We’re spotlighting a few of this year’s mini-grant recipients from the 2012 Hazon New York Ride.

We’re spotlighting a few of this year’s mini-grant recipients from the 2012 Hazon New York Ride.
We’re spotlighting a few of this year’s mini-grant recipients from the 2012 Hazon New York Ride.
Hazon is excited to be supporting the following organizations in their efforts to create healthier and more sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond!
One of the grant recipients of this year’s New York Ride and Retreat is Yiddish Farm, a program started this year with the goal of creating a pluralistic Yiddish-speaking community through farm-based programs. Yiddish Farm ran its pilot program this summer, with about 10 people who made up a Yiddish-speaking agricultural community on Kayam Farm, a sustainable farm in Maryland. In 2012, Yiddish Farm will move to a farm they have rented in Goshen, NY, which is not far from New York City, where they hope to eventually keep their community running year-round. Earlier this summer, The Jew and the Carrot interviewed Naftali Eidelman, who started Yiddish Farm along with Yisroel Bass. Here are some pieces of the interview that really give a sense of what Yiddish Farm is all about: (more…)
For the first time this year, Hazon is excited to offer a grant from the proceeds of the New York Ride to AmpleHarvest.org, an incredible organization whose work fits very well with the theme of this year’s weekend retreat: “Food Choices: Why what we eat matters.” In 2008, Gary Oppenheimer became the director of a community garden in his hometown of West Milford, New Jersey, and quickly realized that many of the plot holders were growing more food than they could possibly eat, save, or give to friends, and so were leaving a lot of their produce unharvested. He formed a committee to gather the extra produce and deliver it to local food pantries, and was struck by how difficult it was to find food pantries, as many were unlisted, and did not have websites. Gary knew that nationally, more than 50 million Americans live in food-insecure homes, and more than 40 million Americans grow their own produce, oftentimes more than they can actually use. In 2009, Gary started AmpleHarvest.org to be the link between these two groups – encouraging home gardeners to donate their excess produce to people in need in their communities, and connecting them to local food […]
The New York Ride is Hazon’s longest-running program, and will take place for the eleventh time this Labor Day weekend. Each year, the Ride is an opportunity for Hazon to connect with and support new organizations that are doing work we are excited about, and over the years we’ve been able to support upwards of 80 different organizations. Just as importantly, the Ride has allowed us to build continued, long-lasting relationships with several organizations that we have been involved with from the very beginning, and whose goals and visions are similar to our own. There are several organizations that have received grants from the New York Ride for many years, but only the Teva Learning Center has been a grant recipient for every one of the New York Rides, 2001-2011. (more…)
Proceeds of this year’s New York Ride will provide grants to several organizations and projects that are in line with Hazon’s mission. Among the major grant recipients is Adamah, which is a program of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, located in Northern Connecticut. Adamah connects people to their roots, to the land, to community, to Judaism, and to themselves by providing educational programs and products in order to build a more sustainable world. (more…)
Hazon means vision and Hazon’s vision is to create a vibrant, healthy Jewish community in which to be Jewish is to help create a more sustainable world for all. So what is your vision for how we can repair the earth and how do you play a role in that?
One of the reasons that I think it’s so hard for people to live sustainably is cost and convenience. Mostly convenience. But also cost. It’s just really, really convenient to get disposables and get things to go and most of the things that you have access to are disposable or just not good for the environment. I think that making sure that we have more sustainable options available is important. Obviously, it would be optimal if we got to a point where there were more sustainable options and not unsustainable options, but if there’s at least a comparable amount of both I think that is something that would make a huge impact.
Also, a huge thing that we do is equity and being sustainable can be really expensive.
Finding biodegradable or compostable cutlery or plates is a lot more expensive than buying a bajillion solo cups. So then obviously with the access and the process there’s a certain amount of privilege to being able to live sustainability. So I think that working with other companies and organizations, and helping them make more sustainable choices will end up having ripple effects. And I think that my role is, it’s actually interesting, because I read this article recently that was saying how someone living a low waist life is potentially not as impactful as living a regular waist filled life and reaching out to large companies who generate a lot of waves is important and actually asking them to make changes. I don’t know whether or not I agree with that, but it’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about. I try myself to live as minimally wasteless as possible. But something that I definitely want to work on is reaching out to different companies and organizations that are widespread or that have an impact on me and seeing if they can make more sustainable choices.
What role does tikkun olam play in your life and how is that connected to the Brit Hazon?
So many ways. One of the things that I love about Hazon is our three things that we call out for what we want for this world. We want a healthy, sustainable and equitable world. And I think that a lot of the different ways that we practice and improve and incorporate health, sustainability and equity is a form of tikkun olam. Making sure that animals are treated fairly and in doing so, doing away with factory farming, which is kinder to the earth, and abolishing all of these terrible practices, making the norm be ethical practices that would lower the cost of things. And I just think that it’s all tied together so that we’re helping the planet and animals and humans all be able to have the same access to live a healthy, sustainable and equitable life.
Hazon means vision and Hazon’s vision is to create a vibrant, healthy Jewish community in which to be Jewish is to help create a more sustainable world for all. So what is your vision for how we can repair the earth and how do you play a role in that?
One of the reasons that I think it’s so hard for people to live sustainably is cost and convenience. Mostly convenience. But also cost. It’s just really, really convenient to get disposables and get things to go and most of the things that you have access to are disposable or just not good for the environment. I think that making sure that we have more sustainable options available is important. Obviously, it would be optimal if we got to a point where there were more sustainable options and not unsustainable options, but if there’s at least a comparable amount of both I think that is something that would make a huge impact.
Also, a huge thing that we do is equity and being sustainable can be really expensive.
Finding biodegradable or compostable cutlery or plates is a lot more expensive than buying a bajillion solo cups. So then obviously with the access and the process there’s a certain amount of privilege to being able to live sustainability. So I think that working with other companies and organizations, and helping them make more sustainable choices will end up having ripple effects. And I think that my role is, it’s actually interesting, because I read this article recently that was saying how someone living a low waist life is potentially not as impactful as living a regular waist filled life and reaching out to large companies who generate a lot of waves is important and actually asking them to make changes. I don’t know whether or not I agree with that, but it’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about. I try myself to live as minimally wasteless as possible. But something that I definitely want to work on is reaching out to different companies and organizations that are widespread or that have an impact on me and seeing if they can make more sustainable choices.
What role does tikkun olam play in your life and how is that connected to the Brit Hazon?
So many ways. One of the things that I love about Hazon is our three things that we call out for what we want for this world. We want a healthy, sustainable and equitable world. And I think that a lot of the different ways that we practice and improve and incorporate health, sustainability and equity is a form of tikkun olam. Making sure that animals are treated fairly and in doing so, doing away with factory farming, which is kinder to the earth, and abolishing all of these terrible practices, making the norm be ethical practices that would lower the cost of things. And I just think that it’s all tied together so that we’re helping the planet and animals and humans all be able to have the same access to live a healthy, sustainable and equitable life.