On Food Day (October 24, 2012), celebrate
your food justice work and take it a step further. Make food justice part of your fall holiday celebrations with this menu of programs.
What you can do:
Start a dining club to support local eateries serving sustainable foods
Host a Sacred Table party: discuss an essay from the Central Conference of American Rabbis' book on ethical eating
Check it out: visit a site on your food chain before the supermarket (seed supplier, cannery, trucking company)
Put it in writing: write a food justice article for your synagogue newsletter
Can It! Kick off the holiday season with a healthy canned food
drive. Encourage people to bring cans labeled low-sodium, no sugar-added and/or
preservative-free labels for your High Holiday food drive
Pickin' Time: Visit
a local apple orchard and donate your harvest to a local emergency food provider
Give Thanks: Eat with kavannah
(intention) during your holiday meals with food blessings or by making a
"food commitment" (like Meatless Mondays) for the new Jewish year
For the Kids: Donate tzedekah to an emergency food provider or teach religious school students about sustainable food
systems with local apples and honey!
What is fit? Examine your synagogue's existing food policies - what is deemed "fit"
to serve in a sacred Jewish space? Which environmental and ethical
factors are considered? Study the sources and consider revising your
congregation's food policies with our Guide to Creating Synagogue Food Policy
Cut it Out: As you decorate your synagogue sukkah, think about what food products you use and how food waste can be avoided in our daily lives
Foodie Films: Screen a food justice movie like FRESH, Food Inc.
or Forks Over Knives and discuss the film's themes. For a FRESH
discussion guide, visit www.freshthemovie.com
Sukkot Market: Host a Sukkot food carnival in your social hall or
parking lot with local food, cooking demonstrations and discussions
with local food justice organizations;
Fight for Food Justice from Farm to Table: Speak out for a more just and equitable Farm Bill
Share your harvest: Glean unharvested crops from a local garden
or farm to donate to an emergency food provider, or start a "Satellite
Synagogue Garden" program where congregants pick food from gardens at
home and bring it to synagogue to donate as a collective. Pool your
gleaned resources and honor the commandment from the Book of Leviticus
to leave the corners of our fields to those in need! Learn more about
gleaning from AmpleHarvest.org
Preach it! As the community gathers to consider its intentions for the year ahead, and as you experience pangs of hunger,
don't be afraid to talk about food justice. Find Sample Sermons on our resource page
Let's Discuss: During Torah study, review a
chapter from the Food for Thought curriculum, invite a chef to speak, or host a food justice book discussion
Read all about it: Host a book discussion with
works from Michael Pollan, Barbara Kingsolver, or Jonathan Safran Foer. You can
even start a food book club for the year
Break the fast in
style: Cherish
that first bite at your break fast with a blessing, food justice discussion questions, and healthy and
sustainably-produced foods
Food Day Partner Spotlight: Women of Reform Judaism
Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) encourages sisterhoods
across North America to host their annual opening meals with programs
focused on food issues and mindful eating, invite nutritionists or local
emergency food service providers to speak and ask members to bring cans of
healthful foods (low salt/low fat/ no high fructose corn syrup) in advance
of events, use them to make table centerpieces and then donate the food
to local providers.
WRJ's
involvement in Food Day builds on decades of commitment to fighting poverty and
promoting health and nutrition. Their 2004 Resolution
on Obesity and Nutrition
explains "it is incumbent upon the leadership of Women of Reform Judaism to
encourage our sisterhoods to recognize the challenge of obesity and inactivity
which threatens the health of ourselves, our families, and the people of our
nation and to take action to reverse the trend by promoting awareness and
improved dietary and physical activity practices." Their 2009 Resolution on Food Production & Distribution calls WRJ affiliates to advocate for legislation that promotes food safety,
sponsor programs on healthy eating, create gardens and share produce with local
food banks, and educate their members on fair trade foods.
WRJ sisterhoods have been working with
food pantries and advocating for food justice for years. WRJ is excited
to ally their efforts with the Food
Day Campaign.
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