Accommodations And Food

Food at the Food Conference

Food is the centerpiece of the Food Conference. Meal times are celebrations for the food that nourishes us all. The food is delicious, consciously prepared and local/organic as possible. It’s no easy task to plan the food for the biggest gathering of Jewish, consious eaters -- Hazon Food Conference. After all, when participants are coming to talk, think, and learn about food 24/7, mealtime must be more than your basic meat and potatoes. The guidelines that help us craft our menus are the following:

·  Kosher. During the Hazon Food Conference, all the food served and the facility are glatt kosher – please respect the standards of kashrut by resisting the temptation to bring in food from home. The staff worked closely with the Vaad Hakashrus of Northern California. There is a masgiach (supervisor for kashrut) on site during all food preparation and food service. To learn more about the Vaad, click here.

·  Seasonal. There is a reason you will not eat tomato slices on your bagels, or avocado chunks on your chili. With few exceptions, our menus are put together with seasonal produce in mind. California is blessed to have a year-round growing season, so many fruits and vegetables we’ll be eating are available to us all year long.

·  Local. Our farm committee works incredibly hard to get produce donations from local organic farms, both large and small. Many of the Bay Area’s farms are situated in Marin, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz counties, and are located within 100 - 200 miles of Monterey.    

·  Organic. Whatever donations we solicit will be grown without harmful pesticides. We have asked our hosts to use as much organic as possible as well, so while we can’t guarantee your meals during the conference are 100 % organic, they are pretty close.

·  Not processed. We will provide you with meals that are cooked, yes, but not overly processed. Everything you will eat at the conference is close to its natural form. We have tried to stay away from white sugar and white flour as well, except for a few cases, like breakfast cereals. We have chosen not to serve soda, to avoid high fructose corn syrup.

·  Conscious. We debated over how many meals to serve meat, and given that it had to be kosher and humanely-raised, whether the meat had to be local. We will be serving local pasture-raised chickens that are being shechted (ritually slaughtered), plucked, and kashered by conference participants.  To find out more about the processing of these chickens on Wednesday, December 23 (the day before the conference begins) click here.

Accommodations in 2009

Asilomar is located in Monterey Bay and is a part of the California State Park. It is surrounded by 107 acres of protected beachfront land in an overall well- preserved natural environment. Ecologically diverse, Asilomar is a great mix of California: sand dunes, beach, Monterey pine, cypress and oak forest create a tranquil landscape perfect for relaxing retreats. The guest rooms at Asilomar are free of distractions such as telephones and televisions- perfect for the Food Conference setting. This peaceful environment is conducive to learning, self-reflection, connecting to nature, and joining together as a community. All rooms are equipped with private bathrooms. The retreat center is right on the beach and absolutely gorgeous!  Come relax, go for a hike, take a walk on the beach, and join the Food Conference in 2009.