TASTE MATTERS WITH with Eleanor Kaufman March 15, 2007

"Keeping Kosher on the Prairie, Keeping Chickens in Petaluma"

Kaufman focuses on the crucial importance of chickens for two distinct groups of Jewish settlers. The first is made up of observant immigrants, largely from Eastern Europe, who ended up as homesteaders on the plains, trying to keep kosher in conditions that were already difficult, and for whom chicken frequently turned out to be the most manageable source of kosher meat. The second group comprises organized utopian farming communities, whose members were largely unobservant and somewhat more enthusiastic about farming. In both cases, food -- and especially chicken -- proves crucial in determining the daily practices and sustainability of two different types of agricultural settlements not usually associated with American Jewry.

$8 non-members; $6 members.

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