Everyone’s talking about “food justice” these days, but what is it really? What are all the pieces at play? How do they all connect? Want to take action but don’t know where to begin? Whether this conversation is new or familiar to you, join us for Chewing on Food Justice, a break down on the broken down food system. In this new 4-part program series, we’ll examine the journey our food takes before—and after—it reaches our plates, each event through a different lens.
In our fourth and final session, we’ll explore Jewish responses to food justice issues. What does Judaism say about eating meat versus vegetarianism? What are our underlying ethics about food, and how can we best carry them out? We’ll take a hard look at the strengths and weaknesses of traditional and modern interpretations and practices of kashrut, including important new initiatives aimed at uniting social justice with dietary practices. Join us for this interactive program featuring a panel of local rabbis and activists, and group discussion over a kosher, ethically produced meal.
When: Tuesday, November 30, 6:30-9:00. Program begins promptly at 7:00.
Where: Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, corner of 16th St and Dolores St, SF
Cost: $15 – dinner and program, $5 – program only
RSVP: http://kosherkosher.eventbrite.com. Dinner will be available ONLY to those who pre-register by Monday, November 29.
Panelists:
Karen Adelman, Co-Owner of Saul’s Deli. When Karen and Chef-Co-Owner Peter Levitt took over the restaurant 15 years ago, they chose to source mostly sustainable, humanely raised meats rather than commercial or strictly Kosher meats. Karen and Peter strive to steward a Jewish cuisine reflecting season, time and place, reconnecting with traditional culinary practices, and provide a community gathering spot for shared heritage, past, present, and future.
Adam Berman, founder and Executive Director of Urban Adamah, and former Executive Director of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center (2002 – 2009), a retreat center and intentional community in the Connecticut Berkshires. At Isabella Freedman, Adam founded ADAMAH: The Jewish Environmental Fellowship. At Isabella Freedman, Adam also co-founded the Jewish Greening Fellowship (JGF), an intensive 18-month Fellowship program for Jewish professionals which works to reduce the carbon footprints of Jewish communal agencies and prioritize environmental stewardship. Adam also served as the Director of the Teva Learning Center, the leading Jewish environmental education program in the United States. Currently, Adam serves on the Board of Directors of Hazon and the David Brower Center, and on Advisory Boards for the Teva Learning Center, Wilderness Torah, Eden Village Camp, Adamah and the East Bay Jewish Community Center. He teaches widely on issues related to Judaism, ecology and civic leadership. Adam holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in Environmental Policy from Brown University.
Rabbi Becky Joseph, aka The Rabbi Chef, is the founder and owner of 12 Tribes, a new environmentally and socially responsible San Francisco company that makes delicious, seasonal kosher eating easy. As a senior anthropologist with National Park Service, Becky led action research teams that saved the largest community garden in the United States – with 1,200 plots producing food for more than 8,000 low-middle income New York City residents; preserved historic family farm stands on federal lands outside Boston; and successfully defended Native fishing rights in Maine. Becky was instrumental in creating parameters for religious observance and Jewish learning as co-chair of Jewish Life for Hazon’s first Jewish food conference. She was a founding member of Hazon’s first Tuv Ha’Aretz site and served on its coordinating committee. Very early on, her expertise in institutional giving was called upon by the Rabbinical Assembly to develop funding strategies for a new ethical seal for kosher foods, Magen Tzedek. Creator of The Parve Baker, the original dairy-free kosher baking blog, her food writing has recently appeared on The Jew and the Carrot and in J. Weekly.
Rabbi Dorothy Richman is the Rabbi Martin Ballanoff Memorial Rabbi-in-Residence at Berkeley Hillel. She serves on the regional council and state board of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, and formerly served as rabbi at Congregations Beth Sholom and Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco. She has been an AJWS Group Leader and passionate advocate for social justice.
Moderated by Rabbi Aaron Philmus, Director of Congregational Life and Learning, Congregation Beth Sholom. In his former life he was a Jewish Nature Educator and Wildlife Ecologist. He continues to learn Torah from the earth, but now he also learns Torah from books and people. Before rabbinical school Aaron studied at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel and the School for Natural and Cultural Ecology in Queensland, Australia. Aaron received his ordination with awards for homiletics and academic achievement from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
Our first session, Fruits of Our Labor, explored workers’ rights in the food system; Mind Your Agri-Business examined environmental and sustainability in the food system; and the third session, Got Access, considered issues of food access and food sovereignty. Is Kosher, Kosher? will be the final session of the Chewing on Food Justice series.
Presented by Pursue in partnership with Hazon and Progressive Jewish Alliance. Co-sponsored by EcoJews of the Bay.
