Originally from The Wall Street Journal, by Ben Worthen

Michael Pollan, author of “Omnivore’s Dilemma” and other popular books, has become a figurehead for the local-food movement, which advocates buying in-season produce from nearby farms.

Proponents say such food is healthier and that the way it is grown and shipped is better for the environment. But it often is more expensive. Mr. Pollan says the real problem is that subsidies keep the prices of some, largely mass-produced foods artificially low.

Still, he tries to strike a middle ground between advocate and realist. In his Berkeley living room, the 55-year-old Mr. Pollan discussed where he shops for food and why paying $8 for a dozen eggs is a good thing:

Mr. Pollan: The food movement really began on the West Coast, and you can make an argument it began in the Bay Area. There is a much higher level of consciousness here about where food comes from, about eating seasonally and locally, than there is in the rest of the country.WSJ: Do Bay Area residents eat and shop for food differently from people elsewhere?

But we have certain advantages that few other places in the country have. We can eat from the farmer’s market 50 weeks of the year—the only reason they close is to get a break Christmas and New Year’s.

WSJ: What do you attribute the greater enthusiasm to?

Mr. Pollan: A consumer who is willing to pay more for better food. That’s a matter of consciousness and a palate that has been educated by the chefs locally. Paying $3.90 for a Frog Hollow Peach, there are a lot of people here willing to do it. I don’t know if you can find a more expensive peach in America. My little rule, “Pay more, eat less,” is followed by a lot of people in the Bay area.

WSJ: Where do you shop for food?

Mr. Pollan: I shop at the farmer’s market on Thursdays. I shop at Monterey Market, and I shop at Berkley Bowl. Those are the big three, and then I’ll get household cleaning products, cereal, things like that at Safeway.

WSJ: How do you suggest people in New York or other places with a long winter eat seasonally?

In much of the country eating seasonally in winter is challenging, though there are options people overlook. A salad of grated root vegetables, for example, is a refreshing change from lettuce, and far more nutritious. But it all depends on how hard-core you want to be. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.

WSJ: Do you only buy certain things from certain places?

Mr. Pollan: No. I’m pretty flexible. I’m not a zealot, contrary to what people may think. I’ve told stories about being busted at Berkeley Bowl buying sugary cereals for my son when he was younger.

WSJ: Are there rules for shopping that people interested in eating better should follow?

Mr. Pollan: The most important is to buy things that are in season.

It’s nice to skip [things] until they are in season when they are so much better and cheaper. It becomes something of an occasion when the tomatoes come into the market, or the strawberries, or the asparagus.

WSJ: Does eating local, sustainable food have to be a lifestyle priority, or can people do it casually?

Mr. Pollan: People can do it casually. There are people who go [to a farmer's market] every week, and there are people who go when the mood strikes them. To eat well takes a little bit more time and effort and money. But so does reading well; so does watching television well. Doing anything with attention to quality takes effort. It’s either rewarding to you or it’s not. It happens to be very rewarding to me. But I understand people who can’t be bothered, and they’re going to eat with less care.

WSJ: Is eating well just an indulgence for people who can afford it?

Mr. Pollan: If you’re in the supermarket buying organic versus not buying organic, you are going to spend more. But buying food at the farmer’s market, if you compare it to the prices at Safeway for stuff that’s in season, it actually beats the prices in my experience. People shouldn’t assume that they are going to go broke at the farmer’s market.

WSJ: What do you wish people here understood about their food that they don’t now?

Mr. Pollan: We’ve been conditioned by artificially cheap food to be shocked when a box of strawberries costs $3.

But it’s important to know that farmers aren’t getting wealthy. When you see strawberries being sold for $1 a box, picture the kind of labor it takes to pick those strawberries and the kind of chemicals it takes to produce those kinds of strawberries without hand weeding.

Eight dollars for a dozen eggs sounds outrageous, but when you think that you can make a delicious meal from two eggs, that’s $1.50. It’s really not that much when we think of how we waste money in our lives.

This article is cross-posted on  joyofkosher.com

By Rachel Gelman, Hazon Food Area Intern

There’s no doubt that including dairy in your diet can have a wide array of health benefits. Dairy staples such as yogurt, milk, and cheese offer a healthy dose of calcium, protein, and vitamin D. Consumption of low-fat dairy has been proven to help lower blood pressure, and the calcium that comes from dairy can increase bone density and has even been linked to weight loss. Plus, it’s absolutely delicious! But there are also some considerable reasons to choose organic dairy products over their non-organic counterparts.

