GARDEN BIKE TOUR—Tuv Ha’aretz took 15 bicyclists on a tour of four Jewish gardens in Southeast Portland July 25.

Tuv Ha’aretz shifts focus to food education, events

By JEWISH REVIEW

article created on: 2010-08-15T00:00:00

Launched in Portland last year as part of Hazon’s national program to expand Community Supported Agriculture in the Jewish community, Tuv Ha’aretz is spending its second year focusing on events, education and exposure to sustainable food and Jewish practice.

This year Hazon renamed its national program Hazon CSA, to reflect the reality that many of the chapters focus on the creation of a CSA, which allows community members to pre-purchase shares of an entire season’s produce from a local farmer. But Portland, with an abundance of CSAs already in existence, didn’t need to create a new CSA, said Portland steering committee member Liz Schwartz.

So Portland retained the name Tuv Ha’aretz (best of the earth) and started developing its own format. This year gleaning is playing a big role in the local group, said Schwartz. Two local farmers contact the group when they have finished harvesting a crop but some produce still remains in the field. Tuv Ha’artez emails members who come glean the field a few days later to take the produce to the Sunshine Pantry food bank and Neighborhood House.

Schwartz said last year the group gleaned more than 1,000 pounds of food to help feed the hungry in our community.

The group just concluded their second annual Jewish Edible Garden Bike Tour. Fifteen people rode their bicycles 14 miles to visit four Jewish gardeners in Southeast Portland.

“All the gardeners talked about what they grew, how long they’d been growing food and some offered perspectives on how their Judaism informs their gardening,” wrote Schwartz in her writeup for the event on Hazon’s online publication “The Jew and the Carrot,” (jcarrot.org.).

The group has tentative plans for a gathering at Sauvie Island Organics, a CSA owned by Shari Raider, whose family belongs to Havurah Shalom and whose children attend Portland Jewish Academy.

“Sauvie Island Organics is close to town,” said Schwartz, noting last year’s event there was very popular. “The farm event near Shavuot is an opportunity to meet Shari and get a tour of the farm. She’ll talk about the connection between agriculture and Judaism. And we pick a communal salad and eat lunch together and have a text study.”

Currently Tuv Ha’aretz has five steering committee members, but Schwartz said they hope to recruit more after the holidays. Current members are Schwartz, Sylvia Frankel, Josh Lake, Hannah Truehaft and Barry Levine.

While the local group did not change its name, it is still one of the 45 Hazon CSA chapters, said Schwartz, noting the national group provides support and information.

“We want to engage people Jewishly wherever they are,” said Schwartz. “Food affects all of us; we are what we eat. And food is such an integral part of Jewish life. Food is something everyone can relate to.”

Tuv Ha’aretz membership is a one-time fee of $10 per family or $5 per person. For more information or to join, go to Portlandtuv.org.