The Hazon Food Conference August 9-13, 2017 Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
Yom Kippur Retreat 5778 at Isabella Freedman
September 29–October 1
Register now: hazon.org/yomkippur
Sukkahfest! at Isabella Freedman October 4–15
Come for Sukkot, Simchat Torah, or both! We expect to sell out before Labor Day, so register now. hazon.org/sukkahfest
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Table of Contents Orientation Sheet.................................................................................................................................................................................................4 Upcoming Hazon Retreats and Programs...................................................................................................................................................6 About Hazon..........................................................................................................................................................................................................8 Welcome..................................................................................................................................................................................................................9 Hazon and the New Jewish Food Movement......................................................................................................................................... 10 Jewish Food Movement Food Goals: Vision 2022................................................................................................................................. 12 Food at the Food Conference....................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Jewish Life at the Food Conference............................................................................................................................................................ 16 Schedule Program Tracks............................................................................................................................................................................................. 18 Wednesday.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Thursday......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Friday............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Saturday.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29 Sunday............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 33 Kids’ Food Conference..................................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Meet the Planning Team................................................................................................................................................................................. 38 Presenter Bios..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 40 Thank You............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 46 Map......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 50
Goals of the Food Conference Think
Encourage participants to think more deeply and broadly about their food choices, food systems – including issues of food access and affordability – and the connection of contemporary food issues to Jewish tradition and texts.
Connect
Build a Jewish community and a Jewish Food Movement by providing a model of a vibrant, joyful Jewish life that connects Jewish tradition, learning, and spirituality with sustainable, healthful food practices.
Inspire
Convey a sense of energy, importance, and enjoyment to inspire positive change around food issues and Jewish tradition so that participants who are more familiar with contemporary food issues see the Jewish connections, and Jewishly-knowledgeable participants explore contemporary food issues locally and nationally.
Strengthen
Build leadership capacity by supporting volunteers to help create change in their own communities.
Act
Create change agents to speed the velocity of best practices and action in Jewish homes, institutions, and communities, and the world as a whole.
Dig in
Join this powerful Jewish Food Movement that works to create healthy and sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond.
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WELCOME to Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center! Welcome to Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. This beautiful campus has been touching people’s lives since the 1950s, and since 2014 has been the home of Hazon. The word “Hazon” is Hebrew for “vision.” We’re working to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community and a healthier and more sustainable world for all. We hope that your stay here will indeed inspire you to reflect, to learn, to celebrate, to recharge, and thus to return to your home and your community with a renewed sense of hope for our world and a renewed commitment to health and sustainability in your own life.
Please read upon arrival If you need anything during your stay, please contact the Retreat Manager on duty. EMERGENCY CALLS: In the event of a medical emergency, please call 9-1-1 from your cell phone, OR: 9-9-1-1 from any land line phone, located in the buildings throughout campus. Please familiarize yourself with the location of the nearest phone to your room. You must dial 9 before making any call on our land line phones. After making a 9-1-1 call, please contact a retreat manager at the IF Emergency #: Dial 860-480-3674 from a cell phone. Emergencies only, please. You must dial 9 before making any call on our land line phones.
FIRE SAFETY: Please only light candles at group candle lighting in the main building. Camp fires are only allowed at the fire pit by the lake during scheduled programming and must be put out at the end of the activity. Please see a retreat manager for any questions.
SECURITY: Isabella Freedman is an oasis in a troubled world. And, we are committed to vigilance and preparedness for the unfortunate realities of our society today. Two general guidelines provide the basis for our security program:
SMOKING: Smoking is prohibited in all buildings, and throughout campus. You may smoke only at the fire pit by the lake. Please dispose of cigarette butts in the designated cigarette bin.
1. Please wear your name tags at all times. Our staff need to be aware of who should be on our site. 2. In the event of a campus-wide emergency including a bomb threat, you will hear three one-second blasts of a very loud air horn, repeated multiple times. If you hear this, immediately evacuate to the decorative gate at Adamah farm located across the street from the main entrance and remain there until emergency services arrive. Do not use your cellphone or take time to look for others besides children.
FIRST AID: First aid materials are located at Guest Services, in the Lounge, Yurts, Arts and Crafts building and Pool House. A defibrillator is located in the Lounge.
KOSHER: Our Dining Hall and Tent are strictly Kosher. Please do not bring any outside food or personal dishware/water bottles/travel mugs into the Dining Hall/Tent. Please use to-go ware outside the Dining Hall/Tent. Exception: Coffee mugs are allowed throughout the main building only. Please place used mugs in the bus bin in the coffee bar. Any personal food requested to be brought into the Dining Hall/Tent must be approved by our Kosher supervisor.
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PARKING: Driving and parking is not allowed on grassy areas. Please only park in the designated parking areas: the lot near the main entrance and the lot near the barnyard. CHILDREN: Please make sure that your children are supervised at all times, or are participating in children’s programming associated with your retreat. VISITING THE GOATS: You are encouraged to visit the Adamah barnyard during scheduled goat activities. Please only enter into fenced-in areas with an Isabella Freedman staff member present, and please respect any signage and/or directions given by staff members. Please do not feed the goats or visit when a goat is sick, giving birth or about to give birth. We want to be sure that everyone is safe and healthy! BUSING TABLES: Please clear your table after finishing your meal. Bins for compost and dishware are located at the corner of the Dining Hall/Tent. COMPOST & RECYCLING: Around campus you will see containers for compost (green), recycling (blue) and trash (black). Items that are compost: All food including bones, paper napkins, paper towels, to-go ware (hot/cold cups, lids, utensils, containers) tea bags, paper wrappers, corks, and wooden coffee stirrers. We use our compost to fertilize our Adamah Farm! GUEST FRIDGE: You may store personal food/beverages in the fridge located in the Sunroom. (these items do not have to be Kosher) Please label your name on all items. POTABLE TAP WATER: ALL tap water on campus comes directly from a local well source and is pot-able and delicious! HOT WATER/COFFEE: Due to our Kosher policies, on Shabbat we offer coffee and hot water until it runs out. Once Shabbat ends, our staff make fresh batches. We appreciate your understanding, and we strive to provide enough coffee and hot water through the holiday.
GAMES, BOOKS AND MORE: We offer a variety of sport equipment, books, games and toys for your pleasure. Please see a retreat manager to borrow any of these items. Please do not use any bikes located on campus as these belong to Isabella Freedman staff. THERMOSTATS: The thermostats in your buildings/rooms are programmed to keep you comfortable. You may adjust the temperature by increasing or decreasing the thermostat one or two degrees. LAKE AND SWIMMING / BOATING: You may only enter the pool when a lifeguard is present. Use of the lake is at your own risk. Life vests are located in the shed by the dock. Please return the vests and oars to the shed and the boats to the rack after use. Pool Hours: Wednesday: 2:00-5:30 pm Thursday: 1:00-7:00 pm Friday: 10:30 am-5:30 pm Saturday: 10:30 am-5:30 pm Sunday: Closed HIKING: Please stay on Isabella Freedman trails when hiking. We advise telling a friend when you go out on a trail and when you return, carrying a cell phone and water bottle, and only hiking during daylight hours. Trail maps are located at Guest Services. TICKS AND LYME DISEASE: We recommend doing a tick check after spending time outdoors. We have tick removal information available at Guest Services. CHECK OUT PROCEDURE: On check-out day, you MUST move out of your room by 10 am. Kindly strip your bed and place all sheets and towels into the pillowcases. (Please leave mattress pads, blankets and comforters on the beds.)
We hope you enjoy your stay with us! It’s important to us to know both what you enjoyed and ways we could improve our work here. Please do fill out an evaluation form. If you do not receive one, please email evaluations@hazon.org.
JEWISH INSPIRATION. SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES.
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Upcoming Hazon Retreats and Programs in 2017 NEW YORK RIDE & RETREAT
September 1-4 (Labor Day Weekend) Isabella Freedman Join the People of the Bike for our annual fully-supported ride and retreat. This exciting, diverse community Shabbat and cycling experience is open for people of all cycling levels and ages. Includes Camp Teva for kids!
JOFEE NETWORK GATHERING
September 14-17 Pearlstone Center, Reisterstown, MD Join Jewish Outdoor, Food, Farming, and Environmental Educators for the annual JOFEE Network Gathering – an innovative and engaging conference for anyone interested in JOFEE programming!
HIGH HOLIDAYS: ROSH HASHANAH & YOM KIPPUR
September 20-October 1 Isabella Freedman
Join us for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur or both holidays as we welcome in the new year with inclusive prayer services, deep teachings, immersion in a relaxing wooded venue, community celebrations, and fabulous farm-to-table feasting. Includes Camp Teva for kids!
SUKKAHFEST!
October 4-15 Isabella Freedman Sukkahfest is a singular event — perhaps the most joyous, and almost certainly the most diverse, celebration of the holiday of Sukkot on planet Earth. Join us for Sukkot, Simchat Torah, or both. Includes Camp Teva for kids!
THE ISRAEL RIDE
October 31-November 7 Israel Enjoy five glorious days of riding with routes for beginner, intermediate, and advanced cyclists. All routes are fully supported with rest stops, mechanics, and lead riders.
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JEWISH MEN’S RETREAT
November 10-12 Isabella Freedman
Along with the connections that naturally develop among men who meet at our retreats, many men have used the JMR as an occasion to deepen their relationships with their fathers, sons, or brothers, friends, and congregants by inviting them to join them for the weekend.
ADVA REUNION
November 17-19 Isabella Freedman Join generations of Adamah/Teva alumni for a momentous Shabbat celebration and an unforgettable gathering filled with Adva love. Bring your whole self; leave with body, mind, and soul renewed. Includes Camp Teva for kids!
HAZON MEDITATION RETREAT
December 24-31 Isabella Freedman
Join Rabbi Jay Michaelson, Beth Resnick-Folk, and Rabbi Naomi Hyman for silent meditation with instruction, musical prayer services, evening teachings that draw on Jewish, Secular & Buddhist sources, and more.
Visit hazon.org/calendar for a complete list of upcoming events! #hazonfoodconference • 2017 Hazon Food Conference 7
About Hazon THE WORD “HAZON” MEANS “VISION.” Our tagline is “Jewish inspiration. Sustainable communities.” That encapsulates all that we strive to do: We work to renew Jewish life by creating a healthier and more sustainable world for all.
JEWISH INSPIRATION. SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES.
OUR THEME QUOTE IS: “The Torah is a commentary on the world and the world is a commentary on the Torah.” This reflects our belief that turning Jewish life outwards to address some of the greatest challenges of our time is good not only for the world, but also for the renewal of Jewish life itself. OVERVIEW: Hazon was founded in 2000. Today’s Hazon includes not only our own legacy programs, but also those of Isabella Freedman and Teva, with whom we merged in 2013. WE EFFECT CHANGE IN THREE WAYS: • Transformative Experiences: Immersive multi-day programs that directly touch people’s lives in powerful ways • Thought-Leadership: Changing the world through the power of ideas—including writing, teaching, curriculumdevelopment, and advocacy • Capacity-Building: Not just working with people as individuals, but explicitly supporting and networking with great projects and partners in North America and Israel If you’re interested in talking to us about how we might work together in the future – planning a special celebration, organizational retreat, family reunion, life-cycle event or community gathering, please be in touch with Eli Massel, our Director of Outreach, elisheva.massel@hazon.org.
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Welcome to the Hazon Food Conference!
Dear Friends, Welcome to the 12th annual Hazon Food Conference. After many years holding the Food Conference in the depths of winter, this year we are thrilled to have the Food Conference in the summer in order to celebrate food at the height of the growing season. Together we will enjoy the full vibrancy and abundance of the farm and get a true taste of local, seasonal food production and preparation. In a few short weeks, we will enter the Hebrew month of Elul, a month often used as preparation for the coming High Holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Often called “the Birthday of the World,” Rosh Hashanah is a time of discovery, introspection, and new beginnings. Wishes for a sweet new year are expressed in symbolic seasonal foods such as apples, honey, and new fruits. It is traditionally seen as a time of “spiritual accounting,” or in Hebrew, “cheshbon hanefesh.” This is a powerful opportunity on our calendar to reflect on the year that passed and set intentions for growth in the year ahead. Over the next four days we will have many opportunities to prepare for the year ahead by developing our ethical, spiritual, physical, and mental associations with food, through four tracks: Food Justice and Sustainability, Jewish Food Traditions, Health and Wellness, and Cooking and DIY Demonstrations.
The Food Conference aims to inspire and motivate us to think more broadly about our food choices. We hope that this conference, at the height of the summer bounty and on the eve of the High Holidays, will help you consider new commitments around food for a sweet New Year, for yourself and for your greater community. Are there different choices you want to make in the coming year about what you consume, or don’t consume? We invite you to use the Food Conference as a space to ignite your own cheshbon hanefesh, by learning with world-class experts, activists, chefs, and community leaders. You will have an opportunity to explore a wide variety of topics ranging from the 2018 Farm Bill to the latest science behind cellular agriculture (lab-grown meat) to wild foraging and how to make your own all-natural makeup. We hope you will spend your time this week taking advantage of the variety of programming as well as the natural beauty that surrounds you. The days are full, so we encourage you to take care of yourself. If a quiet walk around the lake is what you need, do that. If sharing your notes from an inspiring session with a new friend – or on your Facebook feed! – will energize you, do that. This is time for you to connect with old friends, build new communities, collaborate, exchange and explore new ideas, share passions. and find ways to start new projects and businesses. And most of all, let’s grow. Let’s grow this movement, let’s grow ourselves and each other. So what are we waiting for? Let’s dig in!
With gratitude,
Jess Berlin Senior Program Manager & Hazon Food Conference Lead Staff
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Hazon and the New Jewish Food Movement 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 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. We invite you to learn more about the programs we offer, and we encourage you to learn about the other great organizations in this field, many of whom are represented at this conference. If you’d like to learn more about any of these, please email foodeducation@hazon.org.
JOFEE Fellowship
Animal Welfare Initiatives
Invigorating the Jewish educational landscape by developing a cohort of year-long fellows in professional placements who will receive intensive training and mentorship by leaders in the Jewish Outdoor, Food, Farming & Environmental Education field.
With our partners at the Jewish Initiative for Animals (JIFA), we are engaging camps and synagogues in connecting the dots between their Jewish values, animal welfare, and food policies.
Hazon Seal of Sustainability The Hazon Seal of Sustainability provides a roadmap and certification for Jewish organizations across the country engaging in sustainability-related education, action, and advocacy. Hazon helps organizations form a Green Team, take an audit, and commit to meaningful sustainability projects. Applications for the next Hazon Seal cohort open in early 2017.