First of all, dairy can only be certified as organic if the production animals consume certified organic feed and are managed organically. Therefore, buying organic and local dairy products not only supports organic farms, but it also supports fair treatment of the production animals. Organic dairy products can also be better for your health and the health of the animal. The chemical rBGH, or recombinant bovine growth hormone, is a genetically-synthesized hormone that some dairy farms inject into their cows to increase milk production. This hormone can have some serious health risks for animals. For cows, this hormone can lead to a 40% reduction in fertility, a considerable increase in the risk of clinical mastitis, and a 55% increase in the risk of lameness. Although there is no direct proof that rBGH is carcinogenic for humans, there’s been a lot of controversy within the environmental world as to whether or not this hormone is actually safe for human consumption. So it seems like organic and local is your best bet, not only for personal health, but also for the welfare of the animals producing your dairy products.

Aitan Mizrahi is a Jewish goat farmer that started Adva Dairy in 2004, eventually merging herds with Adamah in 2009 to become Adamah Dairy. He has 46 goats in his herd and he uses the goat’s milk to craft kosher, organic, artisanal cheeses and yogurt, as well as teaching Adamah visitors how to milk the goats. All of Adamah Dairy’s products are sold through their CSA or at local farm stands and markets. I was lucky enough to get to speak with Aitan Mizrahi and ask him some questions about his goats and his dairy. The interview is below.

First of all, why a goat farm? What inspired you to start a goat farm?

It came together for me in 2004 as the Adamah fellow. By my mid to late 20s I started figuring out that I wanted to work outside, work with my hands, and be more involved with the Jewish community, and through Adamah I was introduced to goats and animal husbandry. I found working with animals more rewarding than working with vegetables because they had personality and they were just engaging. It also connected me to my Judaism in a way that I hadn’t felt before because I never really identified with the white collar academic Jew of the 20^th or 19^th century, I always identified more with the biblical Jew, the nomadic Jew. My dad’s family is Kurdish, Mizrahi, and so I always had this inkling of what it would be like to be outside with your animals and I think it was a combination of the Judaism and the work and just being involved with growing my own food and providing food for myself and my community.

How do you feel that the values associated with organic dairy might correspond with Jewish values?

What distinguishes a Jewish dairy farmer, at least a dairy farmer who identifies as Jewish and practices Judaism is that on Shabbat when other farmers are going out to milk and to save the milk and bottle it to convert it into cheese, we don’t use the milk, we pour it out. As a business it’s kind of radical to think that one day a week you pour out your product. We milk for the sake of the animal, her utters are filled with milk and it’s uncomfortable to have full udders for so long so it’s our duty as caretakers to milk her. Early on in the Torah it talks a lot about proper stewardship and the land, and proper stewardship includes caring for your domesticated animals and for their well-being. There’s also a lot in the Torah and in the following texts about not really polluting your body and taking care of yourself, and there seems to be an obvious connection here- eating healthy foods is a good way of taking care of your body as a Jew.

Do you think there is value in forming relationships with your animals?

There are some interesting dynamics of working with domesticated animals and the relationship and the responsibility we have towards caring for animals. Doing it in a respectful way and in a small scale way is important. When it gets to be 100 or 200 animals and you don’t know the animals personally there’s more room for error, and here on a small scale we have the ability to pay attention to the detail and be able to bring in variety.

Do you think it is important to choose organic dairy products over industrial? If so, why?

I would say one important value is that it gives the consumer the opportunity to know the farmer and know the animals. Whenever customers come and see the animals it really puts together some of the missing pieces about where food comes from and gives them a different relationship and value with their food. So I think the small-scale element and knowing the farmer is very important. A lot of Judaism is about learning and knowing, how much better to know and really be there and experience it. We hand milk our goats so there’s no interference between us and the animals. We’re really going to the source, and our animals eat whatever is growing in the woods. They roam the woods and they convert all of that local energy that’s stored up in the woods into liquid sunshine. If you have the choice, after seeing what’s out there in the commercial industry, why would anyone choose that. On a basic level it makes sense as human beings to make your own food and participate in food making, it’s a basic need that we all have and it’s a pleasure to be involved in that and be able to bring that to people.

Listen to our new PODCAST, Episode 5 by clicking here!

Co-Founder Julie Wolk sits down with me on the latest Hazon Podcast. Listen to what Wilderness Torah is doing to revitalize the American Jewish Community. Also, don’t forget you can subscribe on iTunes by searching “Hazon”.

Also, don’t forget that it is Earth Day this week, so check out all the options going on in your area. For a good listing, check this website out

They have a map where you can choose where you live and find out what is going on near you!

And finally, for those in the New York area, come see “Tapped: The Movie,” a documentary about water usage and safety in America. It is screening at 5 pm at the Cowin Center at Columbia University (between 120 and 121 streets on Broadway). If you are one of the first 100 people to arrive at 4 pm, you can exchange a plastic bottle for a FREE Klean Kanteen! So look into your recycling bin and grab a plastic bottle. If you come after the first 100 people, you will get a great discount on Klean Kanteen.

