The food was delicious.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Brunch
What's Sunday without Sunday brunch?I took my sister to "Sacred Chow", a vegan restaurant in my neighborhood. I've never been so I was a little apprehensive to take my meat eating sister there. The restaurant is really cute and has a nice size menu with tons of options!I ordered the tofu scramble and Joanna opted for the banana french toast. We both had fresh squeezed orange juice, which was amazing! I forgot how good real juice tastes. The food was delicious, and my sister was quite impressed that a scramble with no eggs and cheese could taste so good. Her french toast was also amazing. I need to start bringing my camera with me to these places. If you're ever in soho and need a tasty breakfast, lunch, or dinner I definitely suggest Sacred Chow!
Posted by Alicia at 9:59 AM

vote sacred chow city's best!

http://citysbest.aol.com/new-york/best-dining/vegetarian/

MUCHO GRACIOUS!

I hope you and the rabbi are staying out of trouble.

Hi Cliffy,
How are you? What's new over at the restaurant? Are things going well?
I'm having a good time being home in Maine. I've been swimming and hangin out with old friends and letting my mom coddle me a little bit:) My job stinks though- the work is fine, waitressing at a fancy restaurant, but it's really disorganized and I don't get paid on time and stuff. It makes me really appreciate you and Sacred Chow! I'm much happier doing my other part-time work, gardening and landscaping. It's a real workout!
Say hi to everyone. I hope you and the rabbi are staying out of trouble. Is Maggie a manager now? (see, who is maggie? , blog piece, 3/20/08) How are new people working out?
Write back soon!
peace and love, nina

(see, fiddler on the roof., blog piece, 3/10/08)

Boy, were we impressed.

04/02/2008 Posted by sohogal
Went to Sacred Chow with a vegetarian friend that was in town and had been complaining there was no decent vegetarian food in the city. Boy, were we impressed. The variety of food was fantastic and we were spoiled for choice. Even as a non- vegetarian, I had difficulty choosing from the vast menu,everything sounded so good. Eventually settled on the 3 tapas plates for $15. Where else in NYC can you get so much for so little!!! Will definitely be going back and bringing a bunch of friends. Nearly forgot to mention the fantastic wait staff too!!!
Pros: Everything
Cons: Nothing

my favorite for years

d e.

Ridgewood, NY
5 star rating

06/21/2008

Sacred Chow has been my favorite for years. My standby meal is always the Four Seasons Salad (with carrots, beets, apples in a mustard dressing) and the Indonesian tempeh on the side. However the daily specials are always changing. If the nut stew is on the specials menu, I'll go for that, its amazing. The brussels sprouts are amazing, as is the green pea hummus when its available. The brunch is wonderful.... sweet potato hash with smoked tempeh???!!! It's almost toooo good. In the winter, I get the coconut milk hot chocolate. Its unreal! But over the years i've had everything on the menu and its all been good, as are the desserts when i occasionally try them. Ive taken nearly all my friends here, mostly meat eaters, and they love it too! Yum.

get out of my way grandpa!

gay pride on a personal note.

oh it's a long history. and i am proud to say we are still current history. no, not husbands or that kind of thing. friends, friends. i'd even say, dear friends. i do love alex. and i know he'd help me get the moon if i needed it to help build sacred chow. he's such a sweet, strong, handsome, vastly intelligent person and he really, really needs a vastly intelligent kind-a-person to settle down with. of course finding that person without a 100 million emotional disorders connected to him, is like finding a clean public bathroom in nyc. forget about it! but nonetheless, alex is perfect, a classic, truthfully, a one-of-a-kind. a tad hateful sometimes, used to vote republican. i know, a horror story. oh but he's fiercely loyal to his friends and family. loves his mom like crazy, he really does! same applies to everyone, dog included, in his world. he also really adores sacred chow too. when he eats sacred chow it's like he's devouring his ukrainian grandma's great home-made food. so that tells me quite a bit, cauz he's also a gimme a good steak kind a guy too. oh, he votes for the dems now. his dog? a cutie named bruno. hey tough guy! he told me just tonight on the phone that rupert evertt, an actor, states in his "grandpa" memoirs, and i paraphrase, if a gay guy over forty lit himself on fire in a gay bar, no one in the bar would even light a cigarette off of him. it is sort of funny and hideous. get out of my way grandpa! well, who would want to kiss anyone who smokes anyway. alex doesnt smoke, well he used too. but that's history. happy pride day y'all! love u alex!

