Hazon Philadelphia Jewish Food Festival

Would you like your synagogue’s weekly kiddush to be healthier, more delicious, and less wasteful? Want to cut the energy costs of an aging building? Or advocate for clean energy in your community? Seeking to reignite students’ curiosity about Jewish tradition through hands-on learning in the outdoors? Many institutions want to engage in healthier, more humane, and more sustainable behaviors, but don’t know where to start. Others have already begun – be it starting a garden, composting food waste, or installing LED light bulbs – but don’t know how to keep up the momentum.  Learn tips and access tools from the Hazon Seal of Sustainability.

There is an undeniable urgency to addressing hunger in the Philadelphia region. Food pantries and other anti-hunger non-profit organizations have been working hard to decrease barriers to vulnerable families to access food. As diet-related diseases increase in our communities, agencies are also working together to get healthier foods into food pantries. Come learn about the challenges and what you can do to help.

Hear from leaders in food entrepreneurship and non-profit who are committed to creating a space for everyone at the table. Using innovative operating models that make sure food and knowledge stay in circulation and out of the waste stream, these leaders challenge long-held paradigms in the hospitality industry and prioritize people over profit. Have a chance to hear their stories, engage and ask questions about how it works and how to get involved.

Have you ever discovered a new food, restaurant, or cuisine?  Think again.  Some of our attitudes and behaviors can be harmful and render the culture and history other people as disposable.  Food gentrification and culinary appropriation are just two of the 'sins' that we commit when cooking, eating, and talking about foods from other cultures.  Through text and discussion, we will identify these behaviors in ourselves and in our culture and work on dismantling them.

This panel will examine different food-based initiatives currently undertaken by faith-based communities through both a religious and civic perspective.

More than one-third of adults in the U.S. are obese, and there is major disparity amongst different ethnic and socioeconomic groups with regard to obesity and diet-related disease. As we work to better understand root causes and which solutions work (or work for some) and why, this session will explore how historically and structurally racist policies like redlining and emotional, social, cultural, economic and environmental barriers have contributed to the disparity in food access and health. We will also explore how, through a collaborative and comprehensive approach, we are seeing signs of progress in reversing obesity here in Philadelphia, and we will discuss the intersection of and opportunities to address healthy food access, hunger and food waste.

http://thefoodtrust.org/ 
Healthy Food Access Portal: http://healthyfoodaccess.org/