{"id":439748,"date":"2010-03-17T13:53:04","date_gmt":"2010-03-17T17:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogs.rj.org,2010:\/rac\/\/2.2581"},"modified":"2010-03-17T15:07:38","modified_gmt":"2010-03-17T19:07:38","slug":"whats-food-got-to-do-with-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/439748","title":{"rendered":"What’s Food Got To Do With It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JNamerow.jpg\"<\/span>Jordan Namerow is the Senior Communications Associate of
\nAmerican Jewish World Service.
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

Why
\ndoes a typical family in the developing world spend 80 percent of its income on
\nfood? Why are more than a billion people chronically hungry when our planet
\nproduces more than enough food to feed everyone? These are just two of the
\nquestions that Jewish communities around the world will be exploring this
\nweekend during Global Hunger Shabbat<\/a>. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Global
\nHunger Shabbat was created by American Jewish World Service (AJWS)<\/a> as a
\nday of solidarity, education, reflection and advocacy to raise awareness about
\nglobal hunger, why it exists and what can be done to help the more than one
\nbillion people worldwide–60 percent of whom are women–without sufficient food. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

You
\nmight be wondering, why should Jews care about global hunger? As many of us
\nknow well, food is a central part of Jewish experience–challah, matzoh ball
\nsoup, kreplach, corned beef, kishkes, cholent, I could go on. Culinary
\naffinities aside, food is at the core of our very existence. In the words of Pirke
\nAvot<\/i> (Ethics of the Fathers) 3:21, “Without sustenance, there is no Torah.”
\nIn other words, without food, there is no education, no progress, no justice.
\nWithout food, it is impossible to think and impossible to thrive.<\/p>\n

If
\nfood is fundamental to Judaism, then its inverse–hunger–is antithetical to
\nliving a Jewish life. As Jews, it’s our responsibility to help create a more
\njust world, and that includes making sure that everyone has access to the food
\nthey need. <\/p>\n

As
\npart of its Fighting Hunger from the Ground Up<\/a>
\ncampaign, AJWS is supporting over 80 grassroots organizations in the developing
\nworld that are implementing sustainable solutions to global hunger: creating
\n“kitchen garden” programs in urban areas; teaching women how to farm using
\nagro-ecological farming methods; developing seed banks and innovative storage
\nfacilities for harvested crops; advocating for the land and water rights of
\nmarginalized indigenous populations and much more.<\/p>\n

An
\nestimated 5,000 people from 100 synagogues, 30 college campuses and 40
\nindependent communities in 20 U.S.<\/ns0:country> states, Canada<\/ns0:country>,
\nNew Zealand<\/ns0:country>, India<\/ns0:country>, Cape
\n Verde<\/ns0:country>, Uganda<\/ns0:country>, Kenya<\/ns0:country>,
\nCambodia<\/ns0:country> and Thailand<\/ns0:country><\/st1:place>
\nwill be observing Global Hunger Shabbat, using original
\neducational resources created by AJWS<\/a>, free and downloadable on the AJWS
\nwebsite. <\/p>\n

Congregations
\nin New York<\/st1:state>, L.A.<\/st1:city>,
\nReno<\/st1:city>, Austin<\/st1:city>, Stamford<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>, and in many
\nother cities are hosting events ranging from a social justice learner’s service
\nto a scholar-in-residence program on Jews and food around the world; from
\ndiscussions about synagogue gardens to conversations about organic food
\nproduction and how to connect with local farmers. In Portland<\/st1:city>, Oregon<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>,
\nan alumnus of AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, has organized Global Hunger
\nShabbat as a kick-off event to jumpstart a new Jewish social justice community.
\nAnd in Scarsdale<\/st1:city>, New York<\/st1:state>,
\nthe Global Hunger Shabbat gathering at the Westchester<\/st1:placename> Reform<\/st1:placename>
\n Temple<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> will be joined by
\nCongresswoman Nita Lowey!<\/p>\n

Even
\nif you or your congregation can’t participate in Global Hunger Shabbat, we
\nencourage you to use AJWS’s resources on global hunger including a prayer
\nfor people living in hunger around the world<\/a>, text
\nstudy resources<\/a>, and youth
\nactivities and lesson plans<\/a> any time during the year.<\/p>\n

For
\nmore information about Fighting Hunger from the Ground Up<