Chabad Expands Kosher Options on ASU Campus
Keeping kosher at Arizona State University has been a struggle for graduate student Sivan Markowitz. Until the recent improvements to kosher offerings on campus, which were instituted about a month ago, she had limited options.
Rabbi Shmuel Tiechtel, executive director of Chabad at ASU, described the availability of kosher food as “chips and what you would have at a convenience store.”
“(I ate) a lot of tuna,” said Markowitz. “It’s kosher and it’s nutritious, so you’re not eating junk food.”
Recently Tiechtel, with the support of Rabbi Barton Lee, executive director of Hillel at ASU, began working with Aramark, the university’s food service provider, to make prepackaged fresh kosher food available at the market in the Memorial Union (MU), located at the center of the Tempe campus.
The food is shipped in from Emuna Foods in Southern California and includes about five dairy, meat or pareve selections, such as a turkey sandwich, southwest veggie wrap and couscous marinara salad.
“Before now, you’d go to the market and try to find something that has a hechsher or something that means ‘kosher’ on it, but aside from that, you’re kind of stuck with any possible off-campus options,” said Markowitz. “This movement to try to increase options has really been vital, I think, for the Jewish populace on campus.”
Hillel offers kosher Shabbat dinners and a weekly kosher lunch on Wednesdays, and Chabad offers kosher Shabbat dinners and lunches.
Tiechtel said that at the end of every Shabbat, he offers Chabad’s leftover food to students who keep kosher and don’t have cars to be able to shop off campus. He also picks up food for students at kosher markets in Phoenix once or twice a week, if they place orders with him.
However, even with the new kosher developments, cost is prohibitive for some students.
Jake Ashby, a freshman from Philadelphia, grew up in a secular household but decided soon after arriving on campus that he wanted to keep kosher. For now, he’s had to settle for kosher-style. The kosher turkey sandwich at the MU market is $10.
“I don’t mix meat and cheese and I don’t eat pork products, but other than that, my only means of eating (affordably) is the dining hall,” said Ashby.
Tiechtel said his goal is to have ASU incorporate a kosher meal plan for students, although he is unable to give a time frame as to when he thinks it might be implemented.
Lee said that there have been a number of students over the years “who have crossed ASU off their list (of colleges) because kosher food is not available.”
“There are a lot of Jewish students here, the demand is great for it, and it would also attract a lot more Jewish students (to the school),” said Tiechtel. “I get calls directly from parents who want to know about ASU and Jewish life here. A common question … is, ‘Is there a kosher meal plan?’ Parents want to make sure that their children are going to have enough to eat.”