Shmita Project Shmita is the Biblically mandated ‘Sabbatical Year’ of rest and release. Hazon has created a 60-page sourcebook tracking the evolution of shmita through Jewish texts from ancient times to today.
Sustainable Israel Tour Join community leaders on a one-of-a-kind mission highlighting developments in Israel towards more sustainable food production, healthy living, and social justice.
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Adamah
Healthy and Sustainable Shabbat The grandmother of the Jewish farming movement, and Holiday Guides Adamah is an organic farming fellowship for Jews in their 20s to early 30s that cultivates the soil and the soul to produce food, to build and transform identities, and to gather a community of people changing the world.
Teva Shomrei Adamah (Guardians of the Earth) is Teva’s flagship program. Designed for fifth and sixth grade students, it integrates outdoor environmental education with Jewish concepts and values through exciting hands-on activities in a cooperative residential setting.
Green Kiddush Hazon supports synagogues to make their weekly kiddushes healthier, more sustainable, and more humane to animals. Our Green Kiddush guide is available to jumpstart the process.
Hazon Food Conference The annual gathering of the New Jewish Food Movement! Join chefs, educators, rabbis, and foodies to learn about social justice, food ethics, Jewish values, and more.
Celebrate the Jewish holidays in line with your values. Inspire a theme for a holiday, an activity for your family, or an event for your community.
Tu B’Shvat Seder and Sourcebook We have completely reimagined the Tu B’Shvat haggadah, bringing in new texts, discussion questions, and activities to bring this ancient holiday into your home.
Institutional Food Values We have developed a list of food values that we strive to follow when we are planning food at all Hazon events, programs, and meetings. We hope that these values and reports of putting the values in action will inspire your community to take further steps to make healthier and more sustainable choices.
Hazon CSA Program Hazon Community Supported Agriculture network connects dozens of Jewish communities to local farms, providing seasonal produce to members and steady income to farmers.
Food Education Curricula Hazon has published curricula and resources linking Jewish thought with modern food values. Our sourcebooks, including Food for Thought, Fit to Eat, Setting the Table, Min Ha’Aretz, and Home for Dinner, are available for purchase in the bookstore and online.
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Jewish Food Movement Food Goals: Vision 2022 The following goals were written and first published in September 2014. We continue to share them as a means to consider where we are, now that we are two years into this current shmita cycle, and to continue to encourage us to move forward with this work. These are some of the key framing questions: • How, by September 2022, will our relationship to food have helped to create a more sustainable world for all? • How will our relationship to food have strengthened Jewish life, or deepened the relationship between Israeli and diaspora Jews, or helped to build interfaith partnerships in this country? • Which existing ideas or projects need to be strengthened? • What new ideas or projects need to come to fruition? By 2022, we hope for – and intend to work for:
By 2022 there should be systemic work going on in and with colleges, day schools, and Hebrew schools. A clear majority of Jewish summer camps should be purchasing and serving local, fresh, ethically-raised food, growing food, and integrating that work into their core programs.
• An American Jewish community that is measurably healthier and more sustainable • An American Jewish community that is demonstrably playing a role in making the world healthier and more sustainable for all • An American Jewish community in which Jewish life has been strengthened and renewed by the work of the Jewish Food Movement
3. More Jewish farmers and more sharing of Jewish farming wisdom.
And these are some specific goals. Note that some of these represent building on what is clearly already underway, some represent new focus or inflection, and one or two are quite new. By 2022, we would like to see: 1. Clear recognition that JOFEE – Jewish Outdoor, Food, Farming & Environmental Education – is a vital discipline in strengthening Jewish life.
That in turn will involve a strong and growing network of JOFEE-certified educators and JOFEE program alumni, and mechanisms for JOFEE leaders to interact with each other and with other key Jewish institutional leaders. JOFEE leaders should have a significant voice at major annual or biennial gatherings of the American Jewish community.
2. JOFEE in schools and camps around the country.
There should be a growing number of JOFEE educators working with schools, synagogues, JCCs, and camps to integrate teachings about food in relation to health, ethics, Jewish tradition, and Jewish history. That in turn should lead to more synagogue gardens, taking students out of the classroom and into the forest, baking challah in Hebrew school, students conducting Food Audits at their synagogues, and so on. These activities should be seen not as niche programs but as core to how we transmit Jewish values into practice.
By 2022, Adamah, Urban Adamah, Pearlstone, Amir, Eden Village, the Jewish Farm School, Leichtag Commons in Encinitas, and other equivalent programs should continue to grow and strengthen – providing hands-on knowledge about food, farming, and Jewish tradition, and equipping young adults to move on to become leaders and role models within American Jewish life and in the wider Food Movement. We will support small farmer advocacy organizations in their work, and support small farms directly through thoughtful consumer choices.
4. Healthier choices becoming the easier choice in Jewish life.
By 2022 we should have started to take on sugar as a significant issue in Jewish life. By reducing the amount of sugar, processed food, and heavily packaged food that we serve during kiddush or at our organizations’ meetings, by removing bottles of soda and other sweetened beverages from our tables, and by increasing the selection of seasonal, fresh fruit and vegetables we serve at our functions, we should be making it easier for everyone to fuel their bodies and minds for health and wellness. We should consistently offer real options for vegetarian and vegan meals. Our motto should simply be, as Michael Pollan says, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” We will embrace and celebrate a holistic view of health and wellness as a focus for the Jewish community.
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5. American Jews consuming fewer animal products, and advocating for animal welfare standards.
As a community, we will consume less meat, eggs, and dairy. When we do choose to consume animal products, we will educate ourselves and seek out options from sources with high animal welfare standards, outside of industrial confined animal operations. Sales of ethical, local kosher meat should continue to grow as a proportion of kosher meat sales. Individuals will incorporate vegetarian and ethical sourcing considerations when shopping and eating at restaurants.
6. American Jews engaging seriously in issues of food security and hunger, and advocating for change.
The Jewish Working Group on the Farm Bill should become a platform for a wider and more sustained and intentional push for civic advocacy and formal lobbying efforts. As a community we should be supporting organizations like AJWS, Challah for Hunger, and Mazon, so that American Jews are raising and donating more dollars to help people directly in need. As a community we should be working with others to support those whose disadvantage is invisibly connected to our own food choices: low wage farm workers, processing/ packing house workers, truckers, hospitality/restaurant/ hotel workers, etc. Jewish people should also be participating in secular efforts to bring about a better food system nationally and locally through innovative programs and through changes in national, state, and local law. When helpful, key Jewish leaders should represent Hazon at the secular advocacy group table.
with ages, backgrounds, preferences, and abilities that are oftentimes marginalized. 9. Jewish Food Conferences and Festivals growing significantly.
10. Deeper and more extensive interfaith work. What we first conceived as “the Jewish Food Movement” has gradually taken its place in what may now be thought of as “the faith-based food movement.” The next seven years offer an opportunity to build relationships with other faith communities through the prism of food, both nationally and locally, with food strengthening the relationships between different faith and ethnic communities, and with faith communities strengthening food systems in this country. When helpful, key Jewish leaders should represent Hazon at the secular advocacy group table, even if we are not voting members. 11. Jewish organizations taking seriously the issue of climate change.
7. A return to the old rhythms of simplicity and feasting.
If we’re successful, we hope that American Jews will be a role model to other communities in celebrating Shabbat and holidays – Jewish and secular, national and personal – with great joy, gatherings, song, and wonderful feasts – and that during the other six days of the week we’ll eat more lightly and more simply.
8. An exemplification of celebration and inclusion in the movement.
We’ll do this work with joy, with good humor, and delight that people are different and legitimately make different choices in their lives. The Jewish Food Movement is about ethics, justice, and environmental sustainability. It’s also about family, memory, kashrut, culture, cooking, baking, davening, food-writing, food photography, Israel, education, holidays, Halacha… and the ancient rivalry of latkes and hamentaschen. We will make everyone feel they have a place in our movement and celebrations, and will celebrate those
These are significant and powerful events that enable local and national leaders within the Jewish Food Movement to inspire and to build relationships that will sustain this work throughout the year. By 2029 there should be an annual Jewish Food Festival in most American Jewish communities, and by 2022 we should be well on-track towards that goal. Legacy Jewish Food Festivals should be growing in size.
Serious thought will be given to dynamic causes, effects of, and responses to climate change, such as food waste, composting, food miles, and reducing our carbon footprint while maintaining Jewish infrastructure. Institutions will approach capital improvement projects with an eye to environmentally-conscious infrastructure development. Hazon will continue to serve as an ally in the climate justice movement, as embodied by our participation and leadership in the People’s Climate March, and our educational materials will incorporate climate change information.
12. Conscious preparations for the next shmita year 5782.
This next seven-year period in American Jewish life should be the first one in which a consciousness of shmita permeates all seven years of the cycle, and thus in which the period from 2015 to 2021 represents an extensive conversation and planning process for how the next shmita year – in 2021-22 – could or should be honored across the community. Key Jewish leaders should represent Hazon at the secular advocacy group table, even if we are not voting members.
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Food at the Food Conference Dear Friends, Welcome to Adamah Foods, Hazon’s dining program at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. We strive to bring you the most responsible and highest quality food in the Jewish world. What is responsible food, where does it come from, in what ways is it deeply connected with our traditions, and how do we prepare it all to be so tasty? Glad you wondered. Responsibility We have all been saturated with the many dimensions of concern around current patterns of food consumption. Understanding the impacts each meal has on the earth, animals, indigenous peoples, agricultural workers, local communities, factory workers, and food industry workers is dizzying. At Adamah Foods, we do our best to evaluate each product we use, to be confident we are serving you the most responsible items on the market. This is an expensive proposition, and this is where our farmers, picklers, and food service team come into play. Fresh, preserved, tasty, healthy, kosher… on a budget Upholding the ethics we have set forth comes with a hefty price tag. Extra virgin California olive oils, Marine Stewardship Council certified canned tuna, wildflower honey, organic nut butters, and fresh fish that can be traced back to the boat and captain who caught it, are often several times more expensive than their conventional counterparts. Thankfully, we are blessed to have this year’s food conference in the peak of the season, allowing us to utilize produce grown right here by the Adamah staff and fellows. While the fresh, local foods are abundant right now, the first frost, and end of the growing season are closing in quickly. So we also must look elsewhere for savings. Enter the Picklers Fresh food is good, preserved food is better. Our Adamah ferments age in their barrels from days to several months, and then are delicious indefinitely under refrigeration. Salt, maybe some water, spices and veggies, and wait. That’s pretty much all that’s needed to preserve and even enhance the nutritive value of vegetables grown in our backyard, and then we serve them all year round. Aside from pickling many of the vegetables grown on-site, our food preservation program further weans us off of imported and expensive foods during the winter months.
Our salad bar is a prime demonstration of this; throughout the winter months there is no need for cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, string beans, etc., instead we will offer krauts, kimchis, dilly beans, and more, to get many of the vitamins and minerals we need. Tuna on the run! This year we are proud to have linked up with Berkshore, a Massachusetts-based seafood company bringing us fully traceable fish from the waters of the Mid-Atlantic, New England, and Eastern Canada. Right now it is the peak of the Canadian tuna season. Schools of small tuna are gathered just off the Gulf Stream in the deep, cold waters of Newfoundland, gorging themselves on squid and herring. We are taking advantage of this relatively inexpensive tuna which has less market value than the bigger, less sustainable brethren, by bringing in large quantities and jarring these fish for the winter.
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Speaking of Fish… Small fish are the best option for eating. Herring, sardines, and Boston mackerel are all abundant in the North Atlantic. Come spring time, hello pickled fish! Goodbye to the herring packed in cottonseed or soy oil and dyed with red #40. Hello dollars (both USD and Canadian) for local economies supporting small fishers that have been fishing for generations and are who on the front lines in protecting the natural environment. The future… We are currently planning further steps to reduce our costs, packaging, and miles put on our food. From dehydrating, to freezing, to making our own nut butters and puffed cereals, we have plenty of room to grow toward achieving our highest ideals. Through some strategic investments and renovations we aim to be bringing you even more house-made yummies. Keeping it Kosher The question of what is fit to eat is at the root of our kosher tradition – and more relevant than ever in today’s word. At Isabella Freedman, keeping it kosher means following the letter and the spirit of the laws – creating a space where everyone can enjoy food that is truly fit to eat together. At every meal you will find one of our mashgichim (kosher supervisors) in the dining tent who will be available to answer any questions about kashrut. Thank you in advance for respecting the kashrut guidelines outlined on the welcome sheet in this booklet. The dirty, hot, holy work Finally, I would like to offer immense gratitude to the often overlooked final piece of the puzzle, our food service staff, without whom we would never be able to get food into the kitchen, let alone prepared and onto the tables. These are silent heroes, who regardless of circumstances, get the job done multiple times, each and every day. Too often in the food industry, as demonstrated with the “Fight for 15” the bottom line is valued most, and workers are paid the lowest wages possible. At Adamah Foods we are committed to work toward a living wage for all of our employees. This shows the same responsibility to our employees that we aim to do for all our products. Adamah Foods for Thought As consumers we have the responsibility to understand that the choices of what we eat really matter, on a micro level, to our neighbors. Where there is cheap food, there
is someone who is not offered or cannot afford health insurance; there is a marketing firm spending more money to spin the good deed of a large corporation than was actually spent on the good deed to begin with; there are women nine months pregnant working on their feet for twelve hours; and where there is cheap food there are people who are working two jobs at eighty hours a week, often in unsafe and abusive conditions. We at Adamah Foods do this work not simply to provide sustenance for the Isabella Freedman community. We aim to inspire folks to consider that everything mainstream society has come to know and expect regarding the convenience, price, and availability of foods all rests on a model of profit maximization contradicting many people’s own personal values. We ultimately want people to consider their choices and then take action. Take action through your own purchasing, and take action through demanding that your local synagogues, schools, and companies take responsibility as well. When there is a board meeting, a kiddush, a lunch event and the budget is only three dollars per person, consider the woman who is nine months pregnant without health insurance, and then please, consider demanding more funds be allocated for that event. Thank you for being here; we are honored to feed you. Please enjoy the abundance, ask lots of questions, demand answers, and challenge the ever changing thoughts on what it means to eat responsibly. Kol tuv, Adam SaNogueira Chef & Director of Food Services
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Jewish Life at the Food Conference The Hazon Food Conference is for everyone interested in Jewish life, sustainability, and contemporary food issues. We welcome people from across the spectrum of Jewish practice and knowledge as well as people from other religious backgrounds. Our goal is to provide a nurturing and dynamic space for all to engage with Jewish culture and food issues. SHABBAT WITH HAZON Hazon strives to create an inclusive community throughout all of our events. As such, Shabbat can be a complicated time, since our participants come from all backgrounds and have a variety of personal customs. For some, this maybe their first time experiencing Shabbat; others may follow the letter of the law regarding Shabbat each week. In crafting our Shabbat schedule, we have tried to create programming that will be of interest to all, and have multiple minyanim (prayer services) to choose from. Feel free to participate in programs that you are accustomed to, or use this weekend to try something new! A DAY OF REST Shabbat is called a day of rest. The fourth of the Ten Commandments states, “For six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath… you shall not do any work.” Aside from doing physical work, people traditionally abstain from many different things including using the telephone, turning on and off lights, cooking, using a computer, listening to or playing music, writing, and driving. SHABBAT CANDLE LIGHTING Like all Jewish holidays, Shabbat begins in the liminal “place in-between” as day moves into night. We light candles to mark the transition from the mundane workweek to the holiness of Shabbat. This ritual provides an opportunity to both reflect on the past week and enter the day of rest. FRIDAY NIGHT SERVICES Friday night services traditionally open with Kabbalat Shabbat (literally “receiving Shabbat”), a collection of joyful Psalms and poems that celebrate the holiness we see in the natural world. Afterwards, we continue with the special Shabbat Ma’ariv, the evening service. FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER We begin dinner as a community by singing Shalom Aleichem, a song that imagines welcoming angels to our table to bring peace and joy. Next, we recite Kiddush, the blessing over wine that sanctifies the holiness of the day. Kiddush is followed by Hamotzi, the blessing over bread. Before making Hamotzi, many people will ritually
wash their hands. It is customary not to talk between handwashing and the blessing over bread. Shabbat meals include songs, and we hope you will join us in singing or follow along in the benchers (songbooks) at your tables. The meal ends with a musical blessing, Birkat haMazon, the Grace after Meals.
