To Till and to Tend

This month, I participated in a challenging and yet extremely eye-opening, conversation.  When I received an e-mail that a student-organized group at Columbia, called ROOTEd (Respecting Ourselves and Others Through Education), was dedicating one of its weekly discussion sessions to “the environmental movement,” I jumped on board.  ROOTEd, as their website best explains, is “dedicated to facilitating respectful informed discussions about diversity in the United States with regards to power and privilege issues.”

It is really no surprise that even in our environmental movement, which ideally seeks proper care of the earth so that all have equal access to a healthy life, is, like many other social movements and political systems, affected by differences in power and privilege. After all, different people are affected by the environment differently and may not have all the same resources with which to respond.

What caught my attention at this ROOTEd discussion was a sense of frustration on what the environmental movement should seek to accomplish and what traits constitute an “environmentalist.” A good majority of students was extremely agitated at the trendy consumer mode the environmental movement has taken, especially the valorization of purchasing green products when so many cannot afford them.  We discussed that perhaps those who act frugally when it comes to saving money through conserving water, electricity, and buying less are better environmentalists than those who shop in Whole Foods and wear bamboo shoes.

This idea brings up two important issues. One, should those whose socio-economic conditions force them to live frugally, be considered environmentalists? Or, is it rather a title bestowed on those who live a green lifestyle because they choose to? This week’s New Yorker Magazine mentions Van Jones, a man working to get the U.S. to establish green collar jobs for the economically disadvantaged. He relevantly states, “The green economy should not be just about reclaiming thrown-away stuff, it should be about reclaiming thrown away communities.” Perhaps then with more green-collar jobs like installing solar panels and constructing mass-transit systems, we can help others acquire better lifestyles, while enabling them to do so in an environmentally responsible way (although again, because the jobs would be provided, not chosen, does this actually make green collar workers environmentalists?). This topic is one that I cannot do justice to in this short blog, but I encourage you to think and talk about it (feel free to post your comments!).

Secondly, many of the students at the session said that although they care for the environment and try to do right, they refuse to be called “environmentalists.”  These students identified themselves as social justice advocators, often working to help feed the homeless and teach underprivileged children, yet when it comes to the environmental movement, they have not found a connection to helping people, rather they find it as a connection to money, “stuff,” and the latest trends.  This is incredibly sad and a sign that perhaps the environmental movement needs to rethink its image.  There is nothing wrong with pretty canvas bags and organic tee-shirts, but this cannot be the all-encompassing criterion for living green.

Overall, I believe that what being an environmentalist really means is first and foremost, acting to decrease one’s carbon footprint with the notion that this should have positive social affects, securing the well being and comfortable livelihoods for all.  It is about being a person who is simultaneously responsible for fellow humankind and for the environment that sustains us.

 Last week I picked up my last CSA share for the fall season. Every Thursday I have anxiously awaited a delivery of fresh produce, eager to see what I will be challenged to cook with next.  Not being on a meal plan, where everything is cooked for me three times a day, seven days a week, has been a hard transition from last year. Instead, I have to plan ahead as to what I need and what I have time to make.  Although there are many times when I’ll settle for an easy PB & J or even a Luna bar when hunger strikes, there’s something in knowing that I have at least some “special” produce in my kitchen that motivates me to cook dishes which do that produce justice. 

Justice! Yes! That’s what its all about! Food is very much about ethics as it is about my belly. When I think about belonging to a CSA (Roxbury Farm), I realize it is only through a community that I can best support local agriculture.  And it is through this community of Columbia University students that we make a statement. We say the local economy is important, eating food grown naturally, without harmful chemical fertilizers is important, eating produce appropriate with the seasons is important, and that human and environmental health is key. But there has to be more. I realize if food is about community and justice, then fresh, local food, must be available for all. 

