Websites
Just Food “works to increase access to fresh, healthy food in New York City and to support the local farms and urban gardens that grow it.” Its mission is to connect underserved neighborhoods and communities with agriculture sources, including CSAs and city farms. In the city, Just Food tackles deficiencies in food access and security by increasing the production, marketing, and distribution of fresh food from community gardens and urban agriculture sites, as well as by promoting CSA initiatives.
New York City Coalition Against Hunger
NYCCAH “represents the more than 1,200 nonprofit soup kitchens and food pantries in New York City and the more than 1.4 million low-income New Yorkers who live in homes that can’t afford enough food. The Coalition works to meet the immediate food needs of low-income New Yorkers and enact innovative solutions to help them move “beyond the soup kitchen” to self-sufficiency.” NYCCAH supports the work of emergency food programs throughout the city and promotes public policies designed to eliminate hunger.
A blog about “consuming less, eating more,” by Cathy Erway, author of “The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove.” Cathy’s focus is avoiding eating food from restaurants, street stands or other venues in New York, instead preparing all her own food.
Slow Food NYC: Snail of Approval
Directory of food establishments that contribute “to the quality, authenticity and sustainability of the food supply of the City of New York,” courtesy of the Slow Food NYC chapter. “In order to help guide New Yorkers and visitors to food that is good, clean, and fair, Slow Food NYC awards the Snail of Approval to those producers, purveyors, and artisans who contribute to” these qualities “of the food we eat and the beverages we drink in the City of New York. Quality is fundamental – food must taste good and be good for us. Authenticity means that the food is true to its source. Sustainability means that we must pay attention to the consequences of how we produce and distribute food.”
Official website for a documentary about a community garden in Los Angeles.
“Civil Eats promotes critical thought about sustainable agriculture and food systems aspart of building economically and socially just communities. In our efforts, we support the development of a dialog among local and national leaders about the American food system, and its effects abroad. Civil Eats can be humorous, serious, academic, philosophical, conversational – its style of conversation is as diverse as its 40+ contributors – but it is always thought provoking, innovative, and focused on food politics.”
“We are seeking partnerships with developers willing to temporarily transform their idle land to farmyard; homeowners who want to eat from their own yard; and city agencies holding under-utilized land. Our strategy is to stay nimble, growing food between the cracks of urban development.”
Hazon “works to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community and a healthier and more sustainable world for all.” Hazon provides physical challenges and food-related programming designed to promote and support sustainable communities and the environment.
Avodah, The Jewish Service Corps, “strengthens the Jewish community’s fight against the causes and effects of poverty in the United States. We do this by engaging participants in service and community building that inspires them to become lifelong agents for social change whose work for justice is rooted in and nourished by Jewish values.” Corps participants work full-time for ayear at anti-poverty organizations in Chicago, New Orleans, New York, and Washington, DC. Avodah partners with Pursue to keep Corps participants engaged in working for social change.
AJWS is committed to tzedakah, or charity: “empowering people throughout the world to achieve justice and self-sufficiency through the promotion of human rights, education, economic development, healthcare and sustainable agriculture.” Its mission is to alleviate “poverty, hunger and disease among the people of the developing world regardless of race, religion or nationality.” One of AJWS’s campaigns is Fighting Hunger From the Ground Up, which supports the ability of local farms to meet community needs.
Jewish Food in the Hands of Heathens
This blog is written by “Jews who share a fondness for cooking and eating.” Many posts provide recipes as well as reflections on remembered cooking experiences.
Other organizations of interest include City Harvest, Robin Hood, and Do Something.
Recommended Reading
The ‘Food Justice’ Movement: Trying to Break the Food Chains – Gotham Gazette (an old article, but a good overview of the movement)
For a Healthier Bronx, a Farm of Their Own and Making It Easier to Eat Local Food – New York Times
The work of Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman
Brooklyn Bridge CSA 