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MORNING SERVICES The traditional Shabbat morning service includes Psalms to warm up the soul, the Shema, the Shacharit Amidah, Hallel, Torah reading, and Musaf. SHABBAT DAY To sanctify and make Shabbat special, we’ll make kiddush and enjoy some tasty snacks in the late morning. We will start Saturday lunch with the blessing over bread, done individually or by table. Because cooking is considered work on Shabbat, lunch includes cold food and cholent (a stew that is left on the stove to simmer throughout Shabbat.) HAVDALLAH Havdallah (literally “separation”) marks the end of Shabbat and the start of the new week. Havdallah is done as soon as three stars are visible in the sky. The rituals of Havdallah include blessings over drinking wine, smelling spices, seeing a flame of a candle, and a blessing on separation. Havdallah is intended to require a person to use all five senses: tasting wine, smelling spices, seeing fire and feeling its heat, and hearing blessings.
SERVICE OPTIONS Orthodox Sing and pray in an uplifting, traditional Hebrew morning service. There will be separate seating for men and women. Traditional Egalitarian In a synergy of traditional and progressive practice, people of all gender identities and expressions enjoy full participation in a complete service and Torah reading, and a good dose of great melodies. Renewal This service focuses deeply on core phrases and themes from the traditional service, rather than using the entire liturgy. Amplification and musical instruments including guitar and drums may be utilized to support a joyous, creative prayer experience.
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Program Tracks JEWISH FOOD TRADITIONS (Traditions) Wherever the Jewish people have landed, a love and respect for food has been present. Learn about Spain’s medieval Jewish community and its lasting influences on Sephardic cuisines of today, what makes food Jewish for someone who doesn’t keep kosher, and the surprising history of Jewish farmers. As we explore the evolution of Jewish eating over the past two millennia, we’ll gain further understanding about what makes this food movement Jewish. COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS AND DIY (DIY) Every year we offer a new set of hands-on skills that you can take back to your home and community. From how to take your outdoor cooking game to the next level and beyond, to transforming simple dishes with robustly flavored condiments and sauces to preparing a seasonal and sustainable Rosh Hashanah menu, these sessions provide skills and strategies for you to reclaim your kitchen. Roll up your sleeves, and get ready to be inspired. FOOD JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY (Justice) We know our food system is deeply imperfect, but what would a just food system look like? And how do we get there? This year’s sessions will bring together movement leaders and shakers from both the Jewish Food Justice world and the broader Food Justice Movement, providing an up-close perspective on the consequences of our present food system and a big-picture look at opportunities for collaboration and allyship. In panels and workshops, sessions will ground participants in the historical and text-based Jewish obligation to work towards Food Justices. Participants will gain tools to bring back to their communities as they work towards building a more just food system. HEALTH AND WELLNESS (Health) What is the Jewish take on understanding our health? How can we make more informed choices given the myriad of information about health and nutrition? Learn about enzymes, probiotics and prebiotics and how to cook for digestive health, how to identify and utilize medicinal herbs growing in your backyard, and how to make your own all natural plant based makeup. Sessions in this track will guide participants in discovering new ways of thinking about the foods we put in our bodies. JOFEE JOFEE stands for Jewish Outdoor, Food, Farming & Environmental Education. JOFEE experiences connect people to Judaism, community, and the natural world through hands-on, thoughtful and engaging Jewish programming across ages, backgrounds, and religious approaches. KIDS’ FOOD CONFERENCE (KFC) Children ages 5-12 have a special place at the Hazon Food Conference table. The Kids’ Food Conference is an opportunity for children to learn cooking skills, nutrition, food justice, and farming in an engaging, age-appropriate setting. Connect with the environment through farm and forest exploration and help out the littlest critters on our planet by making insect hotels. Learn how plants can heal our scrapes and bruises. At the Kids’ Food Conference, you can play with your food and eat it too! The Kids’ Food Conference will be held in Arts and Crafts. From there we will move throughout campus. Please see pages 35-37 for times and session descriptions. All children must be supervised by a responsible adult at all times. If they choose not to participate in a Kids’ Food Conference activity, they must be with a responsible adult. 18 2017 Hazon Food Conference • Please wear your name badge throughout the Conference!
WEDNESDAY 2:00-5:00 PM Check-In and Arrival Snack 2:30-4:30 PM JOFEE Fair (JOFEE) Great Hall Come to the Great Hall to sample many of the Jewish Outdoor, Food, Farming & Environmental Education (JOFEE) programs Hazon has to offer. Make bike blender smoothies on our stationary bike. It is the ultimate expression of human power. Also plant your very own micro-greens. Micro-greens are mini versions of regular vegetables, and will be ready for consumption after 1-2 weeks of growth. 5:00-6:00 PM Grow: An In-Depth Guide to the 2017 Hazon Food Conference Synagogue Take an interactive tour of the schedule, learn secret tricks that will ensure you have the best experience possible, and get to know your fellow participants and presenters. 4:45-5:00 PM Mandatory Parent/ Guardian Orientation to the Kids’ Food Conference Arts and Crafts Join the Kids’ Food Conference Educators in Arts and Crafts for a mandatory orientation to the program. Learn about the fun activities we have planned as well as important policies. 5:00-6:00 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 35 for details. 6:00-7:15 PM Dinner 7:15-7:30 PM Maariv Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan
Arts and Crafts Dining Tent
Library Beige Yurt
7:30-9:00 PM DIY Fair and Shuk Great Hall DIY enthusiasts and vendors will gather in the Great Hall to showcase their skills and businesses. Join us to try your hand at pickle making, wood burning, and salve making. Find out about interesting initiatives, meet local farmers, and purchase books and have them signed by the authors and items such cookbooks and flour. 9:00-10:30 PM Movie Night: Oma & Bella Synagogue Oma & Bella is an intimate glimpse into the world of Regina Karolinski (Oma) and Bella Katz, two friends who live together in Berlin. Having survived the Holocaust and then remained in Germany after the war, it is through the food they cook together that they remember their childhoods, maintain a bond to each other and answer questions of heritage, memory and identity. 9:00-10:15 PM Curd-to-Crepe Blintzes Lakeview Room Jeffrey Yoskowitz The blintz was once the star in the Jewish dairy restaurants of the Lower East Side. The proprietors of those restaurants, like the cooks from Central and Eastern Europe, knew that a good cheese blintz begins with fresh homemade farmer’s cheese, seasonal ingredients and a small amount of creativity. That’s what Jeffrey Yoskowitz, author of The Gefilte Manifesto and co-founder of the Gefilteria, discovered through the years of cooking Ashkenazi food, beginning with an ambitious 3-day blintz pop-up in SoHo back in 2012. Come learn about the legacy of the blintz and how to make it from scratch. #hazonfoodconference • 2017 Hazon Food Conference 19
THURSDAY 7:00-8:15 AM Shacharit (morning service with Torah reading) Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan
Library Beige Yurt
7:30-8:30 AM Meditation: Intentionality, the Starting Point of Everything Synagogue Dan Pelberg Whether we realize it or not, everything we do is grounded in intention. We will take a look at the cycle we constantly go through of following through with, falling away from, and returning to our intentions on a regular basis, and how to deal with the inevitability of when we find ourselves not staying with the intentions we set. Yoga: Power Vinyasa Red Yurt Rebecca Bloomfield Based on Ashtanga yoga, power yoga is more challenging vinyasa flow class that combines the alignment and deep focus of Iyengar with the fluidity and energy of Ashtanga, using breath as the vehicle. This form of yoga challenges the mind, the body, and the spirit to work as one to detox, heal, and open the individual physically, emotionally and spiritually. If you can breathe, you can do yoga. Beginners welcome. 8:00-9:00 AM Breakfast PROGRAM BLOCK 1 9:00 AM-12:00 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 36 for details.
Dining Tent
Arts and Crafts
9:00-10:15 AM Our Power Post-Paris: How to Take Action for the Climate with Food Policy (Justice) Synagogue Dr. Alison Spodek, Ilana Braverman & Melissa Hoffman The recent decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement has communities wringing their hands over what to do next. In this session, learn about the intersection of environmental protection and institutional food policy, and how our communal purchasing decisions can make a difference in the path to sustainability. Plant-Based Knife Skills for Health, Palate and Eye (DIY) Library Nancy Wolfson-Moche Is there more to plant-based knife skills than mincing, slicing and dicing? Does it really matter how you cut vegetables? Nancy will explain why the answer to both questions is a resounding yes. She’ll demonstrate several specific techniques that help you receive the most nutrients from plants. She will use the same ingredients to make three dishes that will look, taste and feel completely different, offer different health benefits, and contain different Jewish meaning. Using Social Media to Build a Healthier Food System (Health) Beige Yurt Clare Hyre With almost everyone engaging in some form of Social Media these days, utilizing various platforms is vital to building a healthier food system. In this session discover the potential of SM, and learn how different SM platforms can promote issues and causes for individuals, organizations, or a business. Participants will be able to gain some SM tips, as well as learn of people/organizations/businesses that are inspiring to follow. To conclude the session, participants will have a chance to practice their new abilities with each other and with a walk about the grounds of Isabella Freedman, where participants can identify scenes that may be post worthy as well as practice tweeting as well as and using hashtags.
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THURSDAY 9:00-10:15 AM Tastes Across the Centuries: The Enduring Influence of the Original Sephardic Cuisine (Traditions) Lakeview Room Susan Barocas For over five centuries, Spain’s medieval Jewish community was the center of the Jewish world. What we know of their diverse, healthy and flavorful cuisine comes not from existing Jewish cookbooks as there are none from the time, but primarily from Inquisition testimony and writings by Spanish Christians and Muslims. The class explores this fascinating food history of Spain’s Jewish community before the Expulsion and its lasting influences on Sephardic cuisines of today. A cooking demo and tasting is included. PROGRAM BLOCK 2 10:30-11:45 AM Green your Organization: Lessons from the Hazon Seal of Sustainability (Justice) Synagogue Rachel Aronson How can you take what you’ve learned at the Food Conference and make your Jewish organization healthier and more sustainable? Where would you begin? How can you overcome common hurdles? Hody Nemes and Jewish greening leaders will share their experiences in Hazon’s Seal of Sustainability, a certification for Jewish institutions that marks them as good stewards in regards to climate change, animal welfare, and the environment. Find out how to join the next cohort of the Seal, and create a plan to improve your organization’s sustainability. Sustainability beginners and experts welcome! Food Rescue to Alleviate Hunger in Our Community (Justice) Debbie Rubenstein Learn about local hunger, what it feels like to be hungry, and a Jewish response to alleviating hunger.
Beige Yurt
A Taste of India’s Jewish Masala (Traditions) Library Rahel Musleah Food is a way of creating and recreating home. Learn about the culinary traditions of the Jews of India through personal recollections, stories and recipes. A Cut Above – Beef Chuck (DIY) Lakeview Room Ian Herzmark In this session, we will be breaking, cutting, and trimming whole beef chuck into different pieces for use during the Food Festival and over Shabbos. Learn how to make the most out of this modest piece of meat. 12:00-1:00 PM Lunch 1:00-5:00 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 36 for details. 1:00-1:15 PM Mincha Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan: Mincha
Dining Tent Arts and Crafts
Library Beige Yurt
1:15-2:15 PM Meet the Goats Meet at Goat Barn Ze’v Chana Join Barnyard manager Z’ev Chana on a visit to our goats out in their lush pasture. Learn the goats’ names and personalities, learn about the Adamah goat herd, and ask all your questions about goats and how to take care of them. 1:15-2:15 PM Southeastern/Farmers Network Meetup Sarah Seldin
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THURSDAY 1:15-2:15 PM Farm Tour Meet Outside Arts and Crafts Hosting our Adamah heirloom vegetables, a permaculture orchard, chickens, and compost, the Kaplan Family Farm is just a short walk from the Isabella Freedman campus. As you tour our organic fruit orchards, berry hedge grows, vegetable fields, and compost yard chickens, you will see how we are bringing the commandments in Genesis to life as we “till and tend” the land in ways that enable it to flourish for generations to come. Hike Meet at Gazebo An incredible vista rewards hikers after a moderately challenging hike. Proper shoes and water bottles are a must. Hike is guided by experienced staff. PROGRAM BLOCK 3 2:30-3:45 PM Recruit Your Synagogue For Environmental Activism (Justice) Library Judy Seldin-Cohen Amplify your voice advocating for the environment by enlisting your synagogue’s support. Why is this work appropriate for synagogues? The explanation includes why synagogues have windows and how Judaism requires us to act upon on our prayers. Hear how synagogues themselves are benefiting from taking public stands on social justice issues like the environment. Jewish Spice Mix and Other Manifestations of Culinary Judaism (Traditions) Synagogue Mitchell Davis For someone who doesn’t keep kosher, what makes food Jewish? Is there something inherent in the approach Jews have to cooking, eating, and/or thinking about food that is different from other cultural groups? Why are so many food writers and restaurant critics Jewish? Why aren’t more chefs Jewish? These are the sorts of Talmudic questions that have fascinated Mitchell throughout his career, from the time he worked in a Jewish butcher shop in high school in Toronto, to the time he started a chicken soup wholesale company, from the time he catered bar mitzvahs and weddings, to the time he consulted on a Jewish delicatessen in Las Vegas, and while wrote several cookbooks, including The Mensch Chef. As one of his academic mentors, Barbara Kirschenblatt Gimblett has said, there’s only one recipe in the bible–for matzo– the rest is interpretation. Join Mitchell for a conversation about many sundry and delicious interpretations, in which he will express many opinions, posit many unproven theories, and divulge gastro-Judaic secrets, including the components of Jewish Spice Mix. Sustainable Urban Planning and Health (Health) Beige Yurt Gahl Shottan Curious about how good urban planning impacts the health and well-being of city residents? Then this session is perfect for you! Explore the impact of green spaces, public transportation, urban farming, and sustainable planning has on the health of ordinary citizens. Consider the current trends in urban planning that positively impact the health of future generations. The Elixirs of Life (DIY) Lakeview Room Joshua Massin How to make stocks, broths, and infusions using technologies, new and old, to maximize flavor, nutrition, and minimize waste.
