Beyond the conventional methods of growing vegetables in an open field with soil, new technologies are enhancing the agricultural industry. For example, innovations have been designed to produce higher-quality products with greater consistency, and a longer shelf-life. While these advancements have created agricultural revolutions that are much to the consumers’ benefit, they also have their own set of kashrus implications. Here, we will explore the use of indoor-farmed lettuce, to fulfill the mitzvah of maror.
Over time, farms have incorporated new agricultural methods in line with technological advancements. Indoor farming, for example, has become an increasingly popular industry trend. This technique consists of growing plants indoors in greenhouses, under controlled conditions.
Greenhouses are enclosed, transparent structures typically constructed from glass or plastic. Their ability to absorb heat from the sun, while protecting plants from outside elements, has proven to yield more consistent and higher quality products year-round. Although greenhouses are becoming increasingly popular, they’ve existed in some form for centuries.
Indoor vertical farming is a much more recent innovation. This technique typically centers on the use of vertically stacked layers of trays found in both warehouses and greenhouses.
Indoor farming employs multiple technologies: Hydroponics involves growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution, often with an additional growing medium other than soil, such as peat moss or coconut coir, a fiber. Aeroponics is a method of growing plants by suspending roots in the air which are irrigated with a nutrient-dense mist.
Vegetables grown via hydroponics or aeroponics present an interesting question around the appropriate blessing (beracha rishonah) to recite prior to consumption. On one hand, vegetables typically fall into a category of something that is grown in the ground.
It seems, then, that the proper blessing on any vegetable should be borei pri ha’adamah.
However, these vegetables are not grown in the ground, but rather through specialized technology with a water-based medium. Therefore, perhaps the proper blessing should be shehakol.
This question has been discussed by contemporary halachic authorities, who take different positions on the issue. Some rule that the proper blessing should be borei pri ha’adamah 1. The simple reasoning is that the blessing is intended for all vegetables as part of one category and the growing medium should not be a factor. However, others disagree, and suggest that the proper blessing is shehakol 2 . Hydroponically grown vegetables in this sense may be compared to mushrooms, which are also not grown in the ground and require a blessing of shehakol 3.
There are numerous halachic authorities that permit using hydroponically grown lettuce for maror at the Pesach seder.4 However, since there is an opinion that appears to suggest otherwise 5 , Rav Yisroel Belsky zt”l maintained that it is proper to use conventionally grown lettuce from soil for the Pesach seder.
CHECKING LETTUCE FOR BUGS
Romaine lettuce is commonly used for maror. Below are step– by-step recommendations on how to properly check romaine lettuce for insects. The basic instructions apply to any kind of romaine lettuce, no matter how it grows:
1. Cut off the lettuce base and separate the leaves from one another.
2. Soak the leaves in a solution of cold water and soap. The proper amount of soap has been added when some bubbles are observed in the water.
3. Agitate the lettuce leaves in the soapy solution.
4. Spread each leaf, taking care to expose all its curls and crevices. Using a heavy stream of water or sink hose, remove all foreign matter and soap from both sides of each leaf. Alternatively, a vegetable brush may be used on both sides of the leaf.
5. Leaves should be checked over a light box or against strong overhead lighting to verify that the washing procedure has been effective. Pay careful attention to the folds and crevices in the leaf where insects have been known to hold tightly through several washings.
Occasionally, worms may be found in burrows within the body of a leaf. Look for a narrow translucent burrow, speckled with black dots that break up the deep green color of the leaf. These burrows will often trap the worm within the leaf. To rid the leaf of these worms, carefully slit the bumpy part within the burrow with a sharp knife and remove the worm. It is important to note that many of these varieties feature curly leaves with many folds in which the insects tend to hide. It is therefore recommended that they be washed and checked with extreme caution.
An alternative method of checking lettuce that has become increasingly popular involves the use of a mesh cloth. The basic method consists of agitating and soaking leafy produce for a few minutes in cold water containing soap or vegetable wash, and draining the water through a mesh cloth placed between two large strainers. After draining the water, the mesh cloth is placed on a light box to inspect for any possible insects that were dislodged from the produce into the water.
[1] Shut Shevet HaLevi 1:205) and Teshuvos VeHanhagos 2:149
[2] Chayei Adom (51:17) and Yechaveh Da’as 6:12
[3] Tractate Berachos 40b
[4] Keren Orah Menachos (70a), Chazon Ish Kelaim 13:16, Mikraei Kodesh, Pesach 2:12, Halichos Shlomo (7:20), Ashrei Haish p. 408
[5] Nishmas Adom Hilchos Lulav 152
