2012 Alumni Award Winner
By founding a sustainable kosher butcher shop, Devora Kimelman-Block ’93 makes it easier for people to make thoughtful and ethical choices that align both with their religious beliefs and moral principles.
An American studies major who participated in Chalutzim, GORP, cross country, and track and field, she later earned a master’s degree in education from Fordham University. She has been a staff member of the American Jewish Congress and an AmeriCorps member with the I Have A Dream Foundation. She was also program director of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association.
She has long maintained an interest in religion, food, and ethics. For years, she had a vegetarian kosher kitchen. She also founded a community-supported agriculture group.
She was deeply concerned that nearly all kosher meat came from animals raised in confinement. In 2007, she founded KOL Foods, which works with farmers and consumers to provide 100 percent grass-fed kosher meat.
Starting a partnership with a single synagogue in Washington, D.C., she now sells kosher, organic meat nationwide. Her efforts to do business sustainably are comprehensive: KOL Foods operates out of a LEED-certified building with a green roof.
Grinnell is proud to honor Devora Kimelman-Block ’93 for providing a practical solution to a real-world problem while maintaining her highest ideals and beliefs.