happy gay, gay, gay, gay pride day!

hey fellow sexual beings!

many happy days, enjoy these gifts of magic.

if you just love the male form, well, share that excitement and go discover the most classic art form. and if your aroma is more towards the ladies, well, here the art is exceptionally outstanding. our advise, admire her for days.

use every sense to seek out your desire. a little of both, or whatever the spin, spin it and make it so.

taste him, smell her, observe her, and watch his lips and the sound of his every word. beautiful! her breath! that's it, isnt it? that portal to another place in time, take it.

make him your live art performance, an art history project. indulge, revel, stare, uncover, reveal and love her.

kiss, kiss!

love, sacred chow

nyc gay pride is june 29th, sunday. if you're in the big yapple, come on over and enjoy some great chow and a draft, bubbly or chilled rose or white. classic kosherfied and sustainable sangria! it dont get better than that! love, love, love!

hand-made, high-nutrient, low-carbon fresh!

http://www.animalrightsblog.com/ Vegan New York

Posted in June 16th, 2008
Submitted by An Animal-Friendly Life

Quick trip with my spousal unit to Manhattan this weekend. We only had limited time in the city, but managed to finally try a Dosa from N.Y. Dosas at Washington Park before eating at Sacred Chow.

I enjoyed everything from both places, though none of it was really hot. We caught N.Y. Dosas just as they were wrapping up, so we didn’t exactly get fresh food, but it still satisfied my craving until we went to an Indian restaurant in Jackson Heights the next day.
I got the feeling that Sacred Chow reheats food, at least at the time of the day we went (about 5ish on a Friday afternoon), because our orders did not come out very hot, and they cooled off rather quickly. The orange blackstrap bbq seitan was terrific, though, regardless of the temperature. If the sesame greens had just been hotter, they would have been awesome. Instead they were just fine. Though more than each of the tapas plates at $6, the Gym Body smoothie with soy milk was totally worth the money (not that I would have complained about a little vanilla extract and/or agave nectar in there).
No pictures of food, probably because I was too hungry to do anything but start eating immediately. At least I had the presence of mind to take those two location photos above.

chow response!

hi, i am sacred chow's neurotic main man. just to edify the possibilities of your experience with the cool temp food issue. working with plant proteins isnt exactly like cracking open a "right-out-of-the-nest" egg from a chicken, duck, pigeon... tofu and seitan could never be as "fresh" as her egg. to make tofu you gotta boil soymilk and extract the soy curds from the whey. this is when tofu is freshest, but not a major culinary experience per se. although many would disagree, myself included. the same applies to seitan, an extraction process that removes all the carbs from the wheat's protein. from its raw state it needs a lot of attention in order to make minor masterpieces, major for many folks. it requires a balancing act of hard work, spices, liquids, root starches and sea vegetable stabilizers. like soup, it needs to cook (boil or roast first) in order to marry texture and flavor, and it's usually best the next day. fresh? well yes, but not like "fresh" sunny-side-up eggs fresh. you cant crack a plant protein into a skillet and fry it up with a little butter or olive oil and presto. there's a bit more added science to the process in order to make the plant protein first respond texturally to heat, and then to further take form and structure through a cold process. the protein reacts and abracadabra you have bbq seitan.
what you didnt have was an expediter that properly griddled the seitan, and he* probably held your sesame steamed greens a tad too long before service. but fresh they were! not right-out-of-the-nest "fresh"- no, no, no! hand-made, high-nutrient, low-carbon fresh! come back to sacred chow another time to have your meal at its proper food temp. you'll love the grilled western tofu especially on toasted w.w french bread w/ dill-mayo & steamed collards. my personal favorite! i like it with lots and lots of pickles!

oh, and thank you for your piece because it was a nice one, and the slight problem can be easily fixed. also, know that you can return anything, no charge, and request your meal exactly as it should be. you will not get an ounce of attitude!
love, cliff

*proper pronoun used.

eagles and wolves

his skin smells like the freshest cold water.

i drink, i wash my face.

a river swiftly moving in the remotest of places.

northern alaska perhaps. falling snow,

wild earth, caribou, eagles and wolves.

my boy, asleep, in the vast expanse.

amazing food. best sammies ever!! yuuuum! insanely good!!! fit for a king!

peacebypastries.blogspot.com

Monday, June 2, 2008,

Posted by Laura

That night for dinner...Sacred Chow.