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THURSDAY OUTDOOR FOOD FESTIVAL One of the joys of summer is cooking and eating in the great outdoors. We connect with our friends, family, and neighbors in a different way at barbecues and picnics, in the shade of trees and with expansive views before us. In the height of the summer, the ingredients can shine given simple seasoning and the magic of fire. Explore, taste, and enjoy – knowing that the way that we eat can grow the community and the future that we know is possible. 4:00-5:00 PM Yoga: Gentle Vinyasa Red Yurt Rebecca Bloomfield Based on Ashtanga yoga, power yoga is more challenging vinyasa flow class that combines the alignment and deep focus of Iyengar with the fluidity and energy of Ashtanga, using breath as the vehicle. This form of yoga challenges the mind, the body, and the spirit to work as one to detox, heal, and open the individual physically, emotionally and spiritually. If you can breathe, you can do yoga. Beginners welcome. See sign up board in the Great Hall for details
Community Connect Use this time to make connections over shared interests. 4:00-7:00 PM Grilled Migrash Farm Pita with Shannon Sarna
See posted schedule for locations
Falafel and Hummus by Naked Hummus with Amy Green and Ohad Holzberg Grow and Behold Shwarma and Kabob Made Easy with Ian Hertzmark Cured meats with Bryan Gryka Moroccan Fish Ceviche with Liz Vaknin and Shelley Golan Tossed Salad with Janice Tannin Moroccan Carrot Salad and Turkish Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Susan Barocas Grilled Veggies and Tofu Summer Sodas Straight out of the Jewish Deli with Jeffrey Yoskowitz Cocktails with Daniel Berlin Children’s Cooking Competition Plus a variety of hands-on JOFEE workshops lead by our staff 5:00-7:00 PM Kids’ Food Conference Cooking Competition Patio Are you ready to throw down some spices? Come to learn the rules and the fun of the first annual Kids’ Food Conference Cooking Competition. Your creations will be judged by conference participants and the winners will receive a special prize. 7:00-7:15 PM Maariv Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan 7:30-9:15 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 36 for details.
Library Beige Yurt Arts and Crafts
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THURSDAY 7:30-9:00 PM KEYNOTE: The Growing Edge of the Jewish Food Movement Synagogue Panelists include: Mitchell Davis, VP of the James Beard Foundation: Jewish Food Traditions; Yael Lehmann, Executive Director of The Food Trust: Health and Nutrition; Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America: Food Justice and Sustainability; Liz Vaknin, Founder of Our Name is Farm: Cooking Demonstrations; Moderated by Hazon Acting CEO, Judith Belasco What role does Jewish tradition play in creating a more just, delicious, nutritious, and culturally rooted food movement? Learn from and engage in a conversation with key visionaries who are guiding the growth of the food movement both within and beyond the borders of the Jewish community. Each of the four panelists will speak through the lens of one of the four program tracks. 9:30-11:30 PM Movie Night: In Search of Israeli Cuisine Synagogue In Search of Israeli Cuisine is a portrait of the Israeli people told through food. The feature length documentary puts a face on the culture of Israel, profiling chefs, home cooks, vintners, and cheese-makers drawn from the more than 100 cultures that make up Israel today – Jewish, Arab, Muslim, Christian, Druze. A rich and human story of the people emerges 9:30-11:00 PM Songs Around the Fire Isaiah Rothstein Sit back and relax around the fire, sing songs, bring your instruments. This is sure to be a lively experience!
Fire Pit
FRIDAY 7:15-8:15 AM Shacharit (morning service) Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan
Library Beige Yurt
7:30-8:30 AM Meditation: Where are You? The Question of the Garden of Eden Synagogue Dan Pelberg What does the story of the Garden of Eden teach us about being present in each and every moment of our lives? See how our tradition’s origin story was designed to keep us always asking ourselves to be present. Learn a contemplative technique that promotes calm and a sense of feeling grounded when dealing with yourself and others. 7:30-8:30 AM Yoga: Power Vinyasa Red Yurt Rebecca Bloomfield Based on Ashtanga yoga, power yoga is more challenging vinyasa flow class that combines the alignment and deep focus of Iyengar with the fluidity and energy of Ashtanga, using breath as the vehicle. This form of yoga challenges the mind, the body, and the spirit to work as one to detox, heal, and open the individual physically, emotionally and spiritually. If you can breathe, you can do yoga. Beginners welcome.
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FRIDAY 8:00-9:00 AM Breakfast PROGRAM BLOCK 1 9:00 AM-12:00 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 36 for details.
Dining Tent
Arts and Crafts
In God’s Image – A Kosher Slaughter Presentation Beige Yurt Yadidya Greenberg, with assistance from Adin Zuckerman, Simcha Halpert-Hanson & Donna Simons With the vast majority of animals today being raised in factory farm conditions, can our meat still be produced with sanctity and respect? Can meat eating ever be ethical? If so, how can we as consumers better support a more holistic kosher meat system? Join certified shochet Yadidya Greenberg and local farmers Donna Simons & Adin Zuckerman to discuss these questions while witnessing a respectful live kosher slaughter of heritage breed chickens. Attendees will learn about ancient laws, their modern day consequences and have a special focus on animal welfare and poultry genetics. This is a 3-hour session; attendees are encouraged but not required to stay for the entire morning. Please dress for outdoor weather – the majority of this session takes place outdoors. 9:00-10:15 AM How Can We End Hunger in America? (Really!) (Justice) Synagogue Joel Berg How we can build the political movement necessary to end domestic hunger – ensuring all Americans have access to enough affordable food – by creating jobs, raising wages, and ensuring an adequate government safety net. What works and what doesn’t work in fighting back against right-wing politics that demonizes people in poverty. Cooking for Digestive Health: Enzymes, Probiotics and Prebiotics (Health) Nancy Wolfson-Moche Library To supplement or not to supplement? Nancy will explore the benefits of getting enzymes, probiotics and prebiotics through your food instead of taking dietary supplements. She will define each of these three important substances, understand what each brings to the digestive system, in which foods they exist, and how to incorporate them into your diet and your cooking. Nancy will cook a dish containing all three. Finally, we’ll look at a few Jewish texts that support these seemingly modern medical findings, and learn how the texts nourish too. Jewish Community Farming in the Context of the Urban Food Justice Movement (Traditions) Red Yurt Dr. Adrienne Krone, Madeleine Zimmermann, Autumn Clark & Maura McCampbell Dr. Adrienne Krone is working on a multi-year study of the Jewish community farming movement in the United States and Canada. She and her research team of environmental studies students at Allegheny College, Madeleine Zimmerman, Autumn Clark, and Maura McCampbell, will offer some of their findings based on this research. They will focus primarily on the character of Jewish community farming projects in the context of the broader urban food justice movement. They will also discuss how Jewish community farming projects work collaboratively with other organizations to pursue urban food justice through an intersectional framework. A Burst of Flavor: Transform Simple Dishes with Robustly Flavored Condiments and Sauces (DIY) Lakeview Room Janice Tannin Together we will create flavorful sauces and condiments that will elevate your food to the next level. Transform plain dishes into something truly special with an infusion of a robust flavor profile. This can be accomplished with little effort and the rewards will be great – and delicious! We will also make a loaf of no-knead bread that takes four minutes (!) to prepare. You may never buy a loaf of bread again!
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FRIDAY PROGRAM BLOCK 2 10:30-11:45 AM Local Panel: Foodies & Farmers of the Berkshire Bioregion (Justice) Synagogue Panelists include: Michael Sharry, Event Planning & Farm Manager, Berkshire Mountain Distillers; Anna Gershenson, Gourmet caterer, Educator and food consultant; Laura Hafner, Owner and Farmer, Mountain View Farm; Ellie Youngblood, Farm Manager, Fairfield Farm at the Hotchkiss School; Mike Webster, General Manager of Dining Services at The Hotchkiss School; Moderated by Shelley Golan of Our Name Is Farm Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center is located in the epicenter of a rapidly growing sustainable food scene. Meet some of the leaders, taste the fruits of their labor, and learn about how strong food values combined with great taste can create vibrant communities. Curated by Our Name Is Farm and Mike Webster. Make Your Own Healthy Cosmetics! (Health) Library Kate Re The world of beauty and cosmetics includes many natural skin care and body care options, but synthetic and chemical free make-up is still relatively hard to find and expensive. Learn to make natural, inexpensive, healthy cosmetics that truly nourish your skin. We’ll explore mineral and food based recipes, and Kate – a former professional fine artist – will demonstrate how to mix pigments to achieve a match for your personal skin tone. Emphasis will be on creating creambased foundation and lip-to-cheek color which participants will make and take home. Planting Jewish Values (Traditions) Beige Yurt Michael Birnholz Do we use stories to inspire us to plant or do we use our plantings to help us teach Jewish stories? We will cycle through the storytelling and planting experience to see how one shapes the other and back again. Modern Jewish Baking: Challah Baking with a Twist (DIY) Lakeview Room Shannon Sarna Does challah baking intimidate you? Maybe you’re just craving some creative space to dream up your own sweet or savory flavors? Come bake challah with food writer and The Nosher editor Shannon Sarna who will demonstrate braiding techniques share her favorite tools and tricks and provide creative fillings and toppings for you to experiment with based on her upcoming cookbook Modern Jewish Baker: Challah Babka Bagels and More. Be ready to get your hands messy and take home your own unique challah creation. 12:00-1:00 PM Lunch 1:00-5:00 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 37 for details.
Dining Tent Arts and Crafts
1:00-1:15 PM Mincha Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan PROGRAM BLOCK 3 1:00-2:00 PM Forest Magic on the Yellow Trail (JOFEE) Meet Outside Arts and Crafts Ian Herzmark Take a hike on the Yellow Trail and learn forest and landscape ecology with a recovering biologist. We’ll explore patterns in time and space as we tell the story of the local forest.
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FRIDAY 1:00-2:00 PM Insect Hotels (JOFEE) Gazebo Gahl Shottan Without the predators, pollinators, and beneficial insects in our gardens and fields we wouldn’t have a thriving and sustainable food system. This workshop will teach you all about how to attract the beneficials you need to your farm, community garden, or backyard by building your very own insect hotel. An insect hotel is a manmade structure created from natural materials intended to provide shelter to beneficial insects; including bees, beetles, lady bugs, and much more! PROGRAM BLOCK 4 2:15-3:30 PM Making the Transition from Commodity to Local (Justice) Beige Yurt Mike Webster Overview and explanation of the transition from a traditional “Commodity” program, to a local, and REAL Dining program. Focusing on the practical and theoretical challenges institutions are faced with when making a change. Virtual Aisle by Aisle Supermarket Tour: Guide to Smarter and Healthier Food Choices and Deciphering the Food Label (Health) Synagogue Lisa Sasson The virtual guided supermarket tour will help you understand and learn how to confidently navigate the supermarket to shop sensibly and make healthy food choices. Grocery stores are packed with processed foods that may contain artificial and harmful ingredients, products with false health claims, and “health” foods. We will review food labels to decipher what all those numbers, percentages, long words really mean! As we go down the supermarket aisle by aisle you will learn how to be a more conscientious shopper. Bringing the Sacred to the Supper Club: Zevach (Traditions) Library Rabbi Jonah Geffen & Chef Jonathan Posner Is it possible that technique, flavor and quality of ingredients are central to who we are as a people? Zevach is an intimate and unique take on what the connection between “Jewish” and “food” actually is. Using texts from the Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud that relate to the sacrificial system Rabbi Jonah Geffen and Chef (and Rabbinical Student) Jonathan Posner of Wandering Foods Productions created Zevach, a supper club inspired by the foods of our holy texts. Join Chef Jonathan and Rav Jonah as they share with you their takes on Torah as a cookbook, a hospitality primer, and a different pathway into Jewish communal life. Greening Your Simcha: Plant-Based Food Demo (DIY) Lakeview Room Donna Simons & Melissa Hoffman Looking for simple ways to make your community kiddush or other events with light food vegetarian, or perhaps just veg friendly? Whether we’re talking about menu alternations or simple recipes that everyone will agree are tasty, this workshop will give anyone the skills to add more plants to your next gathering. PROGRAM BLOCK 5 3:45-5:00 PM All About That Beef: How to Bring More Humane Meat to Your Community (Justice) Synagogue Yadidya Greenberg & Sarah Chandler Thinking about what kind of meat went into your Shabbat cholent? This session will focus on kosher ethical eating’s “beef” with beef – the story behind kosher beef production, the progress that’s been made on animal welfare, and how you can avoid buying inhumane products for your institutions.
