The Wine & Vegan Cheese Tasting to be held at the Washtenaw Food Hub on Saturday, May 30, at 3:00 is a fun and tasty way to get us talking about the connection between our food choices and climate change. The AARC is organizing this event. The Ann Arbor Jewish Climate Circle is partnering with us to promote it to the broader community. And you are invited!
The Shavuot-inspired tasting will feature artisanal vegan cheeses, Michigan wines, and locally sourced dairy cheeses and accompaniments in a beautiful farm setting. The wines were paired by our own Joel Goldberg, who has been a wine columnist and wine competition judge. As much as possible, the foods we’ll sample are made in Michigan.
Fortified by delicious food and drink, we’ll explore the consequential topic of food and climate!
First, a statistic: Food systems– production, transportation, and consumption–are estimated to generate about 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. We’ll look at the roles of animal agriculture, food sourcing and waste, among other factors. And we’ll hear about how our individual actions, when scaled, can shift an unsustainable food system. To guide this exploration, we’ll have a guest speaker from the UM Food Sustainability Initiative.
Rabbi Gabrielle will provide a Jewish context for the event using the concept of “eco-kosher,” which reconstructs traditional notions of what is “fit to eat,” a key aspect of which is care for the earth.
Given the enormous challenges posed by climate change, we’ll also talk about some things that we personally can do to lower our carbon footprint.
And finally, we’ll learn about the Washtenaw Food Hub, the venue for the event, which supports many of those solutions. Their farm market, which looks like a country general store, carries many of the products we’ll sample. Their related business, Tantre Farm, is currently enrolling people in its CSA to receive fresh produce throughout the summer.
We thank the Ethyl Hyman & Rose Kaplan Foundation, whose generous support makes this program possible.
Tickets to attend the Wine & Vegan Cheese Tasting are $18 per person. Space is limited and the registration deadline is May 20. We hope you’ll come. Register here!