Little place, big portions, amazing food.

We both had big sandwiches for dinner...mine was the black olive roasted seitan sandwich, with melted vegan cheddar, lettuce, and a dijon vinaigrette...very unique and sooooo savory. one of the best sammies ever!!

Steve opted for the classic "meat"ball sub with spicy marinara and melted vegan mozzarella...this could have passed for it's omni alternative for sure! yuuuum!

We were stuffed, but decided to gorge ourselves (haha) on some chocolatey goodness for dessert.... I had the chocolate cake, which was two layers of their homemade chocolate brownies, with strawberry filling, chocolate frosting, and chocolate-covered pralined nuts. insanely good!!!
Steve had the brownie sundae...probably due to jealousy of the one I had at Candle 79 :) This was an enormous brownie topped with vanilla soy ice cream, hot fudge, and chocolate sprinkles...fit for a king!

just 25%!

we must, absolutely must, be mindful of our extraordinarily high-carbon consumption in order to lower it. we need to drill it in, over and over, into action. we can, indeed MUST, consume less.

first. stop. this very moment.

think about the best mom in the world, and i can tell you to think of mine for sure, and maybe yours too, if you are as lucky as i am.

stop again. now think about the brutality of the starving mother and her new born child. their lives, right now, and ours in this very same moment. the mother! the child! no access to any consumption, high or low, not even breast milk! and you and me?

think, and think hard, let's exercise our brain power, our thought energy. focus! the mother, the mother, the mother. fill her breasts with milk. but she is empty! a vassal! starvation! the reporters report from their cars, military men drive in their trucks; our wheels of privilege. focus! focus! the mother, the mother, the mother. fill her breasts with milk. how?

i am embarrassed by the political dementia everywhere, and our endless banter through the wires in light of our inhumanity. focus! here in nyc, and other "westernized" high-consumption societies, we can take action. we are truly blessed to have this capacity, and choice. yes, it's amazing to be able to have these multitude of choices: electronic devices and accessories, taxis, cars, long showers, air conditioners, t.v., newer pants, sugary sodas and diet ones too, plastic bags galore, and pizza, ice cream shakes, chicken and shrimp parmigiana, hot dogs w/ the works and bacon-cheese-burgers!

high-carbon choices! the mother! focus! consume 25% less animal protein and balance in 25% plant proteins! just 25%! 25% will change the carbon imbalance for the generations, the earth, our hearts, creation, and the mother.

take action now, right now!

strong as a horse.

"you know what i mean jelly bean? i wanna, wanna, wanna go to mexico! watch this, this is cool, this is magic. do you like the way i did it? cool right? that's my phone! hey daddy come on out here! what? did you take my barack obama book? well, i cant find it!"

i was so exhausted from putting in so many hours at sacred chow. it had been a real busy wednesday night, order after order. and i was the sole expediter, and after we closed down we had to put together orders for wholesale for thursday am. so we left sacred chow @ 1:30am. i felt as strong as a horse, so i walked home, no, galloped home. read until 5 am. huxley, my most amazing son, had half a day of skool, and grandma, our guardian angel, picked him up @ 12pm. from the kitchen, while in deep, deep sleep, i over-heard their conversation from above. it echoed in and out of my head like: wha, wha, wha. it pulled me out of sleep, i washed my face, kiss, kiss, mom and hux, and off to sacred chow i walked, no, galloped like a horse.

f.y.i.: Never use ice to soothe a burn.

since i routinely get burned at sacred chow while i am baking, roasting, searing, steaming, grilling... i knew that this painful experience must happen to you too. i know for me, my first thought is to cool it down with ice. ah, but should i? an enlightened answer for all of us to follow.

