Lee Jennings and Food Ethics

Penn State's Rock Ethics Institute

St. Francis is blessed with scholars like Lee Jennings.  When asked to share the story behind his recipe for Vegan Carnitas Tacos Lee explained, "I was learning about ICE raids on poultry processing facilities in Mississippi last summer and I was thinking about working conditions at a poultry processing plant and how desperate somebody would have to be to work that kind of job. So I decided to respond by becoming a vegetarian. Not because I am against eating meat but because I don't want to support an industry that mistreats workers so flagrantly."

https://thehill.com/latino/456566-immigration-agents-arrest-680-mississippi-food-processing-facilities

Susan and Lee Jennings
Sermons aren't the only things that raise our moral consciousness.  Lee's rationale prompted a search on the ethics behind our food choices.

The Food Ethics Council https://www.foodethicscouncil.org/ explains:

"We all make regular ethical decisions about our food but what does the term ‘food ethics’ mean? Many people take ‘ethical’ to mean ‘the right kind of food’ but food ethics is broader, it’s about the principles that dictate what counts as acceptable treatment of others in relation to food – from the humane treatment of farm animals to looking after the environment, from human health to fair treatment of people working in the food system."

Decision Matrix of The Food Ethics Council

Recipe inspired by https://thewanderlustkitchen.com/vegan-carnitas-tacos/

 Vegan Carnitas Tacos

Ingredients:
  • 8 Tbs olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 14 oz jar whole hearts of palm, chopped
  • 1 6 oz pkg soy chorizo (HEB), alternately 1 can cooked lentils
  • 1 tsp lime juice
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 12 corn tortillas
(Optional toppings: crumbled fresh Mexican cheese, cottage cheese, shredded red cabbage, pickled jalapenos, avocado slices, chopped cilantro)

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat approx. 4 tbs olive oil. Add onion and cook until caramelization begins, about 5 min. Remove onions from skillet and set aside.

Add an additional 4 tbs olive oil. Add hearts of palm and cook until caramelization begins, about 5 min.

Add soy chorizo, cooked onions, lime juice, chili powder, and ground cumin. Mix thoroughly and serve warm over tortillas. Garnish with desire toppings.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Ginger Bread Woman

Image
Gifted and talented are the words that come to mind when Gigi Greene's name is mentioned.  She's a skilled performer and sings, dances and acts.  She's also a professional baker.  We turn cartwheels when Gigi signs up to host coffee hour after church on Sundays. Gigi’s Famous, Award-Winning Triple Ginger Cookies I have been making this recipe for at least 25 years. Around 20 years ago, I entered them in a very small local contest, in which I won first place, so I’ve called them “award-winning” ever since! I make them every year at the holidays, and have ramped up production over the years from a few dozen to 10 dozen to 40 dozen, and more… Finally, I started selling them, since I was making them in commercial quantities anyway. I have always been happy to share the recipe. Here I have noted the specific brands I use so that I have consistent results, but they may not be available everywhere. One other “extra” thing I do is that I have an old coffee gr
Read more

"Whoever Comes to Me Shall Not Hunger"

Image
  In response to the COVID-19 outbreak and declaration of a national emergency our priest, The Rev. Lacy Largent shared a notice from our bishop, The Rt. Rev. Andrew Doyle.  Beginning on  March 15, 2020, Mother Lacy, Miguel Sousa, our music director, and several choir members would remain on the job and utilize an online format.  Other parishioners would worship from home. The Book of Common Prayer describes The Holy Eucharist as a sacrament, "An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace."  Regarding Communion our prayer book states, "The benefits we receive are the forgiveness of sins, the strengthening of our union with Christ and with one another...."  We grieve our inability to continue this sacred tradition.  #txgingerbreadwoman We also miss visiting with friends and welcoming newcomers at coffee hour,  our monthly potluck, and small group dinners, but recognize these hardships are small when compared to the physical, ment
Read more

Better Cooking with Eggplant

Image
An excerpt from Chris Sabella's article from The Daily Meal https://www.thedailymeal.com/what-is-eggplant Originally native to India, the common purple eggplant has spread its seeds throughout the modern world and can be found in the cuisine of a multitude of different countries. In France, eggplant is known as aubergine, a name also used for the purple color of eggplant (even the flowers of the plant are purple), and is one of the main ingredients in the famous French dish ratatouille . In the Middle East, eggplant is mashed and blended with other ingredients like tahini to create baba ghanoush, a creamy dip for dipping pita bread in. Pickled and miso-glazed eggplants are very popular in Japan — it seems almost every country in the world has some traditional use for eggplant. Eggplant is so versatile in the kitchen that it is commonly used, rather effectively, as an alternative to meats and proteins. As an example, consider eggplant parmigiana , a popu
Read more