A start-up business focused on finding new ways of using insect protein in food products is a finalist in this year’s MassChallenge, the Boston-based start-up competition and world’s largest accelerator program. Get over your squeamishness, because bug-based foods will soon infest our markets. The “elevator pitch” for Israel-based The Flying Spark states their intent to manufacture […]
Mashjar Juthour is a living museum of what little wild fauna and flora still exist in Area C, a portion of Palestinian territory controlled by Israel, but it’s struggling to get by. Aiming to create a sacred green space for the Palestinian people and supporters, a place to heal and regenerate, its founders humbly ask for our help.
We’re accustomed to seeing food in bulk at souqs throughout the Middle East, but shoppers always leave with a legion of plastic bags to carry their goods. There is an alternative though, and Berlin’s first waste-free supermarket, the Original Unverpackt, shows how it’s done.
I stood in a golden wheat field some five miles north of Acre in Israel. Paul Nirens of the Galileat organization had arranged a demonstration with a local farmer, to show us how the Druze traditionally roast green wheat for freekeh. To reach the field, we’d driven over a ditch of teeth-rattling bumpiness, part of the […]
Espresso machine single serving coffee pods – those fairly newfangled units of specialty grinds – let you be your own barrista. Pop one in your countertop brewing unit and in seconds have a perfect cup of coffee.
Scientists in Dubai are growing a new kind of food crop in salt marshes along the Persian Gulf coast. A variety of salt-resistant succulent, Salicornia are typically sold in gourmet shops in Europe, but they have other uses as well.
Britain’s Prince Charles lectures long on climate change and the local food movement, but a recent discovery about one of his businesses suggests the title “His Royal Highness” is just a nod to his carbon footprint.
Give a microscopic vegetable the right conditions of sunshine and water, and you can home-farm what some say is the world’s most nutritious food: spirulina.
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 […]
