Sustainable and Kosher: Manhattan Kosher Map Updates
Changes to map layers with a focus on our food system’s impact on the planet
#DefaultVeg
I first encountered the #DefaultVeg hashtag in 2021 when Avodah announced that all of their meetings and events would be vegan or vegetarian by default. Their goal was “to make… vegetarian and vegan [food]… the norm.” What I love about their model is that they haven’t written off folks who want to eat meat. Instead, they’ve simply switched the default: “meat and other animal products … need to be requested in the same way vegetarians/vegans/people with food allergies currently do.”
A bit over a year ago, inspired by many calls to action and lots of data about the environmental impacts of eating meat, I decided to turn meat layers off by default for the Manhattan Kosher Map. Users are still able to turn the meat layers on if they so desire (just as folks can request meat in Avodah’s #DefaultVeg model). I’m encouraged by the anecdotal feedback I’ve received: map users are less likely to go to meat restaurants due to the extra effort needed to turn on the meat layers.
(Note: while I’m excited to see that some kosher meat restaurants are now thinking more carefully about where the meat comes from, it’s not clear that grass-fed beef is more sustainable, and in some cases it’s actually harmful.)
Restaurants without Kosher Certification
I’ve struggled for a long time about the fact that many restaurants on the Kosher Map are not certified kosher, making the title somewhat of a misnomer. While I do reach out to establishments before adding them to the map (with especially rigorous criteria for the non-certified restaurants), I am not a certification agency.
As such, I’ve set the “Vegan (not certified kosher)” and “Vegetarian (not certified kosher)” layers as turned off by default as well. I’ll continue to update the non-certified restaurants, but now users will have to actively turn those layers on in order to see them.
DeliverZero: It’s Complicated
DeliverZero is “a network of returnable, reusable food containers.” As the organization points out, “[s]ingle-use packaging litters our streets, pollutes our waterways, piles up in landfills, contributes to air pollution, and adds to greenhouse gas emissions.” I love the idea behind DeliverZero. I too share the commitment to “fight climate change and waste.” (I’ve found that some kosher certification agencies often don’t share that commitment, though many do, including Lighthouse Kosher and EarthKosher.)
Unfortunately, shared reusable plastic food containers are tricky when it comes to keeping kosher. Once plastic containers are used for hot (or spicy) treif food, they can’t then be used for hot (or spicy) kosher food. Even if there were somehow a mechanism in place to kasher the containers before they were used in a certified kosher restaurant, for example, it’s unclear if such containers are even kasherable at all.
The potential issues extend to restaurants’ kitchens as well. After use, the containers are “returned to a participating restaurant, washed, and reused for another delivery.” In other words, the containers have potentially been used for hot treif food at restaurants and customers’ homes (e.g. to reheat the takeout or any other treif food they may have at home). Participating restaurants then receive and wash these containers with their dishes and cookware.
Personally, I don’t eat at restaurants that participate in this project, and I had therefore initially planned to remove the participating vegan Manhattan restaurants from the map. In the spirit of sustainability and letting users make their own decisions, I’ve decided to keep them on the map in a new hidden layer. It’s called “Vegan or Vegetarian (shared containers & not certified kosher)”, though I’m open to suggestions for making it a shorter title 😉.
Looking Ahead
Thank you to everyone who has shared restaurant updates and general feedback over the last few years. I’m of course interested to hear your thoughts about these latest updates as well.
Excited about these changes? Frustrated about the new defaults?
Feel free to share your feedback here: koshermap.nyc/feedback
