California is  ideal for olive growing, though the potential for making olive oil is not being reached by the community due to the cost and labor involved.  Andy Dale has decided to take matters into his own hands by using Kickstarter.com to raise the money needed to create a community olive oil press.  With olive trees already growing, the idea is that people will be able to put the fruit to use in creating natural, local, fresh olive oil.  Dale has calculated that with the oil press charging either a fee or a percentage of olive oil, it will be able to sustain itself and even grow, eventually becoming a fixture in the Bay Area community.

Dale has found a press for his project at a fraction of the usual cost, though he still needs money to make this dream come true.  His vision for the press as a way to turn a prohibitively labor and fund intensive process into a way for a community to become greener and more sustainable is a great example of a how to use a resource creatively.

Take a look at his project and consider making a donation.  Each donation level has an incentive, for example, $10 will get you a 375ml bottle of fresh pressed olive oil.  If the necessary $2,500 are raised by September 5^th, the project will be backed.  If not, donors will receive their money back and the community press will remain an unfulfilled dream.  Supporting initiatives like these is a great way to promote sustainable food.  Bringing self-sufficient olive oil (and other oils too) would bring the meaning of the word “local” to a new level in Berkeley.

A new film is being produced on Haiti’s crisis, its roots and its future.  Hands That Feed has made a short intro video about their project in order to try to raise the necessary funding for the film’s production.  The film will explore questions about what the real problems facing Haiti are, and from the video it’s clear that the recent earthquake was simply an exacerbation of pre-existing problems.

Haiti’s dependence on food aid seems to be an unnecessary and reparable problem.  The film shows how the organization, Nouvelle Vie, is working to empower young people to take back their nation’s food production.  Through education, this program creates sustainable aid that will allow the participants to learn about agriculture and teach it to others.  By employing active solutions on the ground, Nouvelle Vie seeks to help Haiti both recover and grow.

Watch the video and visit the kickstarter website.  In order to get funding for the entire project, the group needs to raise $15,000 by Monday.  If they do not raise the money, all donations will be returned and the project will remain unfunded.  However, a generous donor has offered to independently match the next $2,000 raised, so go check out the site and consider making a donation.

Haiti’s self-determination has been undermined by food aid.  Hatians have been turned into dependents, relying on rich nations for food, when they have everything they need to take back control.  Help this story be told about a new generation of leaders rising up who will create sustainable change.

From Ample Harvest

In response to the economic upheaval caused by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, AmpleHarvest.org Inc. has announced that the AmpleHarvest.org Campaign will be focusing its outreach efforts in the Gulf States region for the immediate future.

Since its introduction in May of 2009, the AmpleHarvest.org Campaign, enabling more than 40 million Americans who grow fruit, vegetables, herbs and nuts in home gardens to quickly find a local food pantry eager for their excess garden produce, has rolled out nationwide without any specific geographic focus.

According to AmpleHarvest.org Founder and CNN Hero Gary Oppenheimer, “In the past 14 months, all states have received the same amount of attention in our effort to register food pantries while also reaching out to local gardeners.  To date, nearly 2,400 food pantries across all 50 states have registered at AmpleHarvest.org.  Since the Gulf States regions’ economy has been so severely impacted by the oil spill, many more people will be relying on local food pantries to help feed their families – possibly for years to come.  The AmpleHarvest.org Campaign is now working closely with food banks from Texas to Florida to help their local food pantries register at AmpleHarvest.org.  At the same time, AmpleHarvest.org is also working with the US Department of Agriculture, Master Gardeners and others to help local growers become aware of the opportunity they have to help their neighbors in need”.

According to David Coffman of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, “AmpleHarvest.org is a tremendous resource to connect food pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens to neighborhood gardeners and farmers.  Now, with the ongoing crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, these agencies are experiencing increased demand as families struggle with the uncertainty about their futures and their livelihoods.  By using AmpleHarvest.org, agencies and gardeners can provide much needed support through nutritious and high-quality produce.”