It is not surprising then that food authors and activists like Michael Pollan and Andrew Kimbrell are speaking out and directing advice to president elect, Barack Obama.  In a recent gristmill article, Pollan says,“”I would urge the new president to appoint a Food Policy Czar in the White House. Why? Because, as I’ve written recently, progress on the all-important issues of energy independence, climate change, and health care costs depends on reform of the food system–and, crucially, an ability to connect all those dots when making policy.” Thinking locally, Kimbrell stated, “Let’s make communities food sufficient and significantly lower food prices. Let’s support farmers markets in economically disenfranchised urban areas that often have no access to supermarkets or healthy and safe food.” 

Both of these points, that food issues are connected to larger environmental and economic problems, and that we must secure lower-income communities with healthy, cheap food, ought to be highly considered by our new executive leadership. I am convinced we can use the model of a CSA on a national level. If we come together as a country to take a stand on human health, equality, and environmental justice, we can create change in all communities.

As I finish off the last tasty bits of my CSA acorn squash, I can’t help but think…Yes We Can!

Several weeks ago, I attended a religious service. No, it was not my usual service attendance at a synagogue on Shabbat, rather, I was going to a Hindu temple ( the American Sevasram Sangha in Jamaica, Queens) with my Hinduism class. It was my first time in a Hindu temple and I was looking forward to experiencing religious rituals completely unfamiliar to me. While this is exactly what happened, I also, unexpectedly found myself being introduced to a little of Hindu eco-theology.

My class was privileged enough to meet with the Temple’s pandit (guru). In the midst of our talk on the theology and traditions of Sanatana Dharma (meaning “eternal way”, a more preferred name for “Hindusim” by many Hindus), the pandit told us that the issue of Global Warming is a pressing one. Unsustainable treatment of the Earth goes against much of Hindu belief.

While the pandit did not go into detail of Hindu eco-theology, I’ve been on the lookout for glimpses of it in my readings of Hindu sacred texts. One example that stood out for me is an excerpt from the Upanisads which states, “Now, take these rivers, son.  The easterly ones flow towards the east, and westerly ones flow towards the west. From the ocean, they merge into the very ocean; they become just the ocean. In that state they are not aware that; ‘I am that river’, and ‘I am that river.’ In exactly the same way, son, when all these creatures reach the existent, they are not aware that ‘We are reaching the existent.’ No matter what they are in this world-whether it is a tiger, a lion, a wolf, a boar, a worm, a moth, a gnat, or a mosquito-they all merge into that….that is the self and that’s how you are…”

This notion, that all beings share a common identity with each other and the world, is a good example of Hindu eco-theology and may be why Hindus find it important to protect and preserve the environment they themselves are an integral part of.

This particular passage reminded me of something that Maimonides discusses in his Guide for the Perplexed. Maimonides says, “Know that this universe, in its entirety, is nothing else but one individual being; that is to say, the outermost heavenly sphere, together with all included therein, is as regards individuality beyond all question a single being..:”

I always find it beautiful when connections can be made across varying cultures and religions. I now see that distinct ways of life, Hinduism and Judaism, can find at least some common ground on the idea that the world and all it contains is a single entity. That piece of eco-theology teaches that humans are not independent agents that can use the rest of creation solely for our benefit. Shared eco-theology will do us all good. We can use such common grounds to create and bolster inter-faith efforts. After all, isn’t the point of environmental work that nature knows no boundaries?

Not a year since I registered to vote, I was called for jury duty.  Maybe because this was my first call or because I am still young and optimistic, I sincerely looked forward to being a part of our country’s democratic judicial process. I could not but help feel proud that I live in a country that values its citizens so that anyone, of any age, ethnicity, religion, or income-level can have the power to decide a judicial outcome.

So what happened to me in all my glory? I sat for several hours, was never called for an interview by the trial’s lawyers, and was released with the words, “Thank you for serving your duty. Don’t come back for at least eight years.”

Disappointed as I was, especially since I met people who couldn’t wait to leave, I accepted that there are many legitimate reasons why I was not called for an interview. At the same time, I felt unfulfilled as an American, whose sense of duty goes a little more than sitting around all day.

