Jews, Food and Sustainability

An SJSU Jewish Studies and Nutrition, Food Science & Packaging Program

For the Campus and Community

The “New Jewish Food Movement” (see www.Hazon.org, whose principles we learn from and concur with) and SJSU’s Sustainability Initiative coincide in mission and practice.

Both are committed to educating about our place in an ecosystem, in which we are responsible for—and enriched by—sustainable living, achieved in part by sustainable eating, with the goal of healthier individuals, and a more sustainable community and planet.

The SJSU Jewish Studies Program, in collaboration with faculty from the Nutrition, Food Science and Packaging Dept. and in consultation with the Silicon Valley JCRC and the Addison Penzak JCC Center for Life and Learning, will offer a year of programming focusing on sustenance and sustainability and comprised of five sessions, including seders at Hillel of Silicon Valley and Chai House, as well as two community service days that highlight key aspects of food and sustainability with particular relevance to the Jewish community.

For our purposes sustainability is defined as simultaneously creating the triple bottom line of

• healthier environments
• social wellbeing
• economies

Our zero-waste program follows the Jewish seasonal and the secular calendar and will enable participants to examine their own connections to food and the environment, to learn how to teach and participate in sustainability efforts, to engage in meaningful and relevant community service, and to enjoy seasonal, organic, cultural foods as a community

Here’s a quick look at what’s planned for the upcoming year: (We'll post special notices for each event as they occur.)

• Celebration and Preservation: Our Role in Our Planet’s Health (September 27, 2011 in observance of Rosh  Hashanah). An overview of the principals of sustainability and our role in preserving our ecosystem. At the MLK Library.
• Celebrating the Harvest: California Native Edibles (October 16, 2011 in observance of Sukkot). Celebrating the Jewish “thanksgiving festival for the bounty of the harvest,” and focusing on locally grown food. Held in the backyard Sukkah of a local home. 
• Gleaning: Serving our Community (November 20, 2011 in observance of Thanksgiving). A collaborative program with Village Harvest, which harvests fruit from backyards and small orchards for local food agencies to feed the hungry.  A Tu B'Shevat Seder at Chai House (February 7, 2012) A Seder featuring fruits and nuts from trees will be held at Chai House for the community as well as residents. Rabbi James Greene, new Director of the Center for Jewish Life and Learning at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center, will lead the Seder.
  
  
• UPCOMING:  It Takes a Village to Feed a Family (March 20, 2012). Local stories of food as “community glue” will be shared by speakers, followed by a discussion of how culture defines food patterns and how food is related to a culture’s sustainability. [More Info]
  
  
• Sustainability Seder (April 11, 2012) in observance of Passover).  In the new Hillel House, this Seder will touch upon the themes of environmental sustainability, social justice and farm workers’ rights. Traditional Seder foods will include local, organic, vegetarian fare.
• Community Planting Event (April 29, 2012) in observance of Earth Day). Together with families who are served by the La Mesa Verde program, all are welcome to help plant vegetables in home-garden plots, and later convene for a barbecue and closing ceremony at SJSU.