With help from a grant from Google Inc., the AmpleHarvest.org Campaign has created a special “ad campaign” targeting regional gardeners to inform them about the opportunity to share their excess harvest with local food pantries.  “The one glimmer of hope in this tragedy is that although it will probably take many years for the Gulf region to fully recover from this, gardeners in this part of the country are able to grow food, and therefore help out local food pantries, year round” according to Oppenheimer.  “For example, LSU AgCenter reports that the state has approximately 349,000 home gardeners.  Those gardeners who grow food can make a significant impact on the amount and quality of fresh food available to hungry families”.

Anyone knowing of a food pantry their community should urge the pantry manager to register at AmpleHarvest.org.  Food pantries do not need refrigeration for the produce (most produce except for leafy greens will store for several days without refrigeration) and they do not need an Internet connection to take advantage of the AmpleHarvest.org Campaign.  There is no cost to the food pantry for participating in the campaign.

AmpleHarvest.org, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization which has received backing and support from the US Department of Agriculture, Google, Inc., National Gardening Association, the Garden Writers of America, Rotary International, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and numerous faith groups.   The AmpleHarvest.org Campaign works to diminish hunger in America by enabling gardeners to easily find a local food pantry eager for their garden bounty.  For more information on the campaign, visit www.AmpleHarvest.org or call AMPLE-6-9880 (267-536-9880).

Follow AmpleHarvest.org on twitter and on facebook.

A long-time reader of The Jew and the Carrot, it’s easy for me to see the importance and power of conversations within the Jewish community regarding eating, nutrition, food politics, and sustainability. However, the Jewish imperative for justice does not allow us to stop at environmental or personal levels. Rather, we have to continue our pursuit of justice to ensure that everyone has access to fresh, seasonal produce, healthy food options, and the skills to prepare healthy meals. The Nourishing Kitchen of New York City is an organization working to do just that for the East Harlem community.

Founded in 2008 as a “healthy soup kitchen,” The Kitchen is the only emergency food organization providing nutritionally balanced food for immune-compromised individuals struggling with diabetes, obesity, and malnutrition. East Harlem has one of the highest rates of hunger as well as the highest rate of obesity in New York City, with 62% of the population reported overweight or obese. The East Harlem community also has the densest concentration of diabetes in any borough. These apparent contrasts can be explained by the heavy presence of affordably-priced yet nutritionally void fast food and the scarcity of affordable fruits and vegetables.

The Nourishing Kitchen has expanded its mission in an effort to incorporate healthy eating into clients’ everyday lives. In addition to a hot meal service, The Kitchen offers a food pantry, produce distribution, nutrition classes, and yoga classes – all free and open to the community.

A foundation stone of The Kitchen is not just providing food for low-income clients, but connecting an otherwise marginalized and underserved community with the green movement. As the only certified green soup kitchen in the country, The Kitchen does this primarily through the use of a number of community garden plots. The produce harvested in these plots is served in our hot meals and distributed in our Urban Free Produce program. The Kitchen also runs educational programs and events that expose the community to recycling, composting, seasonal eating, and growing their own produce at home.

One of The Kitchen’s most important projects is the Junior Chef program, a summer program that takes kids ages six to thirteen and gives them hands-on culinary and nutrition workshops. This program was created to connect underserved and undernourished youth to the culinary arts while educating participants and their families on issues of nutrition and wellness. In addition to direct training, participants receive ingredients and recipes to prepare meals at home with their families, plus a local gym membership to engage in physical activity. Through this curriculum, participants learn how to protect themselves and their families from the threat of diabetes and obesity raging in their neighborhood while having fun and gaining comfort in the kitchen.

I’m writing about this organization today because The Nourishing Kitchen (specifically the Junior Chef program) needs your help. The Kitchen is currently a finalist in the national Post Grant for Good Health for $25,000 to support and expand the Junior Chef program. The catch is that it all depends on votes. Each person can vote once per day until July 12 and the winner will be announced on July 22. It takes less than a minute of ‘e-volunteering’ a day, just one click and you are on your way to pursuing food justice for all. Click here once a day to help.