Check out this new special Ride Edition Podcast! If you haven’t heard, Hazon is allocating funds raised from the Bay Area Ride a bit differently than past rides. It’s pretty exciting and really putting the power in the hands (or cycles) of Ride participants, who will get to decide where to allocate the funds they raise.
Also, if you didn’t hear about last year’s NY Ride engagement story, Marc tells us what he was thinking the day he proposed on the Ride.

Check it all out by clicking here!

You can also subscribe to the podcasts through iTunes! The last episode has listeners all the way near the Philippines, so join the global community!

Happy passover!

Many years ago, I escorted some at-risk urban youth to a park. Blinged and tattooed, these kids’ gestures stiffened into armor and their faces hardened into leather expressions of defiance and danger. Then they spotted the recently picked apples that had been brought along for a snack. They lunged, giggling and pushing to get their hands on those apples first.  When a butterfly passed overhead the boys tore into a chase, yelling, “A butterfly! A butterfly!”.  They held onto their bitten-into apples as they ran.  Can urban lives be changed one piece of fruit or vegetable at a time? Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s urban food movement is counting on it.

When Stringer surveyed the quality of life in struggling neighborhoods he expected to find asthma and other environmental problems.  He didn’t anticipate that that there were hardly any places to purchase healthy food. The local fast-food chains far outnumbered the vegetable stand, a fact that was at least partially responsible for the rising obesity epidemic. A study by Columbia University and the University of California/Berkley correlated a school’s proximity to fast-food chain restaurants to rates of obesity among students. Further, a paper in the American Journal of Psychiatry links poor nutrition to behavior problems.

Stringer said of the study, “When you see the statistics in writing it shocks you.”

Of the nutritional realities he encountered when visiting local neighborhoods he concluded, “When you see it in people’s eyes, it terrifies you.”

Scott Stringer decided that he and his administration had to do “all that we could to prolong life using every tool we had, and that meant rethinking how we view the food and sustainability movement.”  Even in a borough of great wealth people were suffering from malnutrition and obesity.

By jamaxfer

From that declaration in 2008 to now, the Borough President has promoted a number of initiatives that connect what’s being served at the kitchen table to everything from healthier citizens, to better parenting, to stronger education, to tighter communities and to a more robust economy.

According to Stringer, his plans are to “bring New York City to the forefront of the new national debate on food production and distribution” because “we now have the perfect storm of opportunity: a president who understands that sustainability is good economics, a grassroots infrastructure to bring sustainability into local neighborhoods, and the science to back us up.”

Stringer’s initiatives include reforming tax incentives. “There is no reason that KFC’s, Burger Kings and McDonald’s should be benefiting from tax incentives not available to those who distribute nutritious foods,” he insists. And Stringer is also supporting the creation of a “foodshed,” a network of local farms that grow healthy food from whom government food purchasers will buy a certain percent of their vegetables, dairy products and other items.

Finally, Stringer has proposed the development of a FoodStat program that monitors nutrition and healthy food availability in all our neighborhoods. Stringer implores, “It is time that we as individuals and as a community start taking more control of how and where our food is produced and distributed. We must also do more to bring healthy food choices to neighborhoods with a glut of fast food joints and a shortage of supermarkets.”

Stringer pauses, then his voice rushes out when describing one of his favorite programs, “This one I’m in love with.”

Children awarded health bucks can redeem them at the new farmer’s market in Echo park in the Bronx for bags of vegetables.  Stringer almost coos, “These kids get to take brown paper bags filled with vegetables back  home to the kitchen table.”  Kids bringing vegetables to the table in East Harlem? That sounds like a real meal, changing lives one apple, squash, or even carrot, at a time.

Americans waste more than more than 100 billion pounds of food every year, at every stage of production from field to store to plate. That number doesn’t include the produce thrown out or left to rot by the millions of home or community gardeners. Wouldn’t it be great if all those leftover tomatoes and cucumbers in your backyard could be linked with local food pantries and shelters?

Gary Oppenheimer had just that inspiration. He’s the founder of Ample Harvest, a project aiming to help home gardeners donate their unwanted produce to food pantries. Gary is a master gardener and the head of the West Milford Community Garden. I spoke with him about Ample Harvest and how home gardeners can make a difference.

Tell me about your inspiration for Ample Harvest.

I have a large property on which I grow a lot of produce. 2 years ago, I ended up growing far more than I could use. There are only so many cucumbers you can give your friends! I contacted a friend who runs a battered women’s shelter, and I ended up donating more than 40 pounds of produce. When I dropped it off, the woman at the door commented, “Now we can have some fresh produce.” I thought to myself, “Do these people just eat canned stuff?”  The next year, I had 20 pounds to donate. The same woman answered the door—and she made the same comment.

Then in the fall of 2008, I took over the running of the community garden run by Sustainable West Milford (NJ). I became aware that as the season went on, people became overwhelmed or bored with their gardens, and they just left their produce to rot.  I thought, with the economy in free fall, we should be arranging for this produce to reach people who needed it.

