Thanks so much to Aaron Lerman for this great guest post.  Aaron is the Vice-President of Bet My Life Charities, which seeks to educate and train athletes for races ranging from the casual 5k to Ironman Triathlon…and to raise money for some worthy causes. When he’s not working with the charity he can be found eating falafel, traveling the world, riding bikes or learning more about health. At home in Chicago, he designs and develops window treatments and other home products for retail stores…so if you’re in the market for some curtain rods, this is the guy to talk to! This next spring Aaron is looking to get down and dirty by creating his own backyard garden which has been a long awaited (and delayed) project.

Upon walking into the Birthright Israel NEXT salon at Hazon, I could feel the excitement and energy in the room. Dozens of people were talking, laughing, re-connecting and of course eating on this first night of the conference. This high-energy atmosphere permeated every event I attended during the conference… and did I mention there was lots of eating?

Now, looking back on my time at the Hazon Food Conference in Monterey, California, I wanted to share what the conference meant to me, and how the energy of the event has continued to stay with me.

I was a sponsored attendee from Birthright Israel NEXT for my work with Bet My Life Charities, a non-profit seeking to advance athletic participation while raising money for worthy causes (we train and educate athletes to compete in everything from 5k races to Ironman Triathlons). I wanted to attend in order to increase my knowledge about nutrition, since any athletic plan cannot ignore food and lifestyle.

But besides a more thorough understanding of food and how it affects our bodies, I walked away from the conference with a renewed and invigorated pride in my Jewish heritage. Nigel Savage, the Director of Hazon, spoke to the NEXT group on our first evening in Monterey. He emphasized that, while we as Jews often dwell on the negative aspects of our past, Hazon’s focus is spreading an optimistic outlook and creating real and positive change throughout our local communities.

This idea of bringing positive change struck a chord in me – and obviously the 600 other participants at the conference, since this enthusiasm was a tangible force visible on everyone’s faces – from the lectures on urban farming and vegetarianism, to composting and how to make sourdough bagels, I walked away with a real sense of Jewish community that compares only to my 10-day Taglit Birthright Israel trip two years ago.

Some of my favorite memories from the conference are little things that show this energy in action (and many of them are totally separated from the food movement); the joyous Havdalah service with hundreds of people singing and dancing to live musicians and drummers, the Saturday night “Chai House” which featured flawless poetry, singing and stories from people brave enough to bare it all in a poetry slam setting and, of course, I cannot forget the bike ride I took with several new friends I met through our affiliation with Birthright Israel NEXT along the Pacific Ocean and Pebble Beach Golf Course.

Now that we’ve returned from a fun filled weekend including overeating and Shabbat beachside services, the other Chicago-based participants and I are spearheading a campaign to bring some “Hazon-type” activities to Chicago. Hopefully in the coming weeks and months our ideas will take shape, and who knows, maybe we’ll have an urban garden in Lakeview, or a widespread and sustainable Jewish CSA for people of all ages, or a lecture series incorporating Jewish themes and our relationship to organic sustainable food.

I expected to have a fun time and meet some good people at Hazon, but I walked away with a lot more than I bargained for (and a few extra pounds I’m trying to work off). The Hazon Food Conference presented me with the resources, knowledge and a platform to incorporate these food-based, positive changes into my life and hopefully others’ – and I want to give back, so my local community isn’t stuck dwelling on the past, but preparing for the future.

Again, the vigor of the 600 other participants is something I’ve rarely seen, and has to be experienced to be fully comprehended. Amazing events like this make me so proud to be a Jew – and I cannot wait to help the Hazon cause and get more local people excited about our history, rich culture and our drive to make the world a better place through the information I gained at the Hazon Food Conference.