Comments on: Why Genetically Modified Foods Should Not Be Considered Kosher.

By: RAFAEL BRATMAN

RAFAEL BRATMAN — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 23:59:04 +0000

Thanks you all for the comments! Leah, I couldn’t agree with you more. Evonne, in answer to your question, I keep kosher to a large degree and am particularly careful to avoid consumption of treif animals. I wish I could say I also ate 100% Non-GMO, but unfortunately that’s a lot harder to do and with the absence of labeling and high likelyhood of gmo drift contamination, its virtually impossible for any of us. I see GMO’s as a part of what it means to truly keep Kosher. This is what bothers me so much, that I am not able to follow my religious convictions due to lack of honesty about where our ‘food’ is coming from.

By: Leah K

Leah K — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:26:29 +0000

Thank you so much for this post. I couldn’t agree more. I avoid all GM foods and it always bugs me how frum circles seem to endorse the consumption of fake food — overly processed, genetically modified, etc. Since when was preserving a ‘kil yakar’ polluting oneself with this non-food crap?
The issue you raise here goes much deeper, i.e. the role of the kashrut organizations and the rabbinic authorities in our health. if the FDA says that saccharin is safe for consumption (which they just did), does that mean it’s safe for us? The dangers of these issues lie in the rabbinic authorities being misinformed by the same profit-hungry big wigs that push drugs and disease onto our people and then deeming them not only not asur, but at times, even recommended (with other health/drug issues). This is when we run into big problems. Thank you for opening this discussion and I pray that the halachic authorities become enlightened about these real issues by more and more people like you and become truly informed about what Hashem really meant for us to put into our bodies.

By: Evonne Marzouk

Evonne Marzouk — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:15:10 +0000

Rafi – I’ve been thinking a lot about what you wrote. Here is my question. Do you keep kosher? And do you avoid all GMO products? I ask because every time someone says to me that GMOs should not be kosher, I wonder whether they really know what they are asking. Keeping kosher – for real – means not eating the stuff that isn’t kosher – at all. And GMOs are in so many things. That would put a LOT of food out of commission. Keeping kosher is already hard. It seems to me that many people who make these arguments on the basis of Jewish values have not fully thought through the implications. Do you yourself avoid all GMOs? Would you, if they were declared not kosher? Or is this just a values-based argument that wouldn’t have any teeth except for the small percent of Jews who keep kosher?

By: Deborah Klee Wenger

Deborah Klee Wenger — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:58:11 +0000

Thank you for such a thorough analysis. This is really food for thought and spirit!