What is Kashrut? Kashrut, which is derived from the word kosher, meaning fit, is the system for determining what an observant Jew may or may not eat.

It's an ancient system and really the first system of intentional eating. The myriad laws of Kashrut cover both prohibitions to eat forbidden foods and the positive commandments to only eat meats that are slaughtered in the correct manner. The system of Kashrut is also highly exegetical, meaning very small. Portions of the Bible have been expounded upon to be a huge body of law. For example, three times in the Bible, it says you may not cook a kid in its mothers milk. This has been expounded upon to go so far as to prevent the mixing of meat and milk in cooking, eating and even digestion, whereas Orthodox Jews will wait up to six hours after eating meat to eat any dairy.

So the famous joke goes. God said to Moses, “Don't boil a kid in its mother's milk”. Moses says, “Oh, so you mean don't mix meat and dairy?” Moses: “Don't cook a kid in its mother's milk”. “OK, so we need separate dishes?” Moses: “Don’t cook a kid in its mother’s milk”. “OK, so we have to wait six hours?” “Fine Moses, do it your way.”

There are many reasons proposed for why we keep kosher, from the notion that God told us to, and that's how we do it, to the idea that it should make us disciplined, to the more spiritual notions that it's to teach us compassion for animals in the world around us. I don't claim to have the answer to the question, but it is a worthwhile discussion. More practically, as a producer of kosher meat, I like to think about the effect that the laws of Kashrut have on those who observe them, specifically around animal agriculture. Doctor and philosopher Leon Kass writes that while not all flesh is prohibited, everything that is prohibited is flesh. The Jewish approach to meat eating has always been one that revolves around animal sacrifice and ritual slaughter, perhaps as a means to regulate that human need to eat meat. We are, according to Jewish law, certainly allowed to eat meat, but it must be done in a ritualized manner, at every step of the way we either give reverence to God, or give specific thought to the process and practices that are involved in taking life for food. Conventional kosher meat is not necessarily any more humane, sustainable or ethically produced than non-kosher meat. However, when you're buying kosher meat, you do know that the animal has been killed by hand by somebody who's highly trained, accountable and vetted by the community. And in this day and age, that is something. Most important to me is the intentionality that keeping kosher creates around food and eating. If you keep kosher, it's impossible to just eat. Every trip to the grocery store, every meal and every vacation requires real thought. This intentionality has come to play in the modern Jewish food movement. An explosion of chefs, restaurants and cookbooks that, while not strictly kosher, are very Jewish. The modern Jewish food movement is a direct extension of the system of Kashrut in which our food choices help express our values and connect us to our place in the modern world.