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FRIDAY 3:45-5:00 PM Medicinal Herb Walk for Women’s Health (Health) Meet Outside Arts and Crafts Rachel Plye Your period doesn’t have to be that dreaded time of the month. That’s right! In this class you will learn about the female reproductive system and its hormonal cycle. We will talk about how to take care of yourself physical and emotionally. Rachel will teach what herbs, exercises, and life style changes you can make to gain more balance and understanding of your body. Participants will walk away with a better understanding of what the menstrual cycle looks like, how it affects our physical and emotional health and how they can support themselves throughout the month. We will look at women’s health through conventional medicine, meditation anatomy, and Western herbalism. Jewish Farmers (Traditions) Library Sarah Julia Seldin This session will explore the history, present, and future of Jewish farmers. Who are we? Why do we farm? How does Judaism affect our growing? How does our growing inform our Judaism? Preparing a Seasonal and Sustainable Rosh Hashanah Menu (DIY) Lakeview Room Liz Rueven No other holiday has more symbolic foods than Rosh Hashanah. So why are we stuck on brisket and kugel? We’ll talk about a wide array of ingredients associated with positive omens and prepare a raw salad loaded with positive energy and bright color. 5:00-6:00 PM Yoga: Gentle Vinyasa Red Yurt Rebecca Bloomfield Using breath as a vehicle, we will flow through mellow sun salutations, standing poses, and seated/reclining postures to create spaciousness and deep connection between mind, body, and spirit. If you can breathe, you can do yoga. Beginners welcome. 5:00-6:00 PM Kids’ Dinner Dinner will be late, enjoy your Shabbat evening meal early. 5:30-6:00 PM Snack
Dining Tent
Great Hall
5:00-6:30 PM Prepare for Shabbat and Community Time Mikvah Meet at the boat dock Immerse in the living waters of Lake Miriam on your own or in a group, as a way to prepare for Shabbat and the experiences ahead. Please respect times reserved. Bathing suits optional. 5:00-5:20 PM – Gender Non-Conforming Mikvah 5:30-5:50 PM – Women’s Mikvah 6:00-6:20 PM – Men’s Mikvah 6:30 PM Communally Light Shabbat Candles Shabbat begins at 7:41 pm. 6:45-8:30 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 37 for details.
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Great Hall
Arts and Crafts
FRIDAY 6:45-8:30 PM Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv Library Beige Yurt Synagogue
Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan Renewal Minyan 8:30-10:00 PM Festive Shabbat Dinner with D’var Torah (Words of Torah) Enjoy a festive meal by guest chefs Josh Massin and Bryan Gryka.
Dining Tent
10:00-11:15 PM Pre-Rosh Hashanah Nighttime Honey Bee Meditation Amalia Haas Synagogue As our Jewish calendar encompasses us, the calendar of the honey bees also has touchstones throughout our calendar. One of the holiest is the New Year, approaching soon. We will center our awareness on the interplay of these two calendars to bring greater meaning into our New Year preparations. 10:00 PM Tisch Isaiah Rothstein Gather around a festive table for songs, stories, nosh, and l’chaims!
Lakeside Tent (Patio)
SATURDAY 7:00-8:00 Goat Milking Observation Meet at Goat Barn Ze’v Chana Watch our Adamah farmers milk the goats and ask barnyard manager Z’ev all your questions about goats and how to milk them. You might get a chance to milk a goat, if you want to! You are also welcome to bring a cup of coffee or tea for an Adamah “capreccino” (warm frothy goat milk in your beverage, straight from the goats’ teat). 8:00-9:00 AM Meditation: Cultivating Gratitude Dan Pelberg Synagogue The theme of gratitude is constant throughout Jewish liturgy and scripture. We will take a look at various texts to see what Judaism has to teach us about cultivating a sense of gratitude in every aspect of life, as well as sit together and develop our own sense of gratitude for the things in our lives. Yoga 8:00-9:30 AM Breakfast 9:00 AM-12:00 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 37 for details.
Red Yurt Dining Tent Arts and Crafts
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SATURDAY 9:00 AM-12:00 PM Shacharit (morning service with Torah reading) Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Library A Taste of Shabbat, Calcutta-Style: Rahel Musleah will lead the Torah service and musaf, and chant Torah and haftarah in the Baghdadi-Indian nusah and tropes (melodies and cantoniations). Orthodox Minyan Renewal Minyan 12:00-1:30 PM Lunch 1:30-5:30 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 37 for details. 1:00-1:30 PM Mincha Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan
Beige Yurt Synagogue Dining Tent Arts and Crafts
Library Beige Yurt
PROGRAM BLOCK 1 1:30-2:30 PM Praying with Our Two Feet: Mincha with the Chickens Meet Outside Arts and Crafts Cluck some Hebrew chants with Adamah’s flock of beautiful birds. Learn how animals can teach us wisdom about life’s greatest mysteries like birth, reproduction, and death. Meet at Arts and Crafts at 1:30 sharp for this brief walk to the chicken yard. 1:30-2:30 PM Can We Eat What the Birds Eat? Bird Watching 101 (JOFEE) Arts and Crafts Explore the forest and fields for birds. Take note of what they are eating and compare that to what we eat. Can we eat the same foods the birds are eating? Wild Weeds Exploration (JOFEE) Patio Rachel Plye On this walk we will explore the plants that many consider to be weeds. The plants, herbs and trees have a long history of being used in the kitchen as food or taken as herbal medicine. We’ll talk about how to ethically forage for these plants, how to use them and learn about their folklore. This is a class available to the young and old, but we will be walking outside. Hike (JOFEE) Meet at Gazebo An incredible vista rewards hikers after a moderately challenging hike. Proper shoes and water bottles are a must. Hike is guided by experienced staff. PROGRAM BLOCK 2 2:45-4:00 PM Tza’ar Ba’alei Chaim – The Rabbinic Prohibition against Causing Pain to Animals: What is its Scope and How Can it Animate Our Work? (Traditions) Synagogue Aryeh Bernstein Jewish legal texts teach of a concept called Tza’ar ba’alei chayim, a prohibition against causing “suffering to animals”. What does it mean and what is its scope, and what does it say about factory farms? How can a careful understanding of these Jewish texts inform our work in organizing Jewish institutions and their stakeholders to create ethical food policies? 30 2017 Hazon Food Conference • Please wear your name badge throughout the Conference!
SATURDAY 2:45-4:00 PM Shabbat-Friendly Flavorful Summer Salads (DIY) Lakeview Room Anna & Gabriella Gershenson Berkshires-area caterer and cooking show host Anna Gershenson along with her daughter, food writer Gabriella Gershenson, will lead a demonstration of pareve seasonal salads that will brighten up your dinner table, and can be made on Shabbat or the night before. Dishes, including sweet corn and peach salad and crunchy salad with vegetables, herbs and seeds, will be sampled at the end of class. Blessing the New Year: The Sephardic Rosh Hashanah Seder (Traditions) Library Susan Barocas For over 2,000 years, Sephardic Jews have been welcoming the new year with a special seder that features seven “Y’hei ratzon” (“May it be Your will”) blessings. These blessings have traditional and contemporary translations, all expressing hopes for the coming year. Each is accompanied by related symbolic foods. The seder deepens the meaning of the holiday and can spark stimulating discussion around the table. This class explores the history, structure and meaning of the seder, its blessings and foods. We will taste some of the foods and take home a handout of the blessings and recipes to create our own meaningful, memorable Rosh Hashanah seder experiences. 2:45-4:00 PM Farm Tour (JOFEE) Meet Outside Arts and Crafts Shamu Sadeh Hosting our Adamah heirloom vegetables, a permaculture orchard, chickens, and compost, the Kaplan Family Farm is just a short walk from the Isabella Freedman campus. As you tour our organic fruit orchards, berry hedgegrows, vegetable fields, and compost yard chickens, you will see how we are bringing the commandments in Genesis to life as we “till and tend” the land in ways that enable it to flourish for generations to come. PROGRAM BLOCK 3 4:15-5:30 PM Cell-ebrating New Faces: How Kosher is Cultured Meat? (Health) Synagogue Erin Kim of New Harvest & Rabbi Mike Moskowitz of Uri L’tzedek Thanks to cellular agriculture, scientists can produce eggs, milk, meat, and more without intensive crop and animal farming. New Harvest is a non-profit advancing the science behind producing animal products without animals. Hear about the latest research in cultured (lab grown) meat, followed by a Q&A where we will address the questions: If cells are harvested from a kosher animal and grown into what appears to be a hamburger or piece of chicken, is that meat kosher? Does it matter if it is from live animal or a dead animal? If kosher, is it considered meat, dairy, or pareve (neutral)? Or is it enough of a “panim hadashot” (new face) to not even be considered meat? Jewish Food Renaissance in Conversation (Traditions) Library Jeffrey Yoskowitz, Gabriella Gershenson & Shannon Sarna Join Jeffrey Yoskowitz, Gabriella Gershenson and Shannon Sarna for a lively conversation on the emergence of Ashkenazi cuisine as a force in the food world and a Jewish food renaissance that is sweeping across cities around the world. Younger, mostly millennial entrepreneurs are opening new delis, bakeries and bagel shops, while a new generation of cookbook authors and writers are staking their claim. All are adding unique flavors, new techniques, and finding new ways to reconcile modernity and tradition. Don’t be a Spectator for $1 Trillion Food Fight (Justice) Steve Schwartz Beige Yurt Advocates are active now in developing the 2018 Farm Bill. Also, known as the food and farm bill, this legislation sets policy and funding levels for key agriculture programs and SNAP, formerly known as ‘food stamps’. With $1 trillion in expenditures over 10 years, this is legislation we can’t ignore. Seasoned farm bill advocate Steve Schwartz will describe dynamics that shape the farm bill, and how religious groups can broaden their impact. We’ll look at the Jewish Platform for A Just Farm Bill from the last cycle and discuss how our community can make a greater impact in the coming year. #hazonfoodconference • 2017 Hazon Food Conference 31
SATURDAY 5:30-6:30 PM Dinner/Seudah Shlishit 6:30-8:30 PM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 37 for details.
Dining Tent Arts and Crafts
PROGRAM BLOCK 4 6:45-8:00 PM Israelite Agriculture and the Tanach (Traditions) Synagogue Michael Fraade Ancient Israelites lived in a predominantly agricultural society and passed down a religion deeply influenced by their relationship with a particular land as well as the natural world as a whole. What can their experiences and perspectives teach us about where Judaism came from, and how can they inform our own practices? Come discuss scripture, poetry, archaeological records, and more as we take a look at Judaism’s early roots. Community Farming in a Changing Climate (Justice) Jesse Schaffer Library This session will focus on both theoretical and technical adaptations we can make on the farm to build resilient community agriculture in the face of climate change. First, we will learn to identify the signs of climate change on the small scale and discuss ways to adapt in the present while also planning for the future. Subjects will include annual and perennial crop varieties, effective irrigation, changing pest and disease control, and utilizing local knowledge. Finally, we will discuss resilient community farm models such as CSAs, barter/work-trades, apprenticeships, and knowledge sharing for an uncertain future. Shareholder Advocacy: Does Your Money Speak for You? (Justice) Rachel Cohen Red Yurt Food waste has been a spotlight social justice issue in shareholder resolutions for several years. Most recently, Whole Foods was targeted, to step in line with its industry peers who are already committed to eliminating food waste, cutting emissions that contribute to climate change, and establishing means to alleviate food insecurity by donating food before it expires to local food banks and shelters. By 2025, The Consumer Goods Forum committed to halve food waste. Over 400 members of this forum are on board, including: Kroger, Safeway, and Publix. Whole Foods shareholders continue to press the socially minded company in a 2017 shareholder resolution after their initial 2016 filing. Have you checked your investments? Learn how to be an advocate. A Bee “Eruv” (Connecting Enclosure): Sustaining People, Pollinators and Planet (Justice) Beige Yurt Amalia Haas What would it look like for Jewish communities to organize themselves around the goal of survival of the bees? Traditionally, an Eruv is a connecting enclosure that enables Jews to carry food from home to home on the Sabbath, making many individual domains function as one. We will apply this ancient idea to the modern challenge of saving the bees, fulfilling the mitzvah “to guard and to protect” the Earth. Hear how Amalia Haas, educator, organic beekeeper and owner of Bee Awesome, is developing this model. Come learn how your community or organization can host a Bee Eruv to sustain people, pollinators and planet. 8:15-8:30 PM Maariv Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan
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Library Beige Yurt
SATURDAY 8:30-9:15 PM Havdallah Shabbat ends at 8:32 pm.
Great Hall
9:30 PM Party! Come get funky to the tunes of DJ M Dot and enjoy gourmet drinks and bites.
Patio
SUNDAY 7:00-8:00 AM Goat Milking Observation Meet at Goat Barn Ze’v Chana Watch our Adamah farmers milk the goats and ask barnyard manager Z’ev all your questions about goats and how to milk them. You might get a chance to milk a goat, if you want to! You are also welcome to bring a cup of coffee or tea for an Adamah “capreccino” (warm frothy goat milk in your beverage, straight from the goats’ teat). 8:00-11:00 AM Breakfast/Brunch 9:00-10:30 AM Kids’ Food Conference – Please see page 37 for details.
Dining Tent Arts and Crafts
8:30-9:30 AM Meditation: Emptiness, It’s Not What You Think Synagogue Dan Pelberg Learn how emptiness can be one of the most powerful forces in the world, and how when tapped into, can give us an access point to being in relationship with God. We will look at texts from the Talmud and other sources that reference what it means to be empty, stripping away any preconceived notions that we may have. Yoga
Red Yurt
Shacharit (morning service) Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Orthodox Minyan
Library Beige Yurt
10:00 AM Check out of rooms 9:00-11:00 AM Adamah Market/Bookstore
Great Hall
11:30 AM Shuttle/Goodbye!
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Get social! Share your pictures on social media with
#hazonfoodconference and help grow the Jewish Food Movement! This is a unique opportunity to share the work we’re collectively doing, and continue connecting after the conference. We encourage you to post pictures, videos, and content while you're here. Be sure to use the hashtag #hazonfoodconference so people can search for / link to your posts, both from within the conference and throughout our wider communities.
@hazonvision
@hazon
@hazon.org @foodconference @isabellafreedman
If you are not on social media but would still like to share your pictures, email photos to jon.leiner@hazon.org.
34 2017 Hazon Food Conference • Please wear your name badge throughout the Conference!
While adults and teens are participating in the Hazon Food Conference, the home of the Jewish Food Movement, kids ages 5-12 will be having their own memorable experience at the Kids’ Food Conference! Children will engage with field experts in dynamic and age-appropriate ways on the same topics as the adult programming, including: Health and Mindfulness Jewish Learning, History, and Culture Food Justice and Sustainability DIY Projects and Cooking Demos Hazon – meaning “vision” – works to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, and a healthier and more sustainable world for all. In order for this work to succeed, we need young people to become involved in the movement towards a healthier food system. Youth
have the power to take our society in a new direction and rethink the world into which they have been born. It is up to us to make healthy food choices for ourselves, but in many ways our society puts us at a disadvantage. Youth do not have the buying power of adults, yet food advertisements are filled with exciting images of junk food. How do we ingrain the knowledge of healthy snacking into our minds so it is an easy choice to go for carrots and peanut butter instead of potato chips? How do we change the larger system so school food is healthy and tastes good? How can we grow food in our homes and communities? The Kids’ Food Conference will address these issues and more in a dynamic, engaging, age-appropriate way. All children must be in a Kids’ Food Conference activity or supervised by a responsible adult. All activities meet in Arts and Crafts, unless otherwise noted. If you have any questions, please direct them to Arielle Aronoff, Camp Teva Manager.
