Comments on: I.B. Singer and animals

By: brebis noire

brebis noire — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:57:55 +0000

I like Peter Singer too, he has done an awful lot of work setting up a philosophical framework on the way animals are used and abused by us. He’s influenced a lot of people to write and act on behalf of animals.

By: Rhona McAdam

Rhona McAdam — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:57:50 +0000

Thanks for this great post on Singer, about whom I knew little. I am a huge fan of the other singer – Peter – because of his book, The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter.

By: lagatta à montréal

lagatta à montréal — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:09:37 +0000

Kasha is a staple food from the Ukraine and nearby regions; it is toasted buckwheat and very nutritious. I buy my kasha from a Russian shop near here that isn’t Jewish, though of course you can also find it in kosher aisles of supermarkets and Russian or Ukranian Jewish shops.

The key to making such a dish tasty without any meat or meat flavouring is called garlic and onions.

One traditional way of preparing kasha involves mixing it with a beaten egg and sautéeing it dry in a skillet – this keeps the grains separate and provides extra protein. Of course the kasha is then cooked with water or stock.

Yes, the living conditions were about the same in Jewish shtetls and among the Orthodox and Catholic population; very poor for most people of any faith community. To some degree the ethnic-German communities seemed to have somewhat more “modern” agriculture due to ties with Central Europe, at least according to what I’ve read on the society.

brebis, I’d say Rachel Carson was another exception to the backsliding on concern for non-human living beings in the postwar period. She didn’t really right about animal rights or vegetarianism, but all her writing, whether about sea, land or airborne creatures was filled with the same concern for all forms of life.

By: brebisnoire

brebisnoire — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:56:36 +0000

I’d love the recipe, if you have one!
I find the traditional Ukrainian dishes to be way too labour-intensive and heavy for my taste, but I’m always on the lookout for traditional Galician dishes that aren’t too hard or take too long to prepare.

By: Lilian Nattel

Lilian Nattel — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:48:10 +0000

Kasha and beans (or beans and barley) is actually a traditional Jewish dish–cholent–slow cooked overnight. A little beef might thrown in it (or just some fat) for flavour. I haven’t eaten any since I was a kid, but I thought it was heavenly then. I’m a vegetarian now so I’d have to skip on the meat flavouring.

By: brebis noire

brebis noire — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:37:52 +0000

Hi Lilian, no I didn’t know that, though of course it makes sense and I’m sure that’s the way the Ukrainian peasants lived as well. (In fact, my grandfather missed that lifestyle so much he ended up buying a few acres outside the city where he could keep a few chickens and plant a reasonable garden.) I think that people in suburbs and cities should be allowed to keep chickens; there’s a good case for removing the bylaws that currently forbid it in some places.

I.B. Singer always like to say that he was a vegetarian for the health of the chickens; it was one of those jokes he liked to repeat all the time. But he took his vegetarianism very seriously, and firmly believed that a plate of kasha and beans was a great way to get a full protein meal.

By: Lilian Nattel

Lilian Nattel — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:15:03 +0000

I wasn’t aware of I.B. Singer’s writing or thoughts about animals. That’s very interesting and moving. Fyi (though you may know already) in shtetls (Jewish towns in Poland and Ukraine), the houses usually had 2 rooms and a long hallway behind them. Chickens wintered in the hallway.