Jews Food And Contemporary Life

As Jews, we’ve been thinking about kashrut - about what is “fit” to eat - for nearly 3,000 years. And a growing number of people today realize that our food choices have significant ramifications - for ourselves, our families and the world around us.

Hazon stands at the forefront of a new Jewish Food Movement, leading Jews to think more broadly and deeply about our own food choices. We’re using food as a platform to create innovative Jewish educational programs; to touch people’s lives directly; to strengthen Jewish institutions; and in the broadest sense to create healthier, richer and more sustainable Jewish communities.

Hazon's food-related work consists of the following programs, each of which engages the Jewish community in thinking, learning and acting around food issues.

• Hazon CSA is the first Jewish Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in North America.  In 2009, the 32 Hazon CSAs throughout the United States, Canada and Israel give members the opportunity to put their purchasing power behind local, sustainable farms while deepening their connection to where their food comes from—and to do so within a context of Jewish community and learning.
  
  
• The Hazon Food Conference brings together the thinkers and doers of the new Jewish Food Movement, including farmers, rabbis, chefs, educators, Hazon CSA leadership, community organizers and foodies, to explore the intersections of Jewish tradition and contemporary food issues. The 4th annual Hazon Food Conference will take place December 24th to 27th, 2009 on the Monterey Coast in California.
  
  
  
• Hazon’s JFEN--Jewish Food Education Network resources include Min Ha’Aretz, an 18-lesson interdisciplinary curriculum about food and Jewish tradition for students (typically grades 5-9) and a complementary curriculum for families. The 170-page student curriculum includes unit plans, teaching strategies and framing for text study and discussions, as well as student worksheets.  Min Ha’Aretz combines experiential learning with study of classical Jewish texts and topics in health, nutrition, recycling, and the environment.  The family curriculum includes step-by-step guides and handouts for three family education events focusing on food and Jewish tradition (1) family learning/cooking evening (2) farm visit; and (3) farmers’ market visit. Food for Thought, Hazon’s 130-page Sourcebook on Jews, Food, and Contemporary Life, is the core of our adult education resources.  Food for Thought offers traditional Jewish texts, in Hebrew and English, and contemporary Jewish and non-Jewish texts along with discussion questions and activity suggestions. We also offer training for educators who want to teach about Jewish tradition and food in their schools, congregations, camps, JCCs, and other settings.
  
  
• The Shmita Project is a partnership of Hazon and the Jewish Farm School.  Using the Jewish tradition of a Sabbatical year, we are developing a set of 7-Year Goals for the Jewish community’s relationship to land and food.  The Shmita Project also aims to prepare the Jewish community to observe the next shmita year, which begins in September 2015.  We invite you to help write the 7-Year Goals and take part in formulating the education, action, and advocacy plans for the Jewish Food Movement!
  
  
• Hazon’s award-winning blog “The Jew & The Carrot” at www.JCarrot.org serves as a front page for all of Hazon’s food work, bringing the discussions of food, Jewish life and contemporary issues to far reaching corners of the Jewish community. The Jew & The Carrot covers food news and politics, food celebrity interviews and resources to green your holidays and life. The Jew & The Carrot won awards for "Best New Blog" and "Best Kosher Food/Recipe Blog" in the 2007 Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards.

To get involved in any of Hazon's food work, contact Judith Belasco.