Have you ever wondered about all those symbols you find on many food labels, like the “U” and the “K,” which are pretty much ubiquitous on anything from apple pie to zinc supplements? Well, they are two of about a handful of symbols that state the approval of a kosher certification agency. Each agency has its own symbol and its own standards—and its own Rabbinic inspector to make sure that kosher laws are observed in food production. So far, so good. But how did these symbols get there?

While most people will launch into a heartrending rendition of the printing process as it pertains to food labels, and others concentrate on the technicalities of kosher versus non-kosher foods, Roger Horowitz is working on a historical perspective. He will be with us for the full academic year to write his project, a book entitled

 American Kosher:

How Orthodox Jews, Food Companies, and Chemistry Created Modern Kosher Food

. . . and a fascinating tale it is indeed, as we have already seen in his Brown Bag Lunch talk last semester!

Roger Horowitz

Right now this project is progressing behind the closed doors of the third floor at CHF. But otherwise Roger is a rather public figure! When he is not on sabbatical/a fellowship, he is associate director, Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society, at the Hagley Museum and Library. Watch him in action in this recent stint as a TV expert on Fox News (and check out the Hagley blog while you’re at it—marvelous stuff)! So the world has much to learn from Roger Horowitz, our 2009–10 Postdoctoral Cain Fellow. And we are eager to listen.

As for the readers of this blog, Roger has an additional message: he hopes that Brad Lidge finds his pitching form. Looks like our fellows will get on together just fine . . . while the Fearless Fellowship Leader, a sports enthusiast only when it comes to shepherding contests, is curious what she will discover about the fellows who remain to be introduced here.

—to be continued—