Kids’ Food Conference Schedule WEDNESDAY 2:30-4:30 PM Kids’ Zone at the JOFEE Fair Great Hall Decorate your own apron with vegetable stamps. You can use this for all of our cooking activities throughout the conference! 4:45-5:00 PM Kids’ Food Conference Orientation Arts and Crafts (Mandatory for Parents/ Guardians) Arielle Aronoff Join the Kids’ Food Conference educators for a mandatory orientation to the program. Learn about the fun activities we have planned as well as important policies.
5:00-6:00 PM Food Science Bonanza! Kids’ Food Conference Tent Get ready to OOooOO and AAaaAAHHhh at the magical experiments we have in store for you. Learn about the chemistry of our everyday foods. We will test the pH of cabbage, separate bits of metal from our cereal, make (and eat) ice cream, and more! 7:30-9:00 PM DIY Fair and Shuk Great Hall There is something for all ages at the fair. Make your own healing salve, add some flair to your hair with beautiful heritage breed chicken feather clips. Come over to the Great Hall to see what else the fair has in store for you.
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Kids’ Food Conference Schedule THURSDAY 9:00-10:00 AM Farm Scavenger Hunt and Harvest Arts and Crafts Explore the Adamah farm with all of your senses. See what insects and animals call the farm home. Taste the fresh fruits and vegetables. Smell the herbs and flowers. Feel the textures of plants. Hear the song of the grasses, chickens and bees. 10:00-11:00 AM Farm Harvest, Bike Blended Smoothies Arts and Crafts Use your human power to make a smoothie on the Bike Blender with the fruits and veggies we harvested on the farm. 11:00 AM-12:00 PM Upcycled Portable Planters Arts and Crafts Learn to give your used plastic bottles new life by creating low-maintenance planters! Engage in art, engineering, and indoor gardening in this simple and satisfying craft, and take your new plant friend home in style. 1:15-2:15 PM Hunger in Our Midst – How Can We Help? Arts and Crafts (Ages 9+) Hunger isn’t just in developing countries; food insecurity exists all around us. Learn about how it feels to be hungry, explore ways you can help, share your ideas and learn from others through experiential games and discussion. 2:15-3:30 PM Cooking for a Cause Arts and Crafts Putting our lessons into practice. We will prepare a special treat for elders who live down the road in our community. We will make a card and fill our food with love to share with them. 3:30-4:00 PM Wild Tea Arts and Crafts (Ages 9+) The plants that grow all around us have wonderful healing powers. Let’s learn about them and make tea to sip in the summer sun while singing a favorite song. “Why don’t you make me a nice cup of tea in the morning…” 3:30-4:00 PM Where the Wild Greens Are Some say they are weeds, some say they are delicious! Make that decision for yourself as we go around campus to find out what we can eat and what we definitely shouldn’t!
5:00-7:00 PM Kids’ Food Conference Cooking Competition at the Outdoor Food Festival Patio Are you ready to throw down some spices? Come to learn the rules and the fun of the first annual Kids’ Food Conference Cooking Competition. Your creations will be judged by conference participants and the winners will receive a special prize. 7:30-9:15 PM Movie Night: The Lorax Arts and Crafts Wear your PJs and come to Arts and Crafts to watch The Lorax. In the walled city of Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity, a boy named Ted hopes to win the heart of his dream girl. When he learns of her wish to see a real tree, Ted seeks out the Onceler, a ruined old businessman outside of town in a stark wasteland. Upon hearing of how the hermit gave into his greed for profits and devastated the land over the protests of the Lorax, Ted is inspired to undo the disaster.
FRIDAY 9:00-10:30 AM Make Challah and Light the Cob Oven Arts and Crafts Learn to make challah from scratch. We will start by making the dough then go outside to light a fire in the belly of our bear-shaped cob oven. Cob ovens are made of clay, sand, and straw and can reach temperatures way hotter than our home ovens! 10:30 AM-12:00 PM DIY Beeswax Shabbat Candles and Havdallah Spice Bundles Arts and Crafts We light candles on Shabbat to remember the first light G!d brought into the world. Bring in your own light with the help of our friend bees. In this session you can make your own beeswax candles for Shabbat. We will also collect herbs to make Havdallah spice packets. 1:00-2:00 PM Insect Hotels Arts and Crafts Ever wondered where bugs like to live? Did you know that you can help create the perfect home for bugs in your very own backyard or garden? Come build your very own “insect hotel” and learn about all the bugs that help make your garden grow! Insect hotels are mini habitats for beneficial insects made from goodies found in your very own garden. You will be able to take home your very own mini-hotel at this workshop.
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2:00-3:30 PM Challah Braiding & Baking in the Cob Oven Arts and Crafts The Challah dough is ready to braid and bake in the oven. Join us to learn new braids or make up your own fun designs. 3:00-5:00 PM I <3 Veggies! – Pillow Making Arts and Crafts Sew your own vegetable creation to take home! Googly eyes on a strawberry? A hat, hands, legs, glasses? Get creative with your vegetables! We will use these veggie pillows as puppets for our play. 3:30-5:00 PM Eco Spa Beige Yurt (Ages 9+) Get ready for Shabbat at The Kids’ Food Conference Eco-Spa. Lip balms, face masks, and coffee scrubs will leave you feeling your best. 5:00-6:00 PM Kids’ Dinner Tent Dinner will be late, come enjoy your Shabbat meal early. 6:30-6:45 PM Candle Lighting with Families
Great Hall
6:45-8:30 PM Welcoming Shabbat Arts and Crafts Join us in song and dance to welcome the Shabbat Queen.
SATURDAY 9:00-10:00 AM Good Morning Shabbat Arts and Crafts Song, dance, prayer. Lets wake up our bodies for a joyful Shabbat morning. 9:00 AM-12:00 PM Good Morning Shabbat Hike (Ages 9+) Have you ever heard of Hitbodedut? It is a radical form of meditative prayer in the forest. This will be a combination of hiking and prayer. 10:00 AM-12:00 PM Goats and Forest Exploration Arts and Crafts Say hay to the goats and explore the forest. Maybe we’ll meet some animals and find out what they like to eat.
2:30-3:30 PM Salad Bar Fixins Arts and Crafts Become prep cooks in the Kids’ Food Conference Kitchen. Make scrumptious dressings and jazzy salads for our Shabbat afternoon snack. 3:30-4:00 PM PJ Library Story Time Arts and Crafts Come relax on our cozy rug as you are transported through time and space into story. 3:30-5:30 PM GaGa and Field Games Arts and Crafts (Ages 9+) The best camp game ever created. Whether you’ve never played gaga before or played 100 times. It doesn’t get old. 4:00-5:30 PM Games Galore! Arts and Crafts Board games, field games, card games, block games, improv games. We’ve got ideas for all the games and we’re sure you do too! 6:30-8:30 PM Theater 101 Arts and Crafts Through games and discovery we will create our own skit and song to perform after Havdallah. Do you want to be an actor, set designer, playwright, stage hand? There is a role for everybody.
SUNDAY 9:00-10:30 AM Seed Balls and Guerrilla Gardening Arts & Crafts Make clay and soil balls filled with native wild flowers. Take some home to plant in your garden to attract beneficial insects. The bees, butterflies, and other pollinators will LOVE you!
Thank you for participating in the Kids’ Food Conference!
1:30-2:30 PM Can We Eat What the Birds Eat? Bird Watching 101 Arts and Crafts Explore the forest and fields for birds. Take note of what they are eating and compare that to what we eat. Can we eat the same foods the birds are eating?
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Meet the Planning Team The Hazon Food Conference would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of this amazing group of volunteers and staff!
Hazon Staff Planning Team Jess Berlin Senior Program Manager & Food Conference Lead Staff Jess Berlin manages the Programs Team at Isabella Freedman as the Senior Program Manager, whose aim is to consistently deliver exceptional programming to all retreat guests. This role feels like a natural fit for Jess as she is a strong believer in the power of multi-day immersive experiences as a tool for creating long-lasting positive change in a person’s life. She has a lifelong passion for Judaism and spirituality, having spent four years studying and teaching in Israel as well several months studying meditation in India. After graduating from Queens College, with a degree in Urban Planning, she served as a key administrator at American Jewish World Service and AVODAH and a farm educator at Eden Village Camp. Arielle Aronoff Director of Teva & Kids’ Food Conference Lead Staff Arielle Aronoff came to Hazon first as a Teva educator. She found a place in this community and did not want to leave. After spending the fall and winter at Isabella Freedman, she took a seasonal outdoor education position for the spring and quickly returned to manage Camp Teva prior to her current role as Director of Teva. Before coming to Hazon, Arielle worked as a farmer, baker, and healthy school food advocate/educator. Arielle spends her time hiking, baking sourdough bread, and foraging for berries and mushrooms. Jacob Weiss is thrilled to be a JOFEE fellow at Isabella Freedman working with the retreats team. He was born and raised in the great city of Cleveland, Ohio, and has spent the better part of the past six years living in New York City. Jacob studied Political Science and Fine Arts at Yeshiva University, and then went on to receive his Chef’s training at the Natural Gourmet Institute. He has spent his time since then cooking at various restaurants in New York, as well as taking time away from the kitchen, to work on
farms around the country. With his free time, Jacob loves to cook for friends and family, get lost in the woods, take long bike rides, and climb on things.
Hazon Food Conference Planning Team Amy Green, Co-Chair Amy Green is the owner of Naked Hummus, a small batch food company with a world changing vision. Naked Hummus was born in 2013, when Amy was inspired to act on her passion and create healthy, nutritious, delicious food which would serve the larger mission of supporting small family farms and sustaining the Earth. “Saving the Earth one container of hummus and one falafel at a time” is what Naked Hummus is all about, as they continue to source any ingredient in their products that grow locally from small family farms in Kentucky and the surrounding areas. Amy believes in giving back to the land while feeding the world. The experience of Naked Hummus and falafel is like no other, as everything she does is made with love, the most nutritious ingredients on the planet. ”Hummus With a Heart and Falafel With a Flair”…the flavors of love. As a Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant and Health Coach, Amy empowers her clients to realize their true potential and become the best version of themselves through guided healing and healthy lifestyle choices. She also caters events and falafel parties with delicious treats that’ll have you wanting more. Amy is passionate about food, family, and sustaining the earth. She especially loves sharing her food with their family, friends, and her community. Isaiah Rothstein, Co-Chair Isaiah Rothstein was born and raised in Monsey, NY, the youngest of three boys. Growing up in a mixed-raced Lubavitch family, he identifies proudly as a Jew of Color. After a year and a half of yeshiva study in Israel, Isaiah received his BA from Binghamton University. He has ordination from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and an MA from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work. Isaiah is the spiritual leader at Carmel Academy and organizes at The Beis Community in Washington Heights.
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Clare Hyre has been working to build a more sustainable food system for the past nine years. Clare was a part of the fall 2009 ADAMAH cohort, has managed several farm education programs, farmers’ markets, and is currently the Program Manager at Teens for Food Justice. In 2016 Clare graduated from New York University’s Food Studies Master’s Program, where she studied the intersection of food systems and social justice. She currently resides in Queens, New York, where she enjoys composting, making kimchi, and looking for new foods to try with her husband. Sarah Julia Seldin is a first generation farmer in Western North Carolina. Her growing focuses on reconnecting to the agricultural, earth-based traditions of Judaism and in community-building through the growing and sharing of food. She is a co-founder of the Jewish Farmer Network, a Facebook group connecting 400+ Jewish farmers and growers around the world. She is overseeing the Jewish Food Traditions track for the Food Conference.
Chava Tzemach is an educator and activist who has spent the last nine years working in the non-profit world doing development, marketing, and programming. Building on her passions for the environment and sustainable living, Chava created Sustainable Skoolie Adventure with hopes of inspiring people to reduce their carbon footprints and raise Earth consciousness. When she isn’t working as a Teva Educator or keeping it kosher in the Isabella Freedman kitchen, you can find her hiking, cooking yummy meatless meals, snuggling with her cat, Virtue, or staring relentlessly at her computer screen working on ten projects at once.
Janice Tannin is a self-taught chef and kosher caterer who lives in New York City. Janice believes in the magic that occurs when dear friends and family gather to enjoy a delicious meal together. Her savory food is healthy, her desserts are not. When she has free time she can be found in her kitchen, creating or trying new recipes. She is co-chairing the Food Demonstration track for the Food Conference. She also created the Tamar Fund, which provides scholarships to people who are interested in attending the Hazon Food Conference and other retreats at Isabella Freedman.