This got me to thinking about what comprises an American citizen’s national duty? If many of us still view the U.S. as “the world’s colossus, the indispensable power, the new Rome, the twenty-first-century empire…” (Sachs, 271), and believe deeply in justice and room for innovation, why is it that we rarely hear “I am an environmentalist because it is my duty as an American”?  Is it not yet understood that pursuing a safer planet for all is part of our American values and roles as citizens?

I have no doubt that there is a strong connection between possessing a Jewish identity that calls on me to be a steward of the Earth and having a strong Jewish-environmental movement, which work hand in hand to increasingly encourage and support my environmental actions.

The government asked me to serve my country by being a non-partisan arbiter of justice, and let me down. No wonder people go to jury duty with dread rather than excitement!   What I think Americans need is for our country to ask us to care for the planet and follow through particular programs and initiatives.  Then, we can all go about pursuing an American ethic of environmental responsibility with the pride I had felt when first entering the courthouse.

“And I can do anything better than you!”

Ah, the thrill of competition.  In a capitalist society, such as ours, we constantly challenge ourselves to get ahead ofothers.  In the world of higher education, this is nothing new. Students and faculty alike strive to reach unbelievably high levels of intellectual and creative excellence.  Now, the competition is turning green.

Princeton Review, along with other publications like Grist Magazine, has anew college ranking category this year: the greenest colleges. According to a recent Princeton Review survey, 63% of 10,300 college applicants said a school’s environmental behavior could affect their decision to attend. Is it just me, or is that an impressive statistic?  This is a strong message to American schools because it saysthat our youth, like yours truly, want to develop as conscious, active citizens who care to protect the Earth.  Yet at a time when going green is ever popular, we need to carefully look beyond  mere lists of “top ten”sustainable schools and think about how a sense of competition actually affects the collegiate green scene.

I struggle with the concept of turning environmental stewardship into a contest. With so many lists out there displaying different schools and their actions, environmental “standards”suddenly become relative. Then students are left in the dark as to what actually should make a school green. As with many public competitions (like our elections perhaps?), exterior presentations are all too powerful influences. With colleges now racing to get their name on the “g” list, how do we know this isn’t a PR stunt?  After all, howcool does constructing LEED certified buildings or composting garbage sound to an 18-year-old comparedto planting trees or holding recycling contests?  It is important that colleges not get away with advertising environmental appeal over taking little of the actual, difficult actions that define sustainable development to back it up. 

Then again, while environmental competition can turn shallow with schools making minimal effort to get their name on a list, it can have significant results.   In economic terms, as demand for real environmental action increases, supply, must inevitably increase too. Looking at the lists some more, we can see just how responsive colleges are becoming to making environmental improvements. Some schools are really changing their infrastructure and lifestyles-and now they are rightfully being credited for it. Additionally, while a consensus on environmental standards to rate colleges are important, it is also vital to understand that each school must have the freedom to take initiatives based on its own unique opportunities and circumstances.

What I have left to say for all college applicants is, be smart and demanding consumers. Competition works only if it is regulated by an educated and active group of judges and if it leaves just enough wiggle room for innovation and individuality. Look at all the green school rankings out there only as introductions to your college search. Know what to look for as true signs of sustainability and environmental ethics and the diverse ways a college, your college, can go about fulfilling them. 

With the rising price of heating oil and gas, we all knew things weren’t easy.  According to The Jewish Week, oil prices rose about 60% since last year, going from $2.85/gallon to $5 today.  This did not surprise me considering I always hear talk of the declining economy and the need to adapt to financial instability.  In fact, I find it increasingly impossible to ignore. 

Why is it then, that when I read ” New York area rabbis are praying for a warm winter,” did I feel a sudden chill, despite the heat of the summer’s day? I realize that oftentimes when I hear about the rising cost of living and the necessity to become energy-efficient, I think about effects on individual homes rather than whole Jewish institutions. Perhaps as a young adult, whose parents still pay for her synagogue membership and electricity bills, I needed such a powerfully ominous statement not to forget the financial wellbeing of another type of home, the Jewish communal home.  
 