How easy was it to find places to donate the produce?

We formed an Ample Harvest committee to arrange for donations, but it was hard to do. These pantries don’t have website, so unless you know about them, you can’t find them. Google told me that the closest food pantry to me was more than 25 miles away! If I couldn’t find them, it meant that other potential donors couldn’t as well. I realized that my committee could have an impact on a national level if we found a way to connect gardeners who wanted to share with food pantries who needed produce.

Why don’t food pantries generally carry fresh produce?

The current structure of the food aid system is that food is typically delivered from government and private sources, who are like wholesalers, and given to food pantries, which are regional or local. They can’t do fresh produce because of the large distribution chain and because of issues of storage. The pantries don’t have the capacity to store fresh or frozen produce overnight.

Ample Harvest is built on a different concept. The food from backyard gardeners should go directly to the food pantry, bypassing the overall network. There’s no storage issue, because it can go from the garden to the client in one day. You just drive it over to the food pantry and it can be in the client’s kitchen that night.

How Ample Harvest does work?

A food pantry signs up, for free, on the Ample Harvest website with basic information about the pantry, like contact information. They can upload a photo of the pantry, and post information about when they would like deliveries, so that they are best able to get the produce to the client without storage. There is also space to put other information, both during and after the harvest season, so that they can let you know what their exact needs are. For example, if they desperately need diapers or cereal or peanut butter, they can post that information and you will know to buy it for them.

It’s like a dating service. The gardener, who is buried in tomatoes, keys in the zip code and how many miles they are willing to drive. A listing of food pantries will come up, along with a google map. You’ll get the information that the food pantry has entered, and you can enter your address and get driving instructions.

And no giving the pantry bruised or damaged food. The food you want to donate is the food you would want to serve your family! Otherwise, make soup or stew, or compost it. Don’t put it into the garbage, because then it becomes landfill, and it creates methane as it decomposes (which contributes to global warming).

How large is the problem of hunger and food waste in America?

12% of Americans are food insecure—they are hungry or in fear of being hungry. 1 in 8 americas are in fear of not feeding their families. 100 billions pounds of food lost every year That’s one pound person a day! We have a picture on our site of what the food lost by a family of 4 every month looks like! If we didn’t lose 100 billion pounds a year, if it were all usable, we’d feed 49 million people. We could eliminate hunger. Not all food can be recovered but we can do better.

What other values are behind your work?

We’re taking the notion of gleaning to the consumer level. There are tens of millions of gardeners who can donate food. In the later half of 20th century, we converted farms to developments. Ample Harvest is a step towards converting those developments back into feeding America. We’re salvaging part of that land.

This site also allows people who don’t have money to charitable. You can help neighbors by reaching into your garden, rather than your pockets. It’s a good example of tikkun olam.

Even people who don’t harvest can help, they can go on the site and see what pantries need. You can contribute by passing the word along to people with gardens or by signing up pantries. We really need help in getting pantries online. My biggest concern is that we’ll have a lot of gardeners with nowhere to donate.

There are some problems in society you can address without spending a lot of money. People are hungry—and food is in people’s backyards. The missing link was getting the food in backyards to the people who are hungry. There might be other problems that can be solved the same way. This will be a demonstration that you don’t have to pass the plate to solve a problem, you just need to ask for a helping hand.

What kind of help do you need most right now?

The key is to get as many food pantries registered before gardeners start harvesting later in the summer. If we can get the food pantries registered as early as possible, it increases the likelihood that you will be able to get on the site and find a place to donate.

To learn more about Ample Harvest, to register a food pantry, or to learn where you can donate near you, please visit www.ampleharvest.org.

In a previously mentioned article, Attention Locavores: Community Supported Agriculture (aka CSA), I discussed the latest trend in local sustainability – the Community Supported Agriculture movement – where communities band together in support of a farm (or two) and are provided with a schedule of delivered seasonal produce. As such, I recently had the wonderful pleasure of getting to know Hilla Abel, a native Californian who made the trek to our cosmopolitan New York City.

Hilla Abel trained at New York’s Natural Gourmet Institute and now works as a personal chef, cooking instructor, and apparently the pioneer of establishing Jewish CSA programs in NYC! She was responsible for co-founding the first ever Jewish CSA in Queens with the Forest Hills Jewish Center. Below, is the riveting conversation I had with her:

At Your Palate: Hey Hilla! Ok, first, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself? Where are you from? What do you do now? etc…

Hilla Abel: I grew up in California, and moved to New York just about 4 years ago. I work as a personal chef and cooking instructor, and I freelance as an optometrist as well.

AYP: That sounds so great! What brought you to New York? I mean, California has so much to offer, at least from a culinary perspective…the West Coast just seems to be a little ahead of the ball of adopting the latest trends in food and ingredients….