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Presenter Bios Mitchell Davis is the executive vice president of the James Beard Foundation, a cookbook author, a food journalist, and a scholar with a Ph.D. in Food Studies from New York University. With the Beard Foundation for 20 years, Davis has created and overseen many of the organization’s important initiatives, including the JBF Greens for “foodies under 40”; the non-profit’s popular five-week pop-up restaurant JBF LTD in Chelsea Market (2011); the annual JBF Food Conference, a national dialogue of thought leaders on sustainability and public health in the food system; and the JBF Chefs Boot Camp for Policy & Change. In 2013 Davis assembled and led the team that was selected by the U.S. Department of State to create the USA Pavilion at the World Expo Milano 2015, the theme of which is American Food 2.0. In addition to his work at the Foundation, Davis frequently writes about and reviews restaurants. He holds a chair on the academy of the London-based World’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking program. He has written four cookbooks, including The Mensch Chef and Kitchen Sense (both Clarkson Potter), co-authored the ground-breaking electronic book My Provence (Alta Editions) with famed French chef Laurent Gras, which won two 2013 awards from the International Association of Culinary Professionals, including “Judges Choice,” and is a regular contributor to The Art of Eating. Davis’s television appearances include History Channel’s 101 Fast Foods that Changed the World, Food Network’s Food(ography), Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Best in Smoke. Davis is host of Taste Matters, a weekly radio show (Wednesdays at 11 a.m.) on the Heritage Radio Network. In 2013 The Forward selected Davis as one of the 50 most influential Jews under 50 in America. Yael Lehmann serves as Executive Director of The Food Trust, a nonprofit founded in 1992, which strives to make healthy food available to all. The Food Trust’s work has been recognized by former First Lady Michelle Obama and described by Time Magazine as being a “remarkable success” for increasing the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in schools and reducing the number of students becoming overweight by 50%. The Food Trust has been the recipient of many national and local awards; the organization was named one of the top two “highimpact” nonprofits in America working in field of health and childhood nutrition by Philanthropedia. Yael is a frequent speaker on food access issues nationally. She has been quoted in publications such as The New York Times and Washington Post, and has been interviewed on PBS NewsHour, BillMoyers.com, CNN, and Good Morning
America among other media outlets. Yael was named “One of the Smartest People in Philadelphia” by Philadelphia Magazine and has received several leadership awards including the Urban Leadership Award from the Penn Institute for Urban Research. Yael has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. Jeffrey Yoskowitz is the co-owner of The Gefilteria, a culinary venture that reimagines Ashkenazi cuisine, and co-author of The Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods. He fell in love with the art of lactofermentation while training as a pickler at Adamah. He has since worked in the food world as an entrepreneur, consultant, cook, public speaker, and a writer for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, and Gastronomica. He was also featured in the Forbes’ 30 Under 30. Joel Berg, labeled “Mister Frowny Pants” by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (on which he once appeared), is an author and CEO of Hunger Free America, which the Nation called “one of the leading direct service and advocacy organizations on hunger and poverty in the nation.” Joel recently published his second book, America, We Need to Talk: a Self-Help Book for the Nation, which is both a humorous parody of self-help books and deadly serious examination of what’s wrong with America and how it can be fixed. Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison called the book “important and entertaining.” Joel also wrote the decade’s definitive book on US hunger, All You Can Eat: How Hungry Is America? Playboy.com (which Berg reads only for the reviews) called the book “refreshing” for its “optimism… rationality and passion.” He has also published numerous op-eds, poems, and policy papers and has been a Senior Fellow at both the Center for American Progress and the Progressive Policy Institute, two DC-based think tanks. He previously worked for USDA as a Senior Executive Service appointee of President Bill Clinton. Susan Barocas finds the kitchen to be a place of unending creativity, personal expression, and connection to her family’s Jewish and Sephardic history and heritage. She is a writer, caterer, and teacher of cooking to all ages for over 20 years, specializing in healthy eating and various Jewish and Mediterranean cuisines. Susan was honored to serve as the guest chef for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 White House Passover Seders. She was the founding director of the Jewish Food Experience project and its award-winning
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website, jewishfoodexperience.com, following several years as director of the Washington Jewish Film Festival. A member of culinary society Les Dames d’Escoffier, Susan has made numerous appearances on television and radio while her stories and recipes have appeared in the Washington Post, Moment, Huffington Post, Lilith, and Tablet among others. When not in a kitchen, Susan writes and produces documentary film and consults with film festivals. Aryeh Bernstein lives in Chicago, where he teaches Torah in various social justice settings. He is the Chicago Fellowship Coordinator for Avodah, Educational Consultant for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Director of the Hyde Park Teen Beit Midrash, and Coordinator of the Mishkan-Avodah-JCUA Chicago Social Justice Beit Midrash. He comes to the Food Conference as resident animal welfare educator for Farm Forward’s Jewish Initiative for Animals (JIFA) and has taught at Mechon Hadar, Drisha, Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, the TAKUM social justice beit midrash, and campuses, communities, and organizations around the U.S. and Israel. He is a Senior Editor of Jewschool.com. Rabbi Michael Birnholz arrived at Temple Beth Shalom in Vero Beach in 2002 following his ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Over the fifteen years that Rabbi Birnholz has been in Indian River County, he and his family have had a chance to grow in body, mind, and spirit right along with Temple Beth Shalom. Rabbi Birnholz enthusiastically shares his ruach and koach – spirit and strength – with the many diverse generations and facets of the Jewish community. From the biblical garden to tot shabbat, from men’s club bowling night to adult learning while making challah, Rabbi Birnholz is proud to be part of vibrant and meaningful life of his congregation. Rabbi Birnholz has also enjoyed his wide variety of community opportunities to teach and preach Jewish values and wisdom, in person at various events or through his column in the Vero Beach Weekly. His hope is to build Temple Beth Shalom into a House of wholeness, completeness and peace and see these efforts spread caring, compassion, and harmony to the whole Treasure Coast. Rebecca Bloomfield, as the Director of Adamah, recruits, teaches, and mentors Adamah fellows. Since being an Adamah fellow herself in the Fall of 2005, Rebecca has taught at The Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, managed the Organic Farmer Training Program at Michigan State University, and operated her own small farm business, Bloomfield Farm, in Ottawa, Canada. Her values of good food, strong community, and the
connection to something greater has brought her back to Adamah. She loves yoga, coffee shops, walking in the woods, and any time spent at her family cottage in Temagami, Ontario. Ilana Braverman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University where she is working on her thesis with the ASPCA, focusing on the welfare of broiler birds. She also works as the Program Associate for The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute, a Jewish animal advocacy organization that educates leaders, trains advocates, and leads campaigns for the ethical treatment of animals, promoting a vegan lifestyle. Zev Chana is the Adamah Apprentice & Barnyard Manager. Zev is from Albany, NY. They arrived as an Adamahnik in the fall of 2014, and fell in love with the work, the community, and the seasons at Adamah. They love dirt, the woods, the goats, renewed Jewish ritual and text study, and harvesting their meals. Sarah Shamirah Chandler is the CCO (Chief Compassion Officer) and team leader at Jewish Initiative for Animals (JIFA) where she works to support Jewish institutions to establish meaningful food policies rooted in Jewish ethics and animal welfare. She recently served as the Director of Earth Based Spiritual Practice for Hazon’s Adamah Farm and teaches, writes, and consults on a national level on issues related to Judaism, the environment, mindfulness, food values, and farming. Sarah managed the 2014 Food Conference as part of the Isabella Freedman/Adamah/ Hazon staff. Michael Fraade is the JOFEE Director at the Louisville JCC, where his responsibilities include managing the J’s garden, coordinating food justice programs, developing educational and holiday programming, and creating community partnerships to organize around JOFEE and food justice. Anna Gershenson is a professional cook and television personality. She has run a successful catering business since 1980, and has coined her own style of cooking, healthy gourmet, which focuses on creating delicious meals using seasonal ingredients and healthy preparations. Anna has developed a strong connection with local farms in the Berkshires, where she lives, and where she hosts The Natural Cook with Anna Gershenson on Pittsfield Community Television. Anna has been featured in The Boston Globe, The Berkshire Eagle, Food 52, as well as other publications. You can watch her show on the YouTube channel, The Natural Cook with Anna Gershenson. #hazonfoodconference • 2017 Hazon Food Conference 41
Presenter Bios Gabriella Gershenson is a food writer and editor based in New York City. She’s been on staff at Rachael Ray Every Day, Saveur, and Time Out New York magazines, and her work appears in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and many other publications. She does radio (Heritage Radio, CBC), TV (Food Network) and moderates talks on food. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @ gabiwrites. Shelley Golan is the co-founder of Our Name Is Farm, a digital and experiential media marketing company, where she is the director of digital marketing. Born and raised in New York, Shelley’s love of food and farming can be attributed to an adventurous palate and summers spent at a farm in Upstate New York. She holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology, and has a professional background in fashion and video production. Yadidya Greenberg is the program coordinator and kosher meat & animal welfare specialist at JIFA. Yadidya works to increase access to and popularity of higher welfare kosher meat products. Yadidya is a certified shochet (kosher slaughterer) who’s worked in an industrial kosher slaughterhouse and has taught about shechita and animal welfare throughout the country. Simcha Halpert-Hanson is a native of Boston with a Poetry and Jewish Studies degree from Eugene Lang College at the New School. They have completed a slew of Jewish fellowships including Adamah Farming Fellowship as well as a year-long fellowship studying Talmud full-time at Yeshivat Hadar. They live and work at Isabella Freedman as a farming apprentice with Adamah. Amalia Haas is the CEO/Founder of Bee Awesome and is a thought leader, social entrepreneur, and food justice activist whose work has been featured in Kosher Nation. She is the beekeeper behind The Land of Milk and Honey (varietal honey tasting & pairing programs), BeeHive Your Classroom (STEM edutainment), and BeeHive Your Business (team-building focused business consulting). Amalia purveys raw varietal honeys (retail and wholesale to nonprofits for fundraisers) at amaliahaas.com. Find Amalia at: HoneyBeeJewish@gmail.com. Ian Hertzmark is a husband and father based out of Baltimore, MD. He also bides his time as lead butcher and production manager for Grow and Behold Foods as well as farmer and miller at Migrash Farm. Ian is in awe of the natural world and all wild things including his children. His
favorite flowers include columbines, gentians, and peach blossoms among others. Melissa Hoffman is a humane education and program specialist at JIFA. Melissa works with Jewish institutions and communities to develop materials and programs that foster compassion, respect, and responsibility for all living beings. Recently, she earned a M.S. in Animals and Public Policy from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts. Melissa has also worked extensively as a cantorial soloist and Jewish educator, and is an animal care volunteer at the International Bird Rescue in California. Erin Kim holds a BA in Women’s and Gender Studies and Human Geography from the University of British Columbia, and a JD from the University of Alberta with a specialization in Environmental Law. Erin started out at as one of New Harvest’s first volunteers in 2014, balancing her studies with various duties writing content and handling social media. Her long held interests in futurism, sustainability, and global catastrophic risk mitigation led Erin to the discovery of animal products made without animals, and she spent much of her time as a law student diving deep into the world of cellular agriculture. Following the completion of her law degree, she took on the role of Communications Director full-time, handling relations with media and making the science of cellular agriculture accessible to the public. Prior to working in cell ag, Erin spent time in legal advocacy at Pivot Legal Society and many years working in special education in Vancouver, Canada. Adrienne Krone is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Jewish Life at Allegheny College. She is in the process of conducting a multi-year study of the Jewish Community Farming Movement with the support of the Jewish Initiative for Animals and the Leichtag Foundation. She and her research team of environmental studies students at Allegheny College, Madeleine Zimmerman, Autumn Clark, and Maura McCampbell, will offer some of their findings based on this research. Dan Pelberg has practiced meditation and learned with Rabbis and teachers in India, Israel, and the US. He has significant silent meditation retreat experience and has sustained a daily practice and taught meditation for the past two years. Dan is an alum of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and currently a Fellow at the Marilyn and Sigi Ziering Brandeis Collegiate Institute.
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Chef Jonathan Posner started Wandering Foods as project to challenge himself as a cook, an entrepreneur, and a Jew. Raised in Chicagoland in a very observant community, Jonathan saw Judaism and Jewish culture as a given. It wasn’t until going to college in Michigan, traveling in Europe and returning to Chicago did he realize that the Jewish culture he loved was in need of preservation. He hopes that the productions Wandering Foods puts on will inspire you, make you feel proud of who you are (whatever that may be), and that you leave full. Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, has three ultra-orthodox rabbinic ordinations from his years learning in Lakewood and the Mir. He has worked in a Star-K meat-packing plant and in other kosher meat facilities, and for the past 15 years has been engaged in Jewish outreach and education—first as the Dean of Students of the Yeshivah of Virginia, and then as Rosh Kollel. More recently he was a rabbi at both Columbia University and the Old Broadway Synagogue in Harlem. Currently he is the senior Jewish educator of Uri L’tzedek. Sarah met with Rabbi Moskowitz twice in May to hear about his work, which is now focused on workers rights such as restaurant workers.
Shannon Sarna is Editor of the popular Jewish food blog The Nosher and a contributing writer to Kveller.com, both part of 70 Faces Media. Born to an Italian mother who loved to bake, a Jewish father who loved to experiment, and a food chemist grandfather, loving and experimenting with diverse foods is simply in her blood. Her writing and recipes have been featured in Tablet Magazine, JTA News, New Jersey Monthly Magazine, The Jewish Week, Joy of Kosher Magazine, Vinepair, Modern Loss, and Buzzfeed. She graduated from Smith College in Northampton, MA with a degree in Comparative Government and Spanish Language and Literature and lives in South Orange, NJ with her husband, daughters and rescue dogs, Otis and Babka. Her first cookbook, Modern Jewish Baker: Challah, Babka, Bagels and More, will be released September 2017 by Countryman Press. Follow her on all the platforms @ shasarna.
Debbie Rubenstein brings many years of experience as Director of the UConn Hillel Foundation to her role as Executive Director of Rachel’s Table. Her relentless dedication and passion for alleviating hunger in our community inspires the entire Rachel’s Table team. A pied piper to local kids, Debbie established a thriving Teen Board and successful Gleaning Program. Celebrating ten years at Rachel’s Table, Debbie looks forward to helping the program grow over the next ten.
Lisa Sasson is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor at New York University’s Department of Nutrition and Food. In this role, she directs the dietetic internship and NYU’s study abroad in Tuscany, Italy: Its Cuisine and the Mediterranean Diet. She also teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses. She works with the NYU dental faculty to advance nutrition and oral health in the dental curriculum. In addition to her work at NYU, Lisa counsels private clients in healthy eating and weight management. She is a consultant to public affairs at Nickelodeon, a division of Viacom Media, on health and wellness. Lisa was a member of the food processing working group for Global Reporting Initiative, a non profit organization that developed the worlds most widely used sustainability reporting guidelines.
Liz Rueven is founder and editor of the blog Kosher Like Me, providing a resource for food enthusiasts who nosh like she does. Her readers are health-minded, kosherkeeping and/or vegetarian/pescatarian eaters who live locavore lifestyles and eat in step with the seasons. Kosher Like Me provides readers with a tempting array of approachable and unique seasonal recipes, holiday inspiration, restaurant, book and product reviews, and profiles of food innovators. The Nosher included one of Liz’s recipes as one of the top ten most popular posts in 2015, and Relish.com named Liz one of 5 top Jewish food bloggers to follow.
Judy Seldin-Cohen is co-author of the upcoming book, Recharging Judaism: How Civic Engagement is Good for Synagogues, Jews, and America (CCAR Press, expected December 2017). After two decades in a business career, Judy spent the next ten years collaborating on social justice issues as a volunteer lay leader with Rabbi Judith Schindler, her synagogue rabbi and now co-author. Their work at Temple Beth El in Charlotte (NC) included advocacy on housing solutions for homelessness, two award-winning “Souls” documentaries, and the first Jewish-sponsored site for the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools. Judy is thrilled to be at Hazon with her daughter, Sarah Seldin.
Shamu Sadeh is the co-founder and director of Adamah, and prior to that he worked as the Director of Teva. He teaches Judaism and ecology, turns the compost piles, maintains the orchards, and supervises and mentors staff and Adamah Fellows. His wife Jaimie and kids Yonah, Ibby and Lev keep the bees, help harvest and pickle, and DJ staff dance parties.