The Claim: Ice Is Good for a Skin Burn.

By ANAHAD O’CONNOR

Published: June 10, 2008

THE FACTS
Like a cup of tea for a cough, a batch of ice for a sunburn may seem like the perfect remedy for millions of Americans who will spend a little too much time in the sun this summer.
But many home remedies that seem like common sense are less than helpful, and the old ice-for-a-burn technique is no exception. It can help soothe some initial pain, but in the end it will slow the healing process.
That has been borne out over the years in various studies of simple treatments for minor scalds and sunburns. In one randomized study by Danish researchers in 2002, 24 healthy volunteers were inflicted with first-degree burns and subjected to different treatments. Those who received a cooling treatment similar to ice did not experience reduced pain or inflammation compared with those who received a placebo treatment.
In another study in the journal Burns in 1997, another team of scientists compared easing burns with ice cubes for 10 minutes with other remedies and found that ice caused “the most severe damage.” “Using an ice cube immediately after injury,” the authors added, “is harmful in some instances.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, putting ice on a burn can cause frostbite and damage the skin. For better results, try running cool water over the area and taking a pain reliever. Then cover the area with gauze but no ointment. Most minor burns heal without further treatment, the clinic says.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Never use ice to soothe a burn.

sounds like it's sacred chow time!

Sticking to the Mediterranean diet — rich in olive oil, grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables and legumes, and low in meats and dairy — may lower the risk for diabetes.

Scientists followed 13,380 healthy Spanish university graduates for an average of four and a half years, tracking their dietary habits and confirming new cases of diabetes through medical records. The study was published online May 29 in The British Medical Journal.
The researchers ranked the strictness of adherence to the diet on a 10-point scale, and found that those with the highest scores reduced their relative risk of diabetes by 83 percent compared with those with the lowest.
The authors acknowledge that the number of cases of diabetes they found was small, which limits the statistical power of the finding, and that the nutritional information is based on self-reporting, which is not always reliable.
Still, the large sample and the finding of a dose-response relationship between stricter adherence to the diet and lowered risk of diabetes give the study strength.
“There are good fats, like those in olive oil, nuts and avocados, that are quite healthful,” said Miguel A. Martínez-González, the lead author and a professor of epidemiology at the University of Navarra. “We have to change this belief that a low-fat diet is the key to good health.”

red, red wine, or a glass of white

this is a great report! and just so you all know sacred chow has some exceptionally amazing kosher, sustainably harvested red and white wines. so come swirl and sip a glass and cheers to our increasing lifespan!

Recent reports suggest that red wine is a potent force in increasing lifespan, and a new study offers still more good news for wine drinkers. A glass a day, whether white or red, may reduce the risk of developing the nation’s most common liver disorder, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Researchers studied 7,211 nondrinkers, and 3,598 people who drank a glass a day of wine, beer or liquor, testing them for elevated blood levels of alanine aminotransferase, or ALT, a finding that indicates liver damage.
They found above-normal levels in 3.2 percent of nondrinkers, 3.5 percent of beer drinkers and 2.3 percent of daily hard-liquor drinkers.
But among those who drank a glass of wine a day, the rate averaged only 0.4 percent.
Even after adjusting for other risk factors, the association of modest wine drinking with lower blood levels of ALT persisted.
The authors, writing in the June issue of Hepatology, suggest that wine’s nonalcoholic components may be responsible for the findings.
“While one glass a day seems helpful, these data do not support the use of larger amounts of alcohol,” said Dr. Jeffrey B. Schwimmer, the senior author and an associate professor of gastroenterology at the University of California, San Diego.

miracle-worker ingredients

if you've been unsuccessful in losing weight around your middle, listen up! these miracle-worker ingredients hold the power to truly transform your body and specifically target hard-to-lose and dangerous belly fat. the secret is their magical "mufas" pronounced moo fahz (aka mono-unsaturated fatty acids -- a healthy fat!). f.y.i.: no moo fahz in moo cheez. a recent study published in the journal diabetes care found that eating a diet high in mufas can help reduce accumulation of abdominal body fat. bear in mind: no other nutrient can do this. couple these fabulous foods with a reduced-calorie eating plan, 30 minutes of exercise a day, more or less, if you are physically able, and not only will you slim down, but you'll lose weight where you want to -- your belly, while increasing your brain strength, heart health and the planet's too.