Inevitably, synagogues will have to respond to higher energy bills. Some, which can, are doing so by installing better programmable thermostats, energy-saving lights, and effective insulation materials. The sad reality is that this not a realistic vision for many synagogues which cannot afford the changes. What the article was referring to in regards to the New York rabbis’ worry about the oncoming winter is the consideration of raising membership dues to pay the energy bills.  Their distress also shook my misconceived reality that the Jewish community and the individuals that comprise it do not have today’s significant financial woes. One  Queens synagogue director said that trying to update synagogue infrastructure with new energy-efficient technology is impossible since it comes at a time when members are requesting financial assistance more than ever.

What can be done? 

While the winter season may be approaching fast, there are a bunch of short-term changes everyone can make so that the synagogue remains a place for all to pray, study, and join together – despite the cost. Some synagogues are rightly encouraging committees to meet at members’ homes rather than synagogue facilities while others are holding religious services in their smaller chapels. It is also simple to adjust the thermostat manually-raising it a few degrees in the summer and lowering it in the winter.   

Even though I do not pay for my family’s synagogue dues nor thankfully need to pay to go to Hillel on my school’s campus, I am willing to do what I can to lessen their economic and environmental burdens.  When I think about it, what’s losing some leg or arm room during services and actually experiencing temperatures more relevant to their seasons if it can enable our synagogues and Jewish institutions’ to reduce energy consumption, and provide membership to the individuals who give our synagogues a meaningful purpose in the first place? 

Although that chill of mine has slowly subsided, I am since strongly motivated to think about the long run and the bigger sacrifices I, together with the rest of the Jewish community, should make to become more energy-efficient, turning to renewable and sustainable sources of energy, so that we do not face such a disaster again.

  Everyday as I read my morning paper, I often regret having to choose just a few articles to explore in order to get to class on time. Many say that today, we are in the Information Age, where an excess of sources for knowledge are readily available.  For those of us interested in the latest environmental news, it is exciting to have a wide-ranging stock of articles to read everyday. At the same time, it is also overwhelming to the point where I can feel detached and sometimes unmotivated to act – there’s an information overload.  After how much we read and hear about the environment, do we stop really absorbing in a way that inspires and intrigues us?

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wisely said, “Mankind will not perish for want of information; but only for want of appreciation.”  Heschel, in God in Search of Man, explains that this “appreciation” is wonder about the world around us in an ongoing state of mind.  It is unlike that of mere curiosity, which starts a train of thought yet ends with the discovery of an answer. Humans need a continuous sense of awe, a powerful, spiritual, remedy to the problem of our age. Having a religious experience is about radical amazement, where we take a more sublime look at our environment, remember to wonder at our very selves and even be amazed by our ability to see. Radical amazement can then physically and spiritually connect us back to our surroundings and the information we absorb.

I could not have gotten a better lesson on Heschels’ philosophy than by my teacher, Rabbi Neil Gillman, at JTS.  Rabbi Gillman once said that as a rabbinical student himself under the tutelage of Heschel, he was asked if he had noticed the trees along Riverside Drive that morning. Heschel enthusiastically explained that those trees were wearing tefillin.  Baffled, R. Gillman and his entire class walked up to Riverside Drive to catch a glimpse of this unusual phenomenon.  While the trees were not actually adorned with the phylactery, their array of seed pods blowing in the wind did seem to resemble a wearer of tefillin in the act of fervent prayer. How refreshingly poetic it was for Heschel to take the time and see such beauty in the nature of NYC!

For me, I continue to read my daily paper as always but I try to appreciate the information presented, and use that to wonder at the world, to look at the nature that is all around me (even in my urban environment), and remember to place myself in the world as a potent agent that can understand and do good for it. 

If we all heed Heschel’s message, where we need to, “experience commonplace deeds as spiritual endeavors, to feel the hidden love and wisdom in all things,” then I believe we can be uplifted and motivated to protect this planet and one another.

Moments such as Heschel’s on Riverside Drive should enable us to tap into Jewish tradition and its medium of prayer to express how we feel when experiencing wonders of nature such as the seeing the ocean, smelling fragrant fruit, and even when hearing thunder.