Gahl Shottan has had over 10 years of experience in outdoor education, horticulture, and gardening. She has worked with youth and adults on farms and gardens throughout the country from Alaska and California to New York City. She holds a Masters Degree in City in Regional Planning from the Pratt Institute of Technology with a focus on Watershed Management and Urban Farming. She #hazonfoodconference • 2017 Hazon Food Conference 43
Presenter Bios currently teaches Landscape Management to New York City High School Students through a partnership with the National Park Service and Stephen T Mather High School in Hell’s Kitchen. She grew up riding on her grandfather’s lap while he rode a tractor through his banana fields in Israel which left an indelible mark on how she lives her life. Steve Schwartz is the founding Executive Director of the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative which is building the base of consumers and advocates for local, sustainable agriculture by working with faith communities. For the current and previous federal Farm Bill cycles Steve has served as the coordinator for the California Caucus of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. He is an experienced local food systems advocate with over 25 years of professional leadership working with farmers and farm policy to advance sustainable agriculture. Schwartz has worked on four farm bills since 1995; and has over three years of experience on agricultural policy as a Chief of Staff to two California Assemblymembers. He is the founder of California FarmLink which he directed for 13 years working to provide access to land and financing for beginning and immigrant farmers. Steve is an innovator in farmland access and preservation, as well financing alternatives for small farmers. He served on the boards of the: International Farm Transition Network, Sonoma County Farm Trails, California Reinvestment Coalition, and Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Schwartz has also served as a consultant to the USDA Office of Advocacy and Outreach; and the National Young Farmers Coalition. He first took an interest in sustainable agriculture while serving as a Peace Corp Volunteer in Thailand and then while working on Kibbutz Dan in Israel. He operates a small-scale farming operation, New Carpati Farm, and on Sunday you can often find him with his two daughters selling mushrooms at the local Sebastopol Farmers Market. Michael Sharry grew up outside of Boston and was driven to a simpler life after hiking the Appalachian Trail. He studied Sustainable Agriculture & Food Production in college, and spent most of his spare time fine-tuning the craft of making beer with friends. After graduating, he combined his passions of growing food and making alcohol at a vineyard in the northernmost region of Italy. Following a tradition that is several thousand years old, Michael fell in love with creating unique flavors of eclectic and rare wine varieties. Near the end of his time in Italy, the winemaker pulled out an old Grappa still and showed him the science and art behind distillation. Shortly after coming back from Italy, Michael landed his dream job at
Berkshire Mountain Distillers (BMD), where for over 3 years he has been contributing to the distillery’s growth and success. In that time, BMD has built two new buildings, opened its doors for retail, tours, and private events, and created a garden program. As the manager of the distillery garden, Michael specializes in growing botanicals that are incorporated into bitters and gins, and supplied as garnishes to local bartenders. Michael looks forward to the continuing challenge of growing, fermenting, distilling and cocktailing. Janna Siller is the Adamah Farm Director. She leads the Adamah crew in growing organic vegetables for CSA distribution, value-added production, Isabella Freedman food service, and donations, while maintaining the fields as resonant learning space for fellows and visitors. She teaches classes on practical farming and gardening skills as well as classes that explore the big picture systems, policies, and issues that shape what we eat and how it is grown. Janna lives in Falls Village with her family – Arthur, Tzuf, and the cats. Donna Simons is the founder of Pound Ridge Organics, a dynamic food hub in the lower Hudson Valley dedicated to providing the most nourishing, cleanly and ethically produced meat, produce, dairy, eggs and locally produced products available to economically diverse families in two states. She consults with and sources for families, restaurants and businesses; conducts classes to teach homesteading skills; and is a frequent presenter at important Food conferences throughout the Northeast. Donna’s focus is on breeding, raising, distributing and educating about the value of 100% APA Heritage poultry breeds. She has committed herself to the highest standards of Animal Welfare, and as such, became the first and only farm in Westchester County NY to have obtained AWA (Animal Welfare Approval). Just prior to this conference, Humane Farm Animal Care also gave Donna their seal of approval and included Pound Ridge Organics in their Certified Humane Raised and Handled Farm program. Buyingpoultry.com has given Pound Ridge Organics’ eggs an ‘A’ rating and her farm is recognized by the ASPCA. Donna serves as chairman of the Metro North chapter of Slow Food covering Westchester, Putman and Fairfield Counties. She was part of the 2016 US delegation to Terra Madre, Salone del Gusto in Turin Italy, the world’s largest international food conference and just returned from Denver CO where she was part of the 2017 Slow Food Nations delegation.
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Alison Spodek is the an Assistant Professor on the Mary Clark Rockefeller Chair in the Chemistry Department at Vassar College, where she teaches Chemistry and Environmental Studies. She came to Vassar after completing a combined teaching and research postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University. She earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of Columbia University in 2006 and had a Fulbright Fellowship in the Microbiology Department at the University of Tel Aviv thereafter. Alison’s research focuses on the behaviors of contaminants in the environment, including arsenic, lead, mercury, flame retardants, and novel pesticides; this research involves a combination of field, laboratory, and computational techniques. Her teaching interests include motivating environmental activism, developing broad scientific literacy, and use of nontraditional pedagogies. Chelsea Stephens is the Teva JOFEE Fellow, where she works building community, developing curricula, and educating. After graduating from Rutgers University, where she explored her passion for literature and Medieval history, Chelsea has taught in the forests of Connecticut, urban farmed in Philadelphia, and studied Jewish texts in Jerusalem. She spends her time at Freedman knitting socks and dreaming about the next Teva season. Liz Vaknin is the cofounder of Our Name Is Farm, a digital and experiential media marketingcompany, where is the director of experiential marketing. Born and raised in New York, Liz was exposed to the hospitality industry from a young age and comes from a long line of cooks and chefs. After studying communications in Israel, Liz moved back to the States to pursue a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu. She has worked in some of New York City’s finest dining establishments. Mike Webster is General Manager of Dining Services at The Hotchkiss School; focuses on combining culinary traditions with sustainable agriculture in an effort to create an enjoyable dining experience while educating the future leaders of America in sustainable food systems. As a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, food is an important priority and a primary focus for Webster. Previously working in healthcare as a regional chef, bringing REAL food to REAL people has always been a goal. Joining the dining team at Hotchkiss has been an opportunity to building on his previous education and experience; he has enjoyed creating an integrated and
sustainable dining program for the Hotchkiss community. Mike Webster has worked to create a progressive dining program, centered on local, sustainable and ethical cuisine. Mike lives in Lakeville, with his wife Lynn, and twin daughters Olive and Emilie, and Remi – the dog. Family time is often times spent tending to their gardens at home, or hiking the trails at Fairfield Farms. Nancy Wolfson-Moche is honored to return to the Food Conference after co-chairing it in 2016. Through changing her diet and approach to food and eating, Nancy’s life was transformed by the birth of her two daughters. A certified macrobiotic counselor, she crafts innovative, integrative Jewish food awareness education programs for children and adults. She is a coach with OneTable, and is a certified Yoga Alliance and Torah Yoga teacher. Before awakening to the power of food, Nancy was an editor and writer on lifestyle magazines. Visit her website where she blogs about eating vegetables for breakfast at youarebecauseyoueat. com Ellie Youngblood is the Farm Manager at Fairfield Farm at the Hotchkiss School. Ellie graduated from Carleton College in 2014 with a degree in biology, focused largely on the complex biochemical landscape of Minnesota. Between her first job on a horse farm as a young middle schooler and managing the farm at the Hotchkiss School, Ellie has held a variety of positions in the agriculture and food worlds. Adin Zuckerman has been exploring food systems and justice in the food system through study and practice for the last ten years. Adin was an Adamah fellow and an Adamah apprentice for two seasons. Adin Zuckerman is co-farmer at Linke Fligl in Millerton, NY. Linke Fligl is both a Heritage Breed chicken farm selling meat and eggs, as well as a space for collaboratively held, queer Jewish programming. Linke Fligl is in its second season.
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Thank You! Special thanks to our volunteers and teachers! • Hazon Food Conference co-chairs Amy Green and Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein, who worked for months to make connections and create an amazing program • Sarah Seldin for directing her passion for Jewish agriculture to help develop the Jewish Food Traditions track, working with an anonymous donor who made it possible for 15 Southerners and farmers to be present at the conference • Janice Tannin for being a creative chef extraordinaire, and making the DIY track so spectacular • Chava Tzemach for sharing her passion and countless hours towards the Food Justice and Sustainability track as well as designing the beautiful imagery for the Food Conference poster and media campaign
• Clare Hyre for generously committing time and wisdom to create our Health and Wellness track programming • Liz Vaknin, Shelley Golan and Mike Webster for curating and moderating the “Berkshire Foodies & Farmers” panel • Melissa Hoffman and Sarah Shamirah Chandler who curated all of the JIFA sessions • Aryeh Bernstein, Sarah Shamirah Chandler, and Isaiah Rothstein for coordinating all of the minyanim • All of the prayer leaders and teachers at the conference who are bringing their talent and insights to help us create community and dig deeper into the Jewish Food Movement
Gratitude for our Hazon staff • Jaclyn Schwanemann and Simone Stallman who made the registration incredibly smooth and friendly for all our guests • The Isabella Freedman Operations staff, led by Mordechai Schram, Chef Adam SaNogueira, Mike Davino, and Tonia Moody who go above and beyond the call of duty each and every day • Jacob Weiss, Isabella Freedman’s JOFEE Fellow, who coordinated all of the JOFEE programming • Jesse Beller for making sure the Hazon Bookstore is well stocked with all the books authored by Food Conference teachers
• Elsie Moche, Isabella Freedman Intern, for securing all of the swag and samples and always being ready to dig in wherever needed • Emily Glick, Hospitality Manager, for helping to plan the party • Ayala Azari, Event Coordination Manager, for logistical support • Amy Hannes for overseeing all of the marketing and outreach, Lisa Kaplan for creating this beautiful program book and all of the graphics, and Jon Leiner for running our social media campaign • Adam Segulah Sher, General Manager of Isabella Freedman, for all of the things
We are all incredibly grateful for Jess Berlin – lead staff for the Hazon Food Conference and Senior Program Manager. Her content expertise, tireless dedication, programmatic creativity, and caring kindness that she brings to every aspect of her work shines through this program in every way. Everyone who has worked with Jess to bring this conference into being joins us in saying from the heart: Thank you Jess! The Hazon Kids’ Food Conference is the creation of Arielle Aronoff, the Director of Teva, who manages our Teva programs yearround. In creating a space for young people to have an experience that mirrors and enhances the larger conference, she has taken that vision to the next level. Huge thanks Arielle, and all of the wonderful Kids’ Food Conference staff for making this happen so beautifully.
Our co-sponsors: Farm Forward and the Jewish Initiative for Animals, whose staff envisioned and planned our programming on animal agriculture and animal welfare. Grow and Behold Foods, who produced the meat that we infused into our DIY and Cooking Demo sessions and served in the dining hall – and that we serve year-round at Isabella Freedman.
To the following companies who donated samples for the swag bag and outdoor food festival: • Migrash Farm • Hampton Creek • Food Alive • Primal Spirit Foods • Peanut Butter and Co. • Seasnax
46 2017 Hazon Food Conference • Please wear your name badge throughout the Conference!
Thank You! Special thanks to the following funders who supported the 2017 Food Conference: • Anonymous donor for support of scholarships for Jewish Southerners • Jewish Farmer Network for support of scholarships for Jewish farmers • The Lisa Anne Botnick Teen Scholarship Fund – for support of teenage participants • Rose Community Foundation, 18 Pomegranates, and Oreg Foundation – for support of scholarships for Colorado participants • Tamar Fund – for scholarships for those who share her vision of a sustainable future and need financial support for attending the conference this year • The William Davidson Foundation and D. Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation – for support of scholarships for the Michigan cohort • Emanuel J. Friedman Philanthropies – for support of the Hazon Seal of Sustainability • UJA-Federation of New York – for their support of all our programs
The Lisa Anne Botnick Scholarship Fund Lisa was a vegetarian from the age of four, in a family who were not. An extraordinary person, and a gifted artist and clarinet player… she is dearly missed.
The Tamar Fund is in loving memory of Tamar Bittelman z”l who attended the Food Conference in Davis, California in 2011. Torah, Jewish community, ecology, and DIY food were values that Tamar held dear in her own life, and she very much appreciated the intersection of these values at the Hazon Food Conference. Sharing a meal with Tamar, particularly a Shabbat or Chag meal, was an experience filled with kedushah, where one was effortlessly and joyfully escorted to “a different place.” We deeply appreciate the support of all of the Hazon and Isabella Freedman funders. For a complete list of donors to all of Hazon’s programs, please visit hazon.org/supporters
you make it possible. THE TAMAR FUND Retreats have the power to change lives. At Isabella Freedman, we have a commitment to making Jewish retreats financially accessible. Hazon works to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, and a healthier and more sustainable world for all. Retreats are at the heart of what we do best. Each year we offer thousands of people the opportunity to immerse themselves in a vibrant and inclusive Jewish community. Through food, the outdoors, and the environment, we reframe and renew Jewish life; we inspire those who are already Jewishly involved and bring new people through the door; and we strengthen institutions and communities. It costs about $150 per person per day for most of our retreats at Isabella Freedman. For some members of our community, especially young adults, that fee can be a barrier to participating in a program that could change their lives. A $180 scholarship from the Tamar Fund is often enough to make a $450 retreat affordable. Even a small gift goes a long way. We are committed to making our programs accessible to all interested people to the greatest extent possible, regardless of their ability to pay. Towards that vision, Hazon awards over $110,000 in financial aid each year, much of it unfunded. The Tamar Fund provides need-based financial aid to ensure that people from across the spectrum of the Jewish community have access to retreat experiences at Isabella Freedman.
"Throughout my young 20s, as I was exploring the world, Judaism and the expanses of my own identity, Isabella Freedman retreats were my steady anchors. Here, I could let go of the outside world and be present in beautiful land with beautiful people, a place where I could simply be and connect. Isabella Freedman's generous scholarships made these experiences possible. I thank Isabella Freedman with my full heart."
Natalie
The Tamar Fund is in loving memory of Tamar Bittelman, z”l who attended the Food Conference in 2011. Torah, Jewish community, ecology, and DIY food were values that Tamar held dear in her own life, and she very much appreciated the intersection of these values at the Hazon Food Conference. Sharing a meal with Tamar, particularly a Shabbat or Chag meal, was an experience filled with kedushah, where one was effortlessly and joyfully escorted to “a different place.” Your gift to the Tamar Fund makes it possible for everyone to take part. Please contact Gina Schmeling, Director of Development at 646.781.7571 or gina.schmeling@hazon.org to discuss giving opportunities. You can also visit the donation box outside of the bookstore. Thank you!
donate today. thank you!
Hazon Meditation Retreat A week of silence, awareness, and insight December 24-31, 2017 Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
Rabbi Jay Michaelson
Beth Resnick-Folk
Rabbi Naomi Mara Hyman
Eliezer Sobel
HAZON.ORG/MEDITATION
#hazonfoodconference â&#x20AC;˘ 2017 Hazon Food Conference 49
50 2017 Hazon Food Conference â&#x20AC;˘ Please wear your name badge throughout the Conference!
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