peanut butter. a serving of mufa peanut butter has 3 mg of the powerful antioxidant vitamin E, 49 mg of bone-building magnesium, 208 mg of muscle-friendly potassium, and 0.17 mg of immunity-boosting vitamin B6. research shows that eating peanuts can decrease your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions.

olive oil. olive oil is the best all around for cooking and salads because it contains mostly mufas, which lower "bad" LDL cholesterol without affecting "good" HDL cholesterol. olive oil is also rich in antioxidants, which may help reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. the greener the oil, the more antioxidants, so go for extra-virgin.

sunflower seeds. sunflower seeds are packed with B vitamins and mufas, which play an important role in protecting against inflammation. they are also an excellent source of vitamin E. sunflower seeds are also great for curbing hunger.

almonds. the mufas and vitamin E in almonds work together to cut cholesterol. almonds are also a great source of vegetable protein and fiber.

avocado. avocados are a great source of heart-healthy mufas. these delectable green orbs also contain more of the cholesterol-smashing beta-sitosterol (a beneficial plant-based fat) than any other fruit. beta-sitosterol may reduce the amount of cholesterol absorbed from food. the hass variety, grown principally in california, contains more mufas than the florida variety.

dark or semi-sweet chocolate chocolate or more specifically, cocoa powder made from ground, defatted cocoa beans -- contains compounds that have the potential to protect against heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes and contains substantial amounts of antioxidants. dark chocolate -- not milk or white -- contains as much antioxidant capacity as red wine.

flaxseed oil flaxseed oil is the best plant source of omega-3 fatty acids and helps reduce systemic inflammation, which researchers believe may lead to heart disease, cancer and alzheimer's disease. flaxseed oil should never be heated, so use in salad dressings or smoothies or as a condiment drizzled

walnuts like seafood and flaxseed, walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids, which help protect your heart and preserve brain health.

below i have listed just a few of the many menu items that are available at sacred chow, all organically grown. you can eat and drink these fabulous mufas in many different shapes, sizes and forms.

come chow down sacred chow! moo fahz! moo fahz! sounds like moove fast, moove fast, which we must, for the planet and creation's sake. eat more mufas now!

and here's where we salivate and lose weight, gain heart strength, lower global warming...and enjoy a great mufa filled meal.

well there's creamy mufa peanut butter in the charles brown smoothie along with dark chocolate sauce, it's rich, custardy, and superb in every way. and you'll find a nice dose of peanut butter in the silky cold soba noodles.

the ethereal gym body smoothie, toasted mufa almonds and omega-3 flax oil make this a truly nutrient rich elixir and a heavenly delight to drink. oh, and you'll find some ground flax in a delectable wheat free brunch waffle too. it's scrumptious!

sacred chow makes so many chocolaty mufa things that you'll just have to come and taste these luscious sensations. but just to whet your appetite, i'll tell you about three especially ridiculous treats, halva chocolate pie, brownie sundae, and THE sinner bar, drip, drip, salivate, oh yes you will. gluten free too!

and real yummy, our toasted walnuts, brain food indeed, are turned into perfect walnut pralines dipped in dark chocolate. oh man, they are too good to be true.

mufa-packed sunflower seeds are sprinkled in a few incredible salads, an amazing sugar free jam dot cookie called, you guessed right, the jammie, is loaded with oats and these miracle seeds, and the smooth, velvety, peerless lentil pate is made with ground toasted sunflower seeds.

and it's almost summer, so there's loads of mufa-packed avocados, from chilled soups to smoothies and pies.

oh my, the king mufa, olive oil is in just about everything from small to large doses.

so enjoy, heal yourself, the planet and your palette asap!

and how? sacred chow!

born of faith

Saint Theresa's Prayer.

May today there be peace within. May you trust G-d that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be confident knowing you are a child of G-d. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

big warm hug!

if leaving a comment here is too laborious, for whatever the reason, do so @ sacredchow@aol.com, and we'll make sure to post it for u.

big warm hug!

take root, seep out.

