a 45° angle, the last thing most of us want to do is brave the elements to make a grocery run. It’s handy to have a stash of recipes that rely on what you already have in the cupboard – and conversely, […]
If you are looking to sharpen your composting skills, banish flies, kill odors, and speed along the making of rich fertilizer for your garden, while running a greener kitchen, City Tree has the answer. This Thursday at 8 at Bialik 23 in Tel Aviv is the First Israeli Composters’ Forum. Bring a notebook and maybe […]
Breastfeeding is a natural and “green” way for a mother to feed her baby. Yet misconceptions about how to breastfeed and for how long pervade our modern world. These misunderstandings can lead to frustration and distress for the whole family during a challenging period. Green Prophet gives you 10 reasons to shatter any myths and misconceptions. […]
(Does this guy look worried about the frost? A smokin’ vegetable vendor in a Petach Tikva market, Israel. Credit anyalogic) While North Americans in the higher latitudes are sipping hot cocoa, and have Jack Frost nipping at their noses, farmers in the Middle East pray that the frost won’t come. Last year, sub-zero temperatures wiped […]
With winter upon us, now is the perfect time to get cozy with a pile of books. The latest in our eco-reads book review series is a great food and cooking reference – the Whole Foods Companion. Whole Foods Companion is a dip-your-toe-in book rather than a cover-to-cover book: it’s great for delving into when […]
The Slow Food movement brought a farmer’s market to the Tel Aviv Port (or, namal) this past summer, helping city dwellers enrich their salads and dishes with some great local (and carbon-emission low) produce. Now, to enrich our winter soups, the Slow Food movement, the Jaffa Port, and non-profit organization Na Laga’at are all joining […]
Our friends at the Jew & The Carrot – an award-winning blog dedicated to food, sustainability and Judaism – looking for volunteers to bring their talents to a blog that is at the heart of the new Jewish food movement. The Jew & The Carrot, which is run by eco-NGO, Hazon, is looking for creative […]
Soft drinks. Fast foods. Cigarettes. Companies that market these products are well-known for targeting children and teens in order to develop “brand loyalty.” But the campaign to capture the taste buds of future consumers begins even earlier–in the hospital nursery, where formula companies use aggressive methods to ensure that babies’ first taste of artificial milk […]
Once upon a time people lived in a different kind of harmony with nature (can you imagine yourself pictured above?). Except for the aristocracy who lived in castles and lords who collected taxes on land, most people all over the world, especially in the Middle East, prayed for rain and sun in the summer in […]
(Jesse Fox and a Fugee Friday volunteer, in Tel Aviv, loading some food into a car. Israeli volunteers are gleaning vegetables and fruit from the nearby Carmel Market and are delivering it to hungry African refugees from Sudan and Eritrea living in south Tel Aviv. PHOTO CREDIT: Daniel Cherrin.) Turns out some Green Prophet writers […]
The Torah doesn’t talk much about breastfeeding, as it was taken for granted in ancient times. Moses’ mother doesn’t put bottles into the ark of bulrushes she sends down the Nile to save him from Pharaoh’s evil decree (Exodus 2). According to the midrashic commentary Moses refused to nurse from an Egyptian nursemaid, so the […]
Green Prophet welcomes the first post of our new Palestinian writer Rami Almeghari. A contributor to The Electronic Intifada, IMEMC.org, and Free Speech Radio News, Rami is also a former senior English translator and editor-in-chief of the international press center of the Gaza-based Palestinian Information Service. We first found Rami through a story he’d written […]
Speak to an average person in Israel who cares about protecting the environment, and they will cross their eyes will cross when you start speaking with them about carbon offsetting. While Israel does have a few carbon offset providers (the Good Energy Initiative is one — they powered Earth Hour in Tel Aviv, with their […]
Dancing Camel, one of Tel Aviv’s great small, local breweries, makes absolutely delicious beer. From Pomegranate Ale to Cherry Vanilla Stout… they know what they’re doing. Coming from a female non-beer drinker, you can take my word for it. I would never drink the stuff unless it was good. They offer a great local product […]
One of the wonderful customs that the American settlers here in the Middle East has brought over from the old country is Thanksgiving. Here is my green tribute to them! In 1621, the Plymouth colonists, led by William Bradford and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast which is acknowledged today as one of the […]