HA: I’m sure the Californian side of me is the part that is craving fresh food, and loves the creativity of cooking it. I moved to New York with my husband, who at the time was going to medical school here. It’s been great. I had always wanted to live in New York.

AYP: Nice! Tell me more about your personal cheffing. Where did you go to culinary school? How would you describe your cooking?

HA: I was trained at the Natural Gourmet Institute. It’s really a leader in the natural foods world, and it was so conveniently located here in New York. Currently, I work in personal cheffing and cooking instruction mainly in the arena of specialized diets and health-supportive cooking. Examples of my clients are gluten-free individuals, new moms, people with specific medical conditions, and so forth. It’s about food that’s both delicious and good for you.

AYP: That is so important in this day where unfortunately there seems to be an increase in food intolerance and allergies. The concept of natural foods is fascinating; can you tell me more about it?

HA: It all goes back to the adage “you are what you eat.” Many of us are so busy that we don’t think about how food fuels our bodies and sustains us. Natural foods include a wide variety of fresh and whole foods, while avoiding chemicals and processed foods as much as possible.

AYP: Is this limited to a vegan diet or does that include dairy, eggs and animal sources of food as well?

HA: It varies by the person. I am of the belief that no one diet is good for everyone. Some people do well on vegetarian or vegan diets, and other people don’t. So if you do include animal sources of foods in your diet, it is best to choose high-quality animal products in moderation.

AYP: That completely makes sense. But it seems as if it’s a reinforcement of good sense – everything in moderation!

HA: Agreed. It’s a good lesson for life.

AYP: I wrote an article about CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture and I understand that you’re involved in a Jewish CSA with a synagogue out in Queens. That sounds fascinating, and I’d love to know more about it. First of all, can you please explain to me what a CSA is? For example, how does it work? How does one start? What’s the experience of being a subscriber in one?

HA: One way to think of a CSA is as a system where members buy shares in a local farm. Each member pays ahead of time, which is when the farmer needs funds for planting and getting ready for the harvest. Then during the harvest season, members get weekly shares of produce from the farm. It’s a great way to support local farming, both by paying ahead of time, and also by paying the farmer directly without a middleman (like a supermarket). The advantages for the members are that they get very fresh, usually organic, produce (often picked that day or the day before) which has traveled only a short distance to reach them. It’s healthy, and it’s environmentally responsible. It’s also a great way to build community.

AYP: I love that! I think it’s so great to be able to combine one’s desire for locavorism without having to give up their desire to also consume organic products. As I’m sure you know, many supermarkets that offer organic produce usually aren’t locally farmed, so until the advent of the CSA or shopping at farmers markets, being both locally sustainable and organic was always a difficult choice for people to have to make. How does one’s subscription or involvement in a CSA help build the community? What happens at the weekly deliveries?

HA: Absolutely. It’s the best of all worlds. It’s something you can feel good about for lots of reasons. It’s completely different than going to the store to buy food. The produce is picked up in a central location, which in our case is a synagogue, the Forest Hills Jewish Center. There are volunteers who staff the pick-up each week, to greet the other members as they come in and make sure the distribution goes smoothly. Everyone is required to volunteer this way. It’s a small commitment, but it can also be fun, because people meet each other. Our CSA will also have fun and educational programs, such as cooking classes, a trip to the farm, a Jewish text study as well as other related programs which provide another opportunity for people to get together in the context of the CSA.

AYP: What a wonderful way to integrate Judaism and Jewish values into what seems to be so clearly a very “Jewish” thing to do! Do you know in advance what kind of seasonal produce to expect over the course of the year? And if so, do you also provide ideas and options for cooking or preparing the fresh ingredients? The reason I ask is because it seems that one of the most notable criticisms of a CSA is that often, one’s share in the CSA offers up so much that people don’t know what to do with their excess or surplus. The art of food preservation is rarely practiced in the home anymore, and is much more commercially available as a product in and of itself (pickles or jams, for example).

HA: We are fortunate to be working with a really wonderful farm. They grow an amazing variety of produce, and they post a harvest schedule online so that people have some idea of what to expect. They have also been doing this for quite a number of years and have modified their crops based on feedback from their members, so it’s a great selection. As for what to do with the produce, that’s the fun part! We will print our own newsletter every week that members receive at the pick-up which will have recipes on it. The farmers have recipes on their websites as well. As far as surplus, we are offering both full shares and half shares so that each member can decide what size share is best for his or her household. We really don’t want any of the food to be wasted. Interesting also that you mention food preservation, because one of our share options is a one-time 20 lb tomato share for people who want to can or freeze their own tomato sauce. And we’ve had some takers on that! I’ve noticed a bit of resurgence in canning, but maybe that’s just the kind of people I hang out with!

