A farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. The share consists of a box of vegetables, as well as the option to purchase a share of fruit.  People can purchase a share or membership, and in return receive a portion of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. Local produce includes lettuce, greens, kale, chard, green beans, tomatoes, herbs, peppers, melons, cucumbers, and much more.

The idea behind the CSA model is that it provides farmers with much needed income early in the growing season when expenses are the highest.  Click here for more information about Red Wagon Organic Farm CSA.

Through Boulder’s Tuv Ha’Aaretz program, a Hazon CSA, you and your family can learn more about Judaism’s long tradition of care for the earth, and at the same time enjoy local, fresh vegetables every week of the growing season from our organic partner, Red Wagon Organic Farm. Your membership actively supports sustainable agriculture here in Boulder.

As a member of Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz, you and your family can participate in programs like

• recipe and cooking demonstrations
• farmer talks
• farm tours, and
• Jewish teachings about sustainability and the sacredness of food in how it’s grown, harvested, prepared and eaten.

Tuv Ha’Aaretz is a national, multi-denominational movement to create Jewish CSAs, and it means both “good for the Earth” and “good from the Earth.”  Hazon is an organization dedicated to creating a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community – as a step towards a healthier and more sustainable world for all.

You can register at:  http://csa.farmigo.com/join/redwagonorganicfarm/

Make sure you check the box for Tuv Ha’Aretz when you register.

Please feel free to contact Lisa at BoulderJewishCSA@gmail.com if you have any questions.

BOULDER TUV HA’ARETZ
The Hazon Community-Supported Agriculture program is a partnership of Congregation Aish Kodesh, Congregation Bonai Shalom, Nevei Kodesh, Adventure Rabbi: Synagogue Without Walls, Pardes Levavot, and Congregation Har HaShem with Red Wagon Organic Farm.

Join us on facebook at Boulder Jewish CSA – Tuv Ha’Aretz

Special opportunity for Denver and Boulder area residents to attend one of Hazon’s December Conferences

Food Conference – West
December 23 – 26, 2010
Sonoma County, CA

Made possible by grants from Rose Community Foundation, Oreg Foundation, and 18 Pomegranates

This December, Hazon will be running two conferences that will explore the dynamic interplay of food, Jewish tradition, and contemporary life. Through the generous support of Rose Community Foundation, Oreg Foundation, and 18 Pomegranates, Hazon is offering partial subsidies for a select number of Denver and Boulder area residents to participate in one of these two conferences and bring this work back to the Denver and Boulder communities.  The subsidies will cover partial conference costs, and recipients will be responsible for the remaining conference fees as well as travel costs to and from the conferences. To learn more visit www.hazon.org/foodconference

Hazon’s goal is to bring a contingent from Denver and Boulder to each of these conferences and to catalyze the energy and learning from the conferences to support the substantive work around food and Judaism happening in the Greater Denver and Boulder communities.  We are seeking a diverse group of participants including young professionals, families, full-time students, retirees, educators, leaders, and potential leaders.

The following will be expected from all Boulder area subsidy recipients:

• Get the word out about the Food Conferences – share this opportunity with any appropriate newsletters, listservs, institutions, affiliations to help us reach the full spectrum of the community;
• Active, enthusiastic participation throughout the entire conference – both conferences begin at 4 pm on Thursday and end at 1 pm on Sunday;
• Participation in the Colorado planning session at the conference, to discuss how to bring the learning from the conference back to Denver and Boulder;
• Plan and attend both a pre-event (November) and a post-event (January) in the Denver-Boulder area to help build community around the intersection of food & Jewish life and insure you gain the most from the conference experience;
• Substantive work upon returning home to support a project around food & Judaism in the community;
• Complete a post-conference evaluation designed specifically for Boulder and Denver area subsidy recipients in addition to the general conference participant evaluation.

Please submit your application by Sunday, October 17, 2010 to coloradoscholarships@hazon.org.

Hazon hopes to catalyze energy and passion that already exist, give people a sense of Jewish possibility, seed programs and ideas, and support nascent leaders so that a growing range of programs and experiences transform people’s lives and materially strengthen the Jewish community overall.

“The Colorado Jewish community is seeing a sudden burgeoning of individuals and new organizations that are interested in being part of the Jewish Food Movement. Long-established institutions are realizing the importance of embracing the values of the sustainable food and environmental movements. Both types of organizations are in need of resources that will allow them to grow stronger during the upcoming years,” said Nigel Savage, executive director of Hazon.