@ sacred chow closing down. the paint strokes of the kitchen cleaning up, forks rumbling, water flowing; sacred chow is clean, glowing and strong.

perhaps if i rumble and flow into peace you will come along?

take root, seep out.

and vote for sacred chow, frickin' delicious, frickin' heart-healthy, frickin' low-carbon, frickin' plant-based, frickin' sustainable, frickin' vegan,

frickin' halal, frickin' observant-kosher with lots of frickin' gluten free stuff too @

http://citysbest.aol.com/new-york/best-dining/vegetarian/ .

and be on the frickin' look-out for the frickin' truth!

which candidate will be the fairest in the land?

the answer is self-evident.

it's apparent that governor george bush isnt a leader or a mindful person, nor remotely presidential. after watching the pubs and dems debate through 2007 and 2008, and concluding with their final nominations, it is still clear that "age, race, and gender" discrimination are very real issues in our great democracy, from the 3 main contenders to our main streets in america. however, if we demand from the candidate and their team, the dream, our boldest and most courageous plan, we will have a vision called america that strives for equality and fairness towards all beings and creation: less violence, less carbon, less poverty, less cruelty, less hunger with equal education, health coverage, constitutional protections, and with this comes a little more breathing room for freedom and peace to grow. if i strengthen this in me, i will strengthen this in you, our sons and daughters, and the wisdom of the sages is ours to give for eternity.

let our greatest truth be self-evident!

happy puerto rican day too! felices fiestas y'all!

The Puerto Rican Day Parade (also known as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade) is a locally televised parade that takes place yearly on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The parade, which is always held on the second Sunday in June honors the nearly 4 million Puerto Ricans on the island itself, as well as the Puerto Ricans and those of Puerto Rican heritage on the mainland. In 2006 more than 80,000 participants marched and nearly 2 million spectators lined the parade route. The parade always attracts many celebrities, both Puerto Rican and of Puerto Rican heritage, and many politicians from the tri-state area.
The parade marches along Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 86th Street and has grown to become the second largest parade in New York City after the West Indian Day Parade along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. With close to 3 million spectators annually it is one of the largest parades in the country.

happy shavu'ot! the festival of weeks.

Shavu'ot - it is the giving, not the receiving, that makes this holiday significant;

a time of anticipation, new freedom from oppression. it began with "the giving" of the torah on mount sinai, and from the 2nd day of passover through shavu'ot, 7 weeks, we spiritually reflect upon our redemption from bondage.

You shall count for yourselves -- from the day after the Shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving -- seven Shabbats, they shall be complete. Until the day after the seventh sabbath you shall count, fifty days... You shall convoke on this very day -- there shall be a holy convocation for yourselves -- you shall do no laborious work; it is an eternal decree in your dwelling places for your generations. -Leviticus 21:15-16, 21

Shavu'ot, the Festival of Weeks, is the second of the three major festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Passover and Sukkot). Agriculturally, it commemorates the time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple, and is known as Hag ha-Bikkurim (the Festival of the First Fruits). Historically, it celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and is also known as Hag Matan Torateinu (the Festival of the Giving of Our Torah).
The period from Passover to Shavu'ot is a time of great anticipation. We count each of the days from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavu'ot, 49 days or 7 full weeks, hence the name of the festival. See The Counting of the Omer. The counting reminds us of the important connection between Passover and Shavu'ot: Passover freed us physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavu'ot redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry and immorality. Shavu'ot is also known as Pentecost, because it falls on the 50th day; however, Shavu'ot has no particular similarity to the Christian holiday of Pentecost, which occurs 50 days after the Christian Spring holiday.
It is noteworthy that the holiday is called the time of the giving of the Torah, rather than the time of the receiving of the Torah. The sages point out that we are constantly in the process of receiving the Torah, that we receive it every day, but it was first given at this time. Thus it is the giving, not the receiving, that makes this holiday significant.

keep the beat juice clean!

hey vegetarian,
if you are vegan, well you're vegan. there just is no other possible way.

