Keepin' it Kosher

 Tyler Hamman

Keepin' it Kosher

Dear Quest Food Services Chefs and Employees,

    Hi, my name is Ty Hamman and I am a new student at Hinsdale Central. First I wanted to thank you for preparing food for all of the students during these unprecedented times. Having something to eat on my way home from school has been amazing as I am super hungry when the end of the school day rolls around. I wanted to reach out and make a suggestion for more Kosher options in the cafeteria. My family are very devote in our Jewish faith and I wanted to bring to your attention the lack of food items in the cafeteria that are acceptable for me to eat. Our religious beliefs require we only eat Kosher foods. Kosher simply means "fit or appropriate."https://www.myjewishlearning.com/category/eat/keeping-kosher/  Being a devote Jew requires a lot of self discipline which I have learned over the years when choosing which foods I can and cannot eat and I believe staying kosher is very important for my faith.

    One major part of Kosher food is keeping the meat and blood from the animal separate. There are processes that salt and soak the meat, thus removing all of the blood. This makes the meat kosher. Also kosher animals must be slaughtered in a prescribed manner. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/kosher-food/

    Another major difference to eating Kosher is that meat and milk products cannot be eaten together. We believe that the mean and milk must not mix in the stomach so I have to wait a while so one can be digested before I consume the other. This is a much easier problem to solve for me in the cafeteria because I can choose which one to consume that day and I can avoid entrees that already have both mixed together .https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/keeping-kosher/. 

    Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and for your consideration in adding kosher meat products to the cafeteria.

                                                        Sincerely, Ty Hamman

*Just a side note that this is a hypothetical blog post and my religious beliefs are not Jewish so please don't really forward to Quest*