See those blue ribbons? My challah (and my husband’s bagels) won those at the county fair last year. Both recipes always turn out reliably scrumptious, which should be enough for any baker, but there is something undeniably, down-home country-satisfying about serving your family and friends “blue-ribbon” baked goods.

Folks looking for Jewish food and culture might not head for the county fair; as Jewish pig farmers, pole benders and log-rolling lumberjacks are rarities in most parts, yet the lure of competition, fancy ribbons and yearlong bragging rights might make you wish to consider participating. That’s right, I suggest you get your apron on and whip, bake, pickle or jar up your Jewish delicacies and head to your county fair. Trust me, your homemade kosher dills will taste even better adorned with a Best of Show ribbon. All you need is a copy of your local fair’s open-class entry form to start planning your submissions.

Make great challah? Babka? Rugelach? Matzah? Bagels? How about hamantaschen? Home economics class B baked goods can be your proving ground. County fair food preservation judges have had plenty of pickles cross their palates, why don’t you see if they can gauge what makes a good gefilte fish?

Fascinated by fermentation? Budding oenologists and zymogurists can bottle up and enter their best kosher wine, beer, or hard cider. If you’re more of a drinker and designer than distiller, see if your county fair has a category for labels. Either way, bring some Jewish flavor to your county fair and bring home some blue ribbons! But don’t forget your cowboy boots; there is nothing to win with open-toed shoes in the livestock halls.

How does the food movement intersect with issues of poverty?� For the hundred or so participants at the Growing Food Justice event last night we got a little taste of some of the issues and what we can do about it.� The event was sponsored by the AJWS-Avodah partnership and was co-sponsored by Hazon. They brought together three activists who are fighting in very different ways to prevent hunger in New York City.

Joel Berg, the Executive Director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger and author of All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America? started out with some numbers: 1.4 million New Yorkers living in households who cannot afford enough food and an estimated 400,000 (1 out of 5 children) in the City are hungry.�� “But,” he said, “hunger is not about lack of food � it is about the ability to earn enough money to afford enough food.”� What�s the solution?� A serious focus on living wage jobs and a serious support of food safety net programs and support local community support systems.� Food justice not just food charity.

Karen Washington, who started her discussion by describing herself as an urban farmer is also the President of the NYC Community Gardens Coalition.� “Let all the rich people pay for everything and food should be free,” she said.� Other points she made from her impassioned speech included: When you talk about changing the food system, it needs to be inclusive. Until rooms like this are filled with the people who are hungry, there will not be real change.� This has to happen from the grassroots up.� We have a generation of children who have no idea where their food is coming from.� We need to educate people around the process of agriculture.� And its not just about access to affordable food, but it is also about jobs.� Welfare and foodstamps was supposed to be a temporary thing � not generation after generation.� When talking about sustainable agriculture, the kids should be involved. Teach agriculture in schools.� Solutions need to be developed from the bottom up, not from the top down.�� Food levels the playing field.� It is a right and not a privilege.� The land of milk and honey has become the land of greed and money.� Food is the new civil rights.

Daniel Bowman Simon, who had founded the successful White House Organic Farm Project is now spearheading the People’s Garden NYC � respectfully asking Mayor Bloomberg to allow a Community garden in front of City Hall.� Daniel’s presentation included multi-media like the video above.� He showed photos of his trip across the country in what is now called the topsy-turvy bus.� And we know how the story ends, Michelle Obama planted an organic garden last year and in the process of expanding again this year.� Over half of the food from the garden was donated to Miriam�s Kitchen � a local DC food pantry.� After the White House, Daniel was hopeful that this idea would take root in other public places as well.� Baltimore, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Portland have all planted vegetables outside their City Halls – so why not New York City?� Daniel showed historical photographs of urban gardens in NYC from the early 1900′s.� His petition to Mayor Bloomberg is online here and it can also be printed out to gather additional signatures – like the South Bronx Food Coop does.