“Through this grant, Hazon will be bringing resources and expertise to Denver and Boulder in order to strengthen and support existing Jewish institutions and start-ups. Working with a volunteer steering committee, chaired by Josh Dinar of DiningOut Magazine, we hope to enable local programs and institutions to take their work to the next level and enable the Jewish community to contribute to creating healthier and sustainable Denver and Boulder communities overall.”

Lisa Farber Miller of Rose Community Foundation, Julie Shaffer of Oreg Foundation, and Shari Edelstein of 18 Pomegranates added:

18 Pomegranates, Oreg Foundation and Rose Community Foundation have long recognized that the Boulder/Denver area is fertile ground for a community-wide Jewish food movement and other environment-related or eco-Judaism programs. All three of our foundations are committed to funding new ways of connecting Jews to Judaism through innovative, educational and experiential programs. Last year, with funding from these foundations, Hazon was able to introduce the community to its programs and resources and to send 50 people to Hazon’s Jewish Food Conference. We were very gratified that these 50 people came back to Denver and Boulder with new ideas and a commitment to lead. Grassroots efforts such as Ekar, Denver’s new urban Jewish communal farm, and three new Jewish community supported agriculture groups (CSAs) were launched. Inspired participants were motivated to bring expanded programming back to their CSAs and educators in the Boulder/Denver community have been trained in Hazon’s Jewish Food Education Network curriculum. The next step is to empower and strengthen these groups and others with support and resources from Hazon. We are excited to be partnering to fund new local Hazon staff who will work hand-in-hand with individuals and organizations interested in growing the Jewish food movement and in enhancing their Jewish environmental programs. It is our hope that our funding collaboration will foster organizational collaboration to expand opportunities in our communities.”

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The Teva Topsy Turvy bus travels around the United States teaching about the environment in the context of Jewish values.  And it’s coming to Boulder!  Join us for Havdalah, a sing-along, and ice cream with the educators from the Teva Topsy-Turvy Climate Change bus.  Saturday,  February 20, at 6:15 pm, at Congregation Bonai Shalom (1527  Cherryvale  Rd.) Open to the community. AND Sunday at 1:00 at the Boulder JCC, 3800 Kalmia.

The Teva Learning Center, North America’s  foremost Jewish Environmental Education Institute,  exists to renew the ecological wisdom inherent in Judaism.  It is a non-denominational  educational service for participants from throughout the Jewish community. Working with Jewish Day Schools,  Congregational Schools, synagogues, camps and youth groups, Teva’s  programs touch the lives of 6,000 participants annually.

This event is sponsored by Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz, an Hazon Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with a generous grant from 18 Pomegranates. For more information or to RSVP, email boulderjewishcsa@gmail.com. Check out the video!

Nigel Savage

Nigel Savage, founder and executive director of Hazon, will be discussing the New Jewish Food Movement on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 7:00 pm at Congregation Bonai Shalom.  Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz, an Hazon Community Supported Agriculture (“CSA”) program, is presenting this event, and encourages the Boulder Jewish community to come and learn about this exciting new movement.

Nigel Savage, founder of Hazon (Hebrew for “vision”) might be from Manchester, England, but he also has many friends in Boulder.  He has known Rabbi Marc Soloway of Congregation Bonai Shalom since their days at Limmud UK, some 15 years ago and many people from our community have gone on Hazon sponsored bike rides.  B’Yahad TREX has twice recruited and organized “Team Boulder” to participate in the Hazon/Arava Institute Israel Bike Race.

In 2000 Nigel led Hazon’s first major project, a 3,000-mile Cross-USA Jewish Environmental Bike Ride, in which participants cycled from Seattle, WA to Washington, DC, teaching and speaking along the way. They ended at the White House where they received a national award from the EPA.  Hazon now produces a series of bike rides and hikes, in the US and Israel. Many Boulderites have gone on Hazon bike rides, among them Butch Weaver, Bruce Shaffer, Arieh Markel, Joe Secor, Peter Ornstein, Bary Schwartz, Lois Kramer, Mat Markman, Joscelyn Blumenthal, Jeff Skovron, Caren Phillips, Julie Shaffer and Rabbi Marc Soloway.

Hazon works to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community and a healthier and more sustainable world for all by raising awareness.