AYP: It really seems as if you guys thought of everything and found a way to really make the CSA work for your community. I also am impressed that the synagogue is involved and is including their input and support as well. As for the resurgence in canning, I think it’s a combination both of the kind of people you hang with and a result of the current economic times.

HA: Indeed we are fortunate to have a very supportive synagogue, as well as a wonderful group of enthusiastic volunteers.

AYP: Let’s not forget that food preservation methods were discovered/invented because the abundance of food we have today simply did not exist. Also, certain ingredients and foods were only available seasonally, not like today where you can buy any ingredients you want 365 days out of the year.

HA: I think there is also an increased interest in buying seasonal food. When you buy seasonally, you realize that there are some delicious foods that are worth holding onto, so pickling, canning and jams make sense.

AYP: I think it’s also really smart that the subscribers are also required to volunteer in the process, I think it really helps forge a connection between you and the earth. While you may not be the one actually doing the planting, you are directly supporting an industry and culture that brings you immensely closer to nature. I think it really helps to make the “you are what you eat” philosophy feel very real for people.

HA: Definitely! The CSA model is wonderful in many aspects, which is why it is becoming so popular.

AYP: What have been some of the experiences or feedback you have received from the CSA members?

HA: Our group is brand new, so we are just gearing up for our first season. We get our first taste of the harvest June 2nd, but several of our members have been CSA members elsewhere, and they are enthusiastic supports.

AYP: What made you think of bringing the CSA to the Forest Hills Jewish Center?

HA: The other CSA in the neighborhood is immensely popular–they filled up all of their spots weeks ago. So it seemed clear that there was enough demand in our neighborhood for another one. I thought of the Forest Hills Jewish Center, where I am a member, because I had heard the successes of Tuv Ha’Aretz, which is a network of Jewish CSAs run through an organization called Hazon. Through them, I realized that the values surrounding a CSA are very Jewish, and that a synagogue is a logical place to host a CSA.

AYP: Definitely sounds logical Are there different kinds of CSAs?

HA: While all CSAs support local farming and community-building, there are some variations in the missions of different CSAs. Some, for example, are more politically active than others. Some are more focused than others on providing access of local organic food to low income people. Since a CSA is a community organization, it is up to the people involved to make it what they want it to be.

AYP: That is interesting. Can you give me an example of a politically active CSA?

HA: There is a lot of room for political activism surrounding food. Fighting against genetic engineering is one example and a cause that many people feel strongly about. Joining a CSA is one way to avoid eating genetically engineered food and supporting the businesses that produce it.

AYP: I personally don’t know how I feel about genetically engineered or modified foods. Israel, for example, has made huge and amazing progress in the way of genetically manipulating certain kinds of produce with rave results. One such is the Israeli tomato called Desert Sweet which is hugely popular in Europe (and is I think the largest importer of Israeli produce). But, that’s neither here nor there . Are there CSAs for non-produce foods? Like dairy products or meat?

HA: Yes, that’s common. Produce is the main thing, but many groups offer eggs, meat, and value-added items like jams and pickles. Our group, for example, had a pre-Pesach cheese share from a kosher-for-Passover gourmet creamery.

AYP: Wow! So cool. I’m surprised that CSAs haven’t been around sooner! It just seems so logical. In terms of cost, do you find that CSAs are more economical? Taking into consideration quantity and quality of the food one receives.

HA: I think it’s a great bargain. Ours comes out to about $20 per week for a full share. When you consider the freshness, the quality, and the variety and uniqueness of the items, it’s definitely worth it. Many of the items are much more interesting than what you would find in the store. Plus it is gentler on the earth.

AYP: What kind of much more interesting items do you receive?

HA: Garlic scapes, chiogga (two-toned) beets, Chinese broccoli, kohlrabi…those are some of the interesting ones. Not everything is necessarily so obscure. There are plenty of basic items too, like potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. However, even with some of those, the variety is more than you would usually get at the store, for example, twelve different varieties of potatoes over the course of the season.

AYP: Oh wow! I’m getting excited about it! I mean, as a chef, stuff like this just excites me!

HA: It is exciting! It’s really fun to get your box every week and look through it.

AYP: Well, Hilla, let me just say that I’m so glad to hear that someone brought CSAs to the Jewish/Kosher world here in NYC. Something that seems so logical, but took so long to get here, is finally making its mark. I’m sure you and your co-founders are pleased with the outcome. I applaud your efforts and thoughtfulness, and I am so eager to see how the Forest Hills community takes to and grows through their experience with the CSA.

HA: It’s a very exciting project. Actually, we are the first Jewish CSA in Queens, but there are two others in Manhattan, if your readers are interested in those. The Hazon website lists them, as well as all of the Tuv Ha’Aretz locations across North America and in Israel.

AYP: That’s great!! I’m sure there are interested readers.