For example, upon seeing trees and creatures of striking beauty we can say: “Baruch attah Hashem, elokeinu melekh ha-olam, she-kakcha lo b’olamo, Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe who has such beauty in his world.”

    I don’t knowabout you, but when I hear the word “Arctic”,the images widely circulating in the media (i.e. melting glacial ice caps and “cuddly” [now classified as threatened] polarbears desperately searching for stable ice floes), flash through my mind. However, after reading SilentSnow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic by Marla Cone (2005), I nowthink to also address the humansliving in the arctic region and how they are affected by their changing environment.

    TheInuit, who inhabit various parts of the Arctic including Greenland,Canada, and Siberia, are apeople whose culture and way of life are and have been shaped by the Arctic’s habitat for thousands of years. Especially unique to them is their diet ofgame – such as seal meat and whale blubber – rich in protein and fat, which enablethe Inuit to survive the harsh conditions of their environment and preventcertain diseases of malnutrition like scurvy. If you don’t believe me, take agood look at the history of American and European polar exploration, for it willtell you of travelers from “modernized” nations who had to adopt such a diet ifthey wanted even a chance at survival in the arctic regions. Yet, these sources of food, which have alwayssustained the Inuit, today, are becoming widely seen as detrimental to theirhealth.

        Cone’sbook, reminiscent of Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking SilentSpring (1962), goes beyond popular media, uncovering the presence ofthe world’s chemical residue in the region’s waters, ice, and complex foodchain. Even after global initiatives toreduce production of DDT,PCBs, and mercury, they haven’tdisappeared. Not only do they remain in the world at large, they disproportionatelysettle in the Arctic. Through evaporation and condensation, they arecarried north by the Earth’s water and air systems. Unfortunately, the story ofthese chemicals’ travels does not end there. Through bio-accumulationand bio-magnificationof these toxins from the environment, they build up in succession of arcticspecies along the food chain, so that the Inuit (the highest on the chain)today exceed the concentration of PCB’s, mercury, and other chemicalsconsidered safe under international health guidelines. Consequences are slowlybeing seen as many Inuit children suffer from high rates of infectious diseaseslike ear infections (leading to hearing loss) and complications with braindevelopment.

In2002, the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) stated that the contamination raises”fundamental questions of cultural survival, for it threatens to drive awedge of fear between people and the land that sustains them.” While manyof us today in other settings can and do change our diet because of health concerns,the Inuit cannot. A few weeks ago, with the salmonellaoutbreak in tomatoes, did we not have the option of buying different typesof tomatoes or of simply abstaining from them altogether? The point is, we didnot have to radically change our eating habits and if we were to, would nothave to uproot our lives to do so.

We now need to be reminded ofwhat it means to be so dependent on our environment and the atrocity whenrealizing that formerly symbiotic relationship may need to be reconsidered. Yetagain, maybe, as Jews who draw an identity from the Land of Israeland reject the notion of completely abandoning it for security, we are moreunderstanding than we think. What weneed to do then is to connect our personal experiences to our neighbors’ upnorth and support the Inuit in maintaining their livelihoods. We can start by carefullydisposing our waste, continuing the fight for cleaner energy, and as always,educate ourselves with the latest news.

Although many of us are alreadyin the midst of our summers and are both mentally and physically removed fromthe ice, we should note that we are still in an InternationalPolar Year, ending in March 2009. Incommemoration of this year, Silent Snow has been made into a feature-length documentary(watch the trailer!) to be shown at the end of the IPY.

As you can see, information regardingtoxins and the Inuit has been around for some time. Just because we can’t see it, because itisn’t melting away or isn’t a cute, furry creature, doesn’t mean it isn’tthere. Let us take off the Arctic “goggles” we’ve allowed the media to let uswear, in order to see the bigger picture at hand.

For more, read a interesting interviewwith Jim Clark, former Alaskan King crab fisherman and lover of Inuit art andculture.