Food

Content type
Collection
Helen Kim Headshot

7 Questions For Helen Kim

Sarah Groustra

JWA chats with sociology professor and author Helen Kim.

Katie Draisen cooking

7 Questions For Katie Draisen

Sarah Groustra

JWA talks to Boston-based private chef Katie Draisen. 

Topics: Food, Entrepreneurs

Sara Schlosser

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandy Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Sara Schlosser on January 19, 2008, in Wolcott, Vermont, as part of DAVAR's Vermont Jewish Women's Oral History Project. Schlosser discusses her family history, childhood, and journey to becoming a vegetarian, her experiences growing up in New Jersey, eventually starting her own family farm, and celebrating Jewish traditions with the local community.

Miriam Latter

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Miriam Latter in Metairie, Louisiana, on September 26, 2006, as part of the Katrina’s Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Latter reflects on her upbringing, running Tujague's Restaurant, her leadership in the Jewish community, and the impact of Hurricane Katrina, highlighting the community's resilience and the significance of community-wide prayer services.

Jackie Gothard

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Jackie Gothard on September 20, 2006, in Metairie, Louisiana, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Gothard shares her experiences growing up as an orthodox Jew in New Orleans, the destruction of Beth Israel synagogue during Hurricane Katrina, her efforts to restore the synagogue and reassemble the congregation, and her reflections on gender and Southern politics in the Orthodox community.

Passover-Themed Collage Featuring Matzah and Decorative Bowl

My Charoset Bowl: From Female Ancestors, to My Mom, to Me

Mira Eras

Mira Eras describes how a charoset bowl passed through generations of women in her family keeps her feeling connected to her mother's love for holiday traditions.

Topics: Feminism, Food, Passover
Collage of Photos from Lucy Waldorf's Internship at Adamah

Growing My Identity and My Feminism Through Jewish Farming

Lucy Waldorf

The new movement of Jewish agricultural and regenerative farming has been at the center of my identity development.

Place setting with "&"-Themed Placemat

Breaking the Fast: Why I’m Choosing to Eat this Yom Kippur

Larisa Klebe

Not fasting on Yom Kippur can be rooted in a need to atone too.

Topics: Food, Yom Kippur
Samovar

My Samovar: A Connection to Soviet Jewry

Beth Dwoskin

A family samovar passed down through the generations is a connection to a Russian Jewish past.

Topics: Food, Jewish History

Joan Nathan

Award-winning journalist and cookbook author Joan Nathan is a transformative figure in documenting and exploring the evolving Jewish experience both in America and around the globe through the powerful lens of food. A long-standing contributing writer to The New York Times and Tablet Magazine, Nathan is the author of eleven books, as well as hundreds of articles, podcasts, interviews, and public presentations about Jewish, global, and American foodways. 

Woman cooking with a background of food and cooking utensils

The Politics of Holiday Preparation

Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler

The execution of holidays—and ritual more broadly—is political.

Topics: Food

Niki Russ Federman

Niki Russ Federman is the fourth-generation co-owner of Russ & Daughters, the iconic appetizing shop founded in 1914 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan by her great-grandfather, Joel Russ. Known globally for its bagels, lox, babkas, and other Ashkenazi Jewish food delicacies, Russ & Daughters is believed to be the first business in America to include daughters in the name. As the fourth generation to own Russ & Daughters, Russ Federman has overseen its expansion while retaining an authentic legacy of Jewish food.

Victory Garden Poster, 1941-45 (crop)

Seeds of Sustenance: Pandemic Victory Gardens

Julie Zuckerman

Like during World War I and II, many of us have turned to gardening for comfort and control during the pandemic.

Topics: Food, World War II
Close up image of a cow

Progressive vs. Passive: Why Being Uninformed is the Last Straw

Hannah Landau

It’s our responsibility to be informed consumers; livestock are responsible for 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Topics: Activism, Food
Stuffed Grape Leaves

On Rolling Grape Leaves

Maddie Solomon

Traditions live on in places and foods, which have the unique ability to root people in their heritage.

Topics: Family, Food
Close-up of a parsley plant.

Parsing the Meaning of Parsley

Ella Plotkin-Oren

Parsley reminds me of my Judaism.

Topics: Activism, Food, Passover
Old page with Yiddish and vegetable imagery

Not Just Potatoes: Legacies of Yiddish Vegetarianism

Sophie Hurwitz

In the early 1900s, a surprising movement emerged in the Yiddish-speaking Jewish diaspora: radical vegetarianism.

Topics: Food
Field in Austin, Texas

How Will Your Jewish Mother Feed You on a Starving Planet?

Sophie Hurwitz

Food justice is a feminist issue, and a Jewish one.

Topics: Activism, Food
Yuba Noodles with Tofu

I’m Vegan, But That Shouldn’t Stop You From Reading This

Lila Zinner

Veganism is hard to uphold, mainly because of issues related to accessibility. For American families living in poverty, fast food—comprised of cheap animal products—is often the only affordable option. I’m extremely grateful that I’m able to maintain a vegan lifestyle, but I also recognize that it’s a privilege.

Topics: Food
"Egg Cream" Film Still

Neither Egg, Nor Cream: An Afternoon at the Tucson Jewish Film Festival

Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler

When I saw a flyer advertising the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival at the Jewish Community Center, with something called Egg Cream listed as a short film to be shown toward the end of January, I was intrigued.

Topics: Food, Film

Episode 3: People of the Cookbook (Transcript)

Episode 3: People of the Cookbook (Transcript)

Sweet Pumpkin Coils

Recipe: Sweet Pumpkin Coils for Fall

Paola Gavin

Exclusively for JWA, Paola Gavin shares the perfect autumn recipe for sweet pumpkin coils from her cookbook, Hazana: Jewish Vegetarian Cooking.

Women's March on Washington, 2017

Authentic Community Organizing, From Food to Feminism

Sofia Gardenswartz

From dining on Mexican-fusion cuisine at Macho’s, to learning about the intersectional practices of San Diego’s large Mexican-Jewish population, my identity has largely been shaped by San Diego’s multiculturalism.

Topics: Feminism, Food
Cooking Woman

Kitchen Culture and Me

Tamar Cohen

I have this memory where I'm five and it's Thanksgiving, or I'm 12 and it's Chanukah, or I'm 15 and in AP World History. They're all the same memory, and there are more. Almost every year of my public-school education, there has been some kind of school celebration of cultural and ethnic diversity. The common factor in these celebrations is food, because what better way to bring a diverse (and generally uninterested) group of students together?

Dorrit Corwin Dressed Up as Julia Child for School Presentation

From Spy to Spatula to the Small Screen

Dorrit Corwin

When I was in third grade, I had to choose a famous role model to research and present to my class. Naturally, I chose Julia Child – not because I was an aspiring chef or because I wanted an excuse to buy a red wig – but because I left the theater after seeing “Julie & Julia” (2009) absolutely fascinated by her legacy; both inside the kitchen, and beyond its walls. A female public figure with a personality as strong as hers was rare during the 1950s, and her role as a volunteer spy during World War II taught me that no one is just one thing. Even though history often highlights people solely for what they were most famous for, it’s important to look beyond that and explore their multiplicity of talents and contributions to society. 

Topics: Feminism, Food

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