HA: Thank you for bringing this topic to your readers. Anyone who is interested in learning more about our group can visit us at www.fhjc.org/tuv.html. I can also be reached at hill…@hotmail.com.

AYP: Fantastic! Thank you so much!

The Forest Hills Jewish Center CSA program is administrated through Golden Earthworm Organic Farms, located in Jamesport, NY. What’s particularly nice about Golden Earthworm Organic Farms is that, while a young farm (established in 1996), it was started by a chef (also a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute) who has a passion for sustainable agriculture. You can’t get any better than that!

This article was re-posted with permission from the author, Chef Shaya Klechevsky of At Your Palate.

Reverend Robert Jackson is the co-founder of the Brooklyn Rescue Mission, an innovative food program based in Bed-Stuy that combines a food pantry, an urban farm, and a farmer’s market to create a healthy, sustainable food system for people in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Urban farming becomes the starting point for empowerment and self-reliance, giving people in the neighborhood the chance to become physically and spiritually healthier.

Rev. Jackson sees three parts to the mission of BRM: creating fresh food, establishing the distribution of fresh food, and helping those who are impoverished by supplying them with emergency food. BRM was a major partner of the Brooklyn Food Conference.

I spoke with Rev. Jackson about his drive to bring fresh food to his community.

What inspired you to begin an urban farm as part of your mission?

I started the farm because all the donations we were getting for emergency food assistance had high amounts of sugar and salt, and they were heavily processed. Also, a lot of donated food was older, close or past its expiration date. I made a conscious decision: Am I just putting calories into people or making them healthier? I wanted to do something better. We worked the land over several years to produce a harvest to give the food pantry guests fresh food. But the community around us was also lacking in fresh food and needed the opportunity to buy it.

It’s not just low-income communities, but throughout the American food system there is unhealthy food. We don’t know what kind of secret ingredients industry has put into food unless we read the labels and even then sometimes you need someone who is really competent to explain “what is that?” There are things we don’t know, because people are not investigating the food system. There’s the marketing component also, they can say a food is all natural because a natural chemical has been used to color the food but it has nothing to do with what a cherry looks like or tastes like.

In my area, there are a very limited number of supermarkets or fruit and vegetable stands. There are fewer opportunities to shop for fresh food. We provide opportunities through BRM to buy fresh food. And we use compost for our farm: there are no pesticides, no fertilizers that you don’t know what they do to you after you eat them.

What has been the community’s reaction?

It’s been very favorable. There are many people who say thank you to us for being able to reach out and do this work. We always need more help and assistance. The nature of the current financial climate means that there is always a need to sustain this work.

Have you seen your constituency change because of the recent economic downturn?

There’s a greater number of people, and they are more desperate people. More people are willing to wait longer and start earlier.

What values guide your work?

The Bible says “be fruitful and multiply.” We were created to be in the garden, to harvest. It’s the nature of humankind to plant seeds and to grow. We should not just grow food but grow spiritually, planting good healthy seeds among ourselves. That’s why I’m so excited about farming, it feeds people spiritually. They share a meal, they open up, become talkative, and they share with each other. Good social events have good quality food.

What is the importance of urban farming?

Everyone is excited because of Michelle Obama, the wonderful woman she is, planting the garden in the White House. It brings attention to the people out there doing it already. Now, is it a 6 month trend or is this interest in farming sustainable? Do people understand that it is healthier food, it’s exercise?  There are layers that can come with it, they can use it to teach their communities and children. It should not just be a trend.  It could be part of a successful campaign for a long time if people work at it.

What are some steps religious communities can take?

Great question. Religious leaders of all faiths should be conscience of their own community’s needs. People are not always willing to share that they are in need of food. They don’t want to share that shame. We should start with our own congregations, and then the community around us.

Look at the Old Testament, part of the law was the gleaning cycles, when the poor could show up and glean the leftovers in the fields. We must remember that they are in all our communities.

At Thanksgiving, when you serve food, you don’t need to put out any flyers. People know that they can get fed. People show up by the hundreds, they feed their whole families.

What do you hope will come out of the Brooklyn Food Conference?

I am really excited about the organizing, we had 3000 people coming together to share ideas. We are now creating a plan for involvement over the next year, maybe doing the conference again. People were empowered to discuss food, to bring about change about how food comes into their communities, not just food deserts but all communities.

What inspires you?

As part of running a mission, you feed, you clothe, and you house. You work with those who are impoverished, and you become sensitive to how they can be restored, their lives enhanced, through a connection to the Creator. People think that those who are down stay down, but people can recover, become successful, and break out of the cycle of poverty. That’s what excites me.