At the end of the presentations there was a brief but heated discussion about the state�s Fresh Program.� And interesting discussion of free and reduced school lunches and the idea of universal breakfasts.� There was plenty of time for shmoozing and networking after as well as yummy food catered from a restaurant that has the Tav HaYosher.

Overall it was a terrific event, hopefully the first of many food justice events for the AJWS-Avodah partnership.

On April 18, my co-steering committee member Sylvia Frankel and I were invited to speak to the congregation of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Beaverton, Oregon, a nearby city most famous for being the home of Nike. It was an opportunity to address the congregation for one of a series of learning and study sessions; this one was called Food and Spirituality from a Jewish Perspective.

About 25 people attended, including Lead Pastor Mark Brocker and Associate Pastor Robyn Hartwig, and members of the St. Andrew Green Team, a group of congregants who work on sustainability issues within the St. Andrew community.

My co-presenter Sylvia is a Professor of Jewish Studies at Lewis & Clark College and also teaches at the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School in Portland. She spoke first, talking about the ancient Biblical connections between Jews, the land, and food, as well as the practice of gleaning. I talked about social justice in Jewish faith and practice, and how that relates to food, fair treatment of farm workers, and environmental stewardship as a Jewish ethic.

The group was very receptive, commenting on aspects of our talks, and asking provocative questions, including how to preserve the dignity of poor people in need. I mentioned Maimonides‘ eight levels of charity, the highest form of which is self-empowerment of the poor.

This was a great opportunity to do interfaith community engagement; both Sylvia and I really enjoyed the interaction and hope we can participate in other interfaith discussions about ethical and sustainable food. We’d like to thank Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, an interfaith nonprofit based in Portland, which hosted an Earth Care Summit in February, where we met members of the St. Andrew community.

Anyone else have similar experiences, within a Hazon CSA or otherwise? Please share!

Uri L’Tzedek is now accepting applications from college and graduate students for our 2nd annual Summer Fellowship Program! This 6-week program is an opportunity to work alongside Uri L’Tzedek’s staff and board, experiencing the many mechanisms that come together to create an effective non-profit organization, gaining exposure to communal Jewish life, effecting change, and learning Torah, social justice philosophy, and community organizing models.

Fellows will be based in New York City and will dedicate their time to some of the following innovative projects: Tav HaYosher (the ethical seal for kosher restaurants), organizational development, communications, education, service, community outreach, website development, multi-media, and technology.

Fellows will participate in weekly seminars focusing on the role of social justice in the Torah, workshops devoted to social justice and community organizing, and dialogues about the religious and emotional dimensions of the Fellowship. Sessions will be led by Uri L’Tzedek’s staff and board, local rabbis, and social justice professionals. Uri L’Tzedek Fellows are volunteers.
To apply, email Shani Porter , Fellowship Director, at porter.shani@gmail.com

Jo Ellen, who is a good colleague of mine who I respect greatly, portrays us oddly:

Hazon is becoming an “institution” on its own, with paid staff and programs. Yet it is a new kind of institution for the Jewish world, as it has neither a clear niche within organized Judaism nor a primary goal to become a national organization that will challenge and change the Jewish world. Hazon’s leaders are essentially uninterested in the organized Jewish world. That is something very new for American Judaism.

True? False? Is the Jewish environmental movement disinterested in in the organized Jewish world?  Weigh in on Jewschool, or in the comments below.

Global Hunger Shabbat is just around the corner! Join AJWS this Shabbat, March 19-20, for a nationwide day of solidarity, education, reflection and activism to raise awareness about global hunger.

Over 100 synagogues, 31 universities and scores of individuals, Moishe Houses and independent minyanim across the country and in Canada, New Zealand, India, Cape Verde, Uganda, Kenya, Cambodia and Thailand have already signed up to host Global Hunger Shabbat events in their communities.

It’s easy to plan a Global Hunger Shabbat event of your own or find an event at a location near you. Please visit www.ajws.org/hungershabbat for more information and to download activities, resources and suggestions for taking action.