What is a Jewish Response to Factory Farming?

Professor Aaron Gross

How can Jewish community and Jewish teachings help us better respond to the factory farm systems that now produce the majority of animal products consumed in Israel, Europe, North America, and increasingly, the world? Are factory farms, which claim to feed the world, compatible with Jewish mandates to preserve human health? What do product claims like “antibiotic free” and “humanely raised” really mean? How might rabbinic teaching about tzaar baalei chayim–the Torah mandate not to cause unnecessary suffering–shape contemporary debates about the future of food? Join us and bring your own insights to share.

Aaron Saul Gross, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of San Diego and the founder and CEO of Farm Forward, a nonprofit group advocating for humane and sustainable farming. Farm Forward launched the Jewish Initiative for Animals in January 2016. Aaron worked closely with Jonathan Safran Foer on his international bestseller, Eating Animals, and is presently consulting on a documentary based on the book being produced by Natalie Portman and working on a co-authored book with Foer. He is the author of The Question of the Animal and Religion: Theoretical Stakes, Practical Implications and numerous articles.