More information about the Brooklyn Rescue Mission, including the Bed-Stuy Farm and the Malcolm X Farmer’s Market, can be found at http://brooklynrescuemission.org/

Shmuly Yanklowitz at Cafe Nana, the first restaurant to receive the Tav HaYosher

One year after the federal raid of the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, Uri L’tzedek (Awaken to Justice), an orthodox social action group,  has responded by establishing an ethical seal, Tav HaYosher, for all kosher eating establishments. “After seeing the pain and suffering inflicted by our own kosher industry on the stranger and the poor, the very people the Torah demands we protect, we realized we needed to be proactive and make a change,” said Shmuly Yanklowitz, founder and co-director of Uri L’Tzedek.

I  had the opportunity to speak with Rachel Rosenthal, an active member of Uri L’Tzedek and the Tav HaYosher campaign, and has taught about ethical kashrut in communities across the Upper West Side.

The Tav YaHosher campaign launches today with a public event 6:30 -8:30 pm at Cafe Nina, 505 W.115th St., 2nd floor, in New York City.  My interview with Rachel is after the jump.

What can people start doing, now, today, to support the Tav?

There are many different ways to support the Tav, which vary from short, one-time commitments to extended efforts that help increase the Tav’s agenda.  The first thing to do is actively patronize restaurants and institutions that have a Tav!  Second, the Tav should continue to grow, which requires increased awareness among both restaurant owners and community members.  We are always looking for people to call restaurants and ask them if they have heard about the Tav.  Similarly, hosting open house events and teaching in synagogues, schools, and other community venues helps spread the word about the Tav. Finally, if you would like to get involved in screening and auditing the restaurants, check out the Uri L’tzedek website for information about compliance.

What is your goal for participation?

Our goal is to eventually ensure that every kosher establishment in New York is upholding not only the highest standards of kashrut, but also the highest standards of moral and ethical behavior.  Often, conversations about social justice take place in negative terms of condemnation.  This is an opportunity for affirmation– to hold up those who are committed to both following the law and pursuing Jewish ethical ideals.

How many restaurants or other food establishments have agreed to participate?

So far, seven establishments have signed on.  We hope that number continues to grow quickly!

What made them willing to do so?

Many restaurants are already following the standards set out by the Tav– the right to pay, the right to time, and the right to dignity and a safe working environment.  Since all of these standards are outlined by New York State law, it is not only a matter of ethics; it is also a matter of legality.  There are also advantages to signing onto the Tav, beyond the desire to do the right thing.  We at Uri L’tzedek have made a commitment to supporting establishments that have the Tav, and encouraging others to do so as well.  All of the establishments with the Tav will be listed on the Uri L’tzedek website, and we are in the process of sending that list around to synagogues as well.

How long has Uri L’tzedek been working on this?

We are proud to officially launch the Tav exactly one year after the federal raid of the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa.  In the wake of the Rubashkins scandal, people’s positive associations of kashrut took a real hit.  In many ways, the Tav is a grassroots response that asserts that in fact, people can be– and should be– proud to be kosher consumers.  The Tav has been in the making for many months, partly inspired by the work of our partner organization B’ma’aglei Tzedek in Israel and their phenomenally successful Tav Chevrati.  The Tav HaYosher has been growing for many months, with the first Tav being awarded in February.

What inspired Uri L’tzedek to work on this initiative?

Uri L’tzedek is an Orthodox organization built on the idea that social justice is inherently part of the halakhic system.  Instead of leaving social justice to so-called “liberal” Jews, everyone has an obligation to fight for a more just world.  This needs to start at home, with the people who serve our food.  After Rubashkins, we all have an obligation to assert that kashrut is about more than simply having a seal on our food.  It is about ensuring that our food is created in a way that we can feel comfortable with, both halakhically and morally.

The Tav is an easy way for us to take responsibility for those who live– and work– in our backyard.

What inspired you personally?

I was blessed to grow up in a community that taught me that it is not possible to be a good Jew without being a good person.  Through all of my journeys, this value has stayed with me.  As I became a more strictly kosher consumer, i found that I was constantly considering the relationship between kosher food and ethical food. In the wake of Rubashkins, I was, for the first time, ashamed to be a kosher consumer.  To me, the chance to reclaim kashrut and affirm people who are doing the right thing– it seemed obvious.

How will this affect your life?

As somebody who lives in New York, I am very lucky to have a wide variety of kosher restaurants from which I get to choose.  Kosher certification means that I can trust that the food I’m putting into my body meets the halakhic standards I have set for myself.  The Tav allows me to add another layer to this commitment, ensuring that I am not supporting places that break the law and the moral standards I’ve set for myself.  I love having the chance to affirm those who are doing the right thing, and encourage others to do the same.

Why are you willing to make these sacrifices?

To me, this is not about sacrifice, it’s about opportunity.  Ignorance is not bliss in this case, and I do not want to claim that I am not responsible simply because I am not the perpetrator.  The amazing thing about the Tav is that it makes a real difference in the lives of real people who live in the same place as me.  Concrete change has to start in our own backyards.  The Tav is an important first step.