In 2004, Hazon launched the first Community-Supported Agriculture project in the American Jewish community, called Tuv Ha’Aretz. By Spring 2010, Tuv Ha’Aretz will be launched in 40 locations nationally from Berkeley to Long Island and from St. Paul to Atlanta, as well as in Canada, as well as our own Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz. Hazon’s food work also includes an annual food conference, a food curriculum (written by Nigel and Anna Stevenson) and the award-winning blog, “The Jew & The Carrot.” (One of the “Outside the Bubble” Jewish blogs linked on BJN’s front page — Ed.)

Nigel has taught in a variety of settings, including the General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities (now the Jewish Federations of North America), the Wexner Heritage Conference, the UJA Young Leadership Conference, the leadership retreat of the Dorot Fellows in Israel and the World Union of Jewish Students. His articles have appeared in various publications including The Forward and the Jerusalem Report.

Before founding Hazon, Nigel was a professional fund manager in the English equivalent of Wall Street, where he worked for the Rothschilds and was co-head of UK Equities at John Govett & Co. He has an MA in American Jewish History from Georgetown, and learned at Pardes, Yakar, Hebrew University and Jerusalem Fellows.

He serves on the board of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, is a founder and advisory board member of Limmud NY, and a member of the international Limmud board. In 2008 Hazon was recognized by the Sierra Club as one of 50 leading faith-based environmental organizations; Hazon was in the Slingshot 50 for the fourth consecutive year; and Nigel was named a member of the Forward 50 – together with Rahm Emanuel, Jon Stewart and Sarah Silverman, among others.

Nigel is infamous in the UK for his cameo appearance in the cult Anglo-Jewish comic movie, “Leon The Pig Farmer”, and was the Executive Producer of the British independent movies “Solitaire For 2″ and “Stiff Upper Lips”.  He is also believed to be the first English Jew to have cycled across South Dakota on a recumbent bike.

Visit this link for more information about Hazon events in Colorado, and here is a recent BJN story about Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz, explaining how you can get involved.

If you have any questions, please contact me at boulderjewishcsa@gmail.com

Meet the Farmer

Open to the entire Jewish community:
Sunday, February 7 – 11am at Congregation Har HaShem (3950 Baseline Road – South Building)
Sunday, February 7 – 1pm at Boulder Jewish Community Center (3800 Kalmia Ave.)

Feel free to bring a friend or pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.

For more information, you can reach us at boulderjewishcsa@gmail.com

BOULDER TUV HA’ARETZ
Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz, a Hazon Community-Supported Agriculture program, is a partnership of Congregation Aish Kodesh, Congregation Bonai Shalom, Nevei Kodesh, Adventure Rabbi: Synagogue Without Walls, Pardes Levavot, and Congregation Har Hashem with Red Wagon Organic Farm.

Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz, a Hazon Community-Supported Agriculture program, is a partnership of Congregation Aish Kodesh, Congregation Bonai Shalom, Nevei Kodesh, Adventure Rabbi: Synagogue Without Walls, Pardes Levavot, and Congregation Har Hashem with Red Wagon Organic Farm.

Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz puts the purchasing power of the Boulder Jewish community behind local, sustainable, organic agriculture.

Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz members get a summer of fresh, local, organic produce, as well as a wealth of Jewish programming around food and food issues.

Last year we had 75 members supporting a total of 65 shares. This year we are hoping to expand.

The cost of a regular share is $517 for 22 weeks or $23.50/week.

There are two pick up locations:  one at the Boulder JCC on Tuesday from 4-7pm and the second at Congregation Bonai Shalom on Thursday from 4-7pm.

For a produce calendar, look at: Red Wagon Organic Farm (scroll down — it’s towards the bottom of the page).

Applications are now available. The deadline is February 17, after which applications will only be taken until all spaces are filled.

For more information or forms, please contact boulderjewishcsa@gmail.com.

Mick Fine is a Jewish educator who is currently enrolled in the Rabbinical School at JTS. Mick completed a B.A. in Hebrew Language and Literature at the Ohio State University and an M.A. in Teaching Hebrew at Brandeis University, where he was a DeLeT fellow. He taught Hebrew, Torah and Talmud at the Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan for the past two years, and was involved in Hazon‘s curriculum development and implementation.

At Congregation Bonai Shalom, Saturday, January 23 at 1pm. This visit is sponsored by Tuv Ha’Aretz, with funding by 18 Pomegranates.

About Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz:  The Hazon Community-Supported Agriculture program is a partnership of Congregations Aish Kodesh, Bonai Shalom, Nevei Kodesh, Adventure Rabbi, Pardes Levavot, and Har HaShem with Red Wagon Organic Farm.