although i disagree with consuming dairy, i do think if we purchase an animals by-products from a sustainably-minded vegetarian farmer, we could probably bet that these animals are well cared for and respected. at the corner pizza store, not so much. and mozz and parm arent vegetarian. if we consume too much dairy, whatever our source, we'll over-coagulate the beat juice. now that's a real gross visualization, similar to never flossing. think of a hot summer day, meat scraps laying for weeks in a garbage heap during a 98.6% heat-wave. hey, that's the same temp in our mouth. yum, kiss me you fool: a delectable spread of garbage dump road-kill right here in my mouth.

okay, so floss every day and keep the beat juice clean!

love, sacred chow

with one tookus* you cant dance at 2 weddings!

so went the refrain in my family when one of us was going above and beyond our physical capacity. which really was about letting go, choosing, and making a firm decision as to which "wedding" to attend.
the astounding point here is that, after past-horrors like the pogroms, of my grandma's childhood, and the constant horrors of no choice, no food, no clothes, no education, shelter, peace, freedom..., to having a choice, 2 weddings no less, with food, drink, joy, song and dance - how very fortunate i am to be able to quote such a refrain, and say: sacred chow, and how!
here in my little america of hope, i ask: and how g-d? "and how, and how? start with a truly sacred chow." and how!

* derrière.

"how to live a low-carbon life", aka - those damaging methane burps

food

recent research, summarized in the new scientist magazine of 18th july 2007, suggests that modern methods of intensive beef production generate large amounts of greenhouse gases. this is, of course, not a new hypothesis: we have gradually become aware of the huge amounts of grain needed to feed our animals, and of the troublesome amounts of energy needed to produce the fertilizer needed to get our cereals to grow. the scientist david pimentel has suggested that it takes seven times as much grain to feed all meat animals in the US as it does to feed the human population.
the new research, carried out in japan but surely representative of the impact of modern farming methods in the rest of the industrial world, suggests that one kilogram of meat creates the equivalent of over 36kg of global warming gases. this number immediately strikes one as large. the average person in the US eats about 12 kilogram of beef a year. so eating a typical amount of beef generates 0.4 tons of emissions. after including the impact of international aviation, each US citizen is responsible for about 12 tons of emissions from all sources, including industry.
a simple sum shows that beef, a relatively small part of many people's diet, accounts for between 3 and 4% of one's carbon footprint. this is bad enough. but let's look at it another way which perhaps makes our concerns with food production even clearer. a simple calculation shows that industrial food production is more destructive of the global atmosphere than driving a car.

here's an example. walking three miles uses about 180 calories. replacing, assuming you don’t want to lose weight, would mean eating about 100 grams of beef. of course, it depends on the cut of meat, and how much fat it contains, but this figure is reasonably typical of beef in US shops. the scientists in japan give a figure of 36 kg of emissions for a kilo of meat, so a portion of 100 grams equates to about 3.6kg. this is the first part of the calculation – it shows that one 3 mile walk generates 3.6kg of emissions if one replaces the energy lost with beef.
what if one drove the 3 miles instead, and so didn't need the extra food? the average US car emits about 290 grams (0.29kg) of CO2 for every mile traveled. a 3 mile trip therefore generates 0.87 kg of emissions. this is about a quarter of the equivalent emissions from walking. and if there are two of you, and you share the car, then walking would be eight times as bad for the climate, if both are replacing the energy lost with beef. the troubling fact is that taking a lot of exercise and then eating a bit more food is not good for the global atmosphere. eating less and driving to save energy would be better. i can't deny that this is a troubling conclusion.

why am i recommending driving? the honest answer is – i'm not, i'm simply pointing out that modern agriculture is extraordinarily energy intensive. and it is not just energy. cows belch gallons of methane every day and methane is a fiercer global warming gas than CO2. manure and fertilizer also give off smaller quantities of nitrous oxide, which has over 300 times the impact of CO2. intuitively we recognize that major industries such as aluminium smelting generate climate changing emissions.
we need also to become accustomed to the idea that our food production systems, particularly those involving ruminant animals and their methane burps, are equally damaging. as the man from delta air says, cows generate more emissions than aircraft. unfortunately, we have to agree with him. and it wouldn’t do any harm also to acknowledge that transport is getting slightly more energy efficient by the year but as far we can tell this isn’t the case with the food supply chain.

the frenzied weathervane.

the unbridled cruelty of humanity has pushed so many of us into predicaments that have no right existing along with humanity, but they do. and like a frenzied weathervane spinning uncontrollably in strong winds, no sure direction is apparent. but when the winds begin to diminish, and (if) a sense of calm is before you, look, look, and love.

my maternal grandparents came to america from the pogroms of belarus; and my paternal great grandparents came to america from romania. my grandma lillie would hold me in her arms and tell me so many frightening tales of her childhood in belarus. she whispered about the hateful and dreaded cossacks on their mighty horses. the cossacks, her voice trembling, would rummage fiercely through all the jewish villages to burn, rape and pillage their lives and homes. she told me of how she, her mom, mom's sisters and her sisters, would all frantically run and jump into their secret hiding places when they would hear the pounding of the horses hooves. after the dust cleared, and they'd re-enter their home, everything would be turned upside down, broken and trampled upon. many of the houses and businesses in the village would be burning or burnt down: unbearable, unrelenting fear. one of her sisters, my great aunt rose, just 10, never made it out of belarus; and the rest, with some fathers, uncles and sons, the ones that weren't miraculously killed, were able to "get out", with underground jewish agency funding, to "ellis island, america". great grandpa and grandma preefer from romania, aka grandma & grandpa from the country, moved to the catskills mountains of new york state, thus the country, and opened up a bungalow colony on what became known as preefer farm, which was on preefer road in glenwild, ny. while my great grandparents lived in romania during its appalling oppression of romania's jews, this was not their sole reason for coming to america, because everyone hated everyone according to great grandpa, but also to leave a small-minded, very stale, gray society. and since they had saved enough money, and just a bit more to "get out", they would find a way to america to build "the golden life". grandma lillie gave birth to 3 kids, one was my mom, the other 2 were my uncle eddie and uncle sonny. my mom became a psycho-therapist, uncle eddie the director of united cerebral palsy, nyc, and uncle sonny opened h& h bagels, which he sold in the 1970's. but h & h was one of the first bagel kingdoms in nyc, and has grown to become a global behemoth. my great grandparents gave birth to 4 sons, one was my grandpa artie. grandpa artie and his brother, jack, opened a textile factory named after my dad, melco textiles; the two other sons became doctors, good ones too. my dad and his bro, uncle joel, along with their cousin, roger, built melco into one amazing enterprise. ah, here in the land of plenty these jews became doctors, directors and merchants extraordinaire: doctors preefer, melco and h & h, wow! how could i uphold and build upon these traditions of excellence? an heir to a bloodline espousing the economics of supply & demand juxtaposed with über-liberals preaching freud, marx and palestine. jewish, yes absolutely. orthodox, conservative, reformed, agnostic, atheist...? i suppose so. sounds jewish to me!
i lived in israel to study my historical roots, met my great, great aunt lena, who traveled to palestine while her brother, grandpa from the country, chose new york. i went to law school and practiced law to learn how to represent the poorest folk of kings county, nyc, & of an exceptionally rural county in pa. i learned fairness.

and how sacred chow? from hearing the stories of the pogroms to working for the poorest of folk, my focus became how could i build fairness with less violence? i found the answer looking through a webster's dictionary, sacred, sacred cow, sacred heart, sacred scriptures, ah, sacred chow! i know, that having brought a jewish and legal sensibility of fairness into being at sacred chow, that creation is a bit more restful and soothed. and i know, here on earth, that my child, who is half korean and half jewish, lives with this sensibility as well, and much more: his agile mind, body and soul grow in the presence of a truly sacred chow.
in the darkest days of the pogroms, in the darkest days of our lives, the frenzied weathervane turning and turning in the winds of time, in search of real peace and freedom, stops at love. i say, i love you! i hold you in my arms and drink in your tears, and tell you that sacred chow is here to help fill your broken hearts and bellies with love. i will do my part, you do yours, let's speak to g-d, ask for direction, and we will find our way to each other. this i promise.