Politics, Religion, and Food

A Gossips reader, after looking at the placards displayed in the window of Grazin', reported this observation. One of the farms supplying artisanal cheese to Hudson's new diner--the first Animal Welfare approved restaurant in the U.S.--is Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery, where Rose Marie Belforti is the cheese maker. Belforti gained notoriety not long ago, in the New York Times and elsewhere, for being the town clerk in Ledyard, NY, who refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. 

The Times reports that Belforti, who describes herself as a "Bible-believing Christian" and holds that "God has condemned homosexuality as a sin," is "at the heart of an emerging test case, as national advocacy groups look to Ledyard for an answer to how the state balances a religious freedom claim by a local official against a civil rights claim by a same-sex couple."

For foodies in Hudson, there's another issue. Michael Pollan, as the Grazin' website notes, encourages people to "shake the hand that feeds you," but should it be required that the hand that feeds you belong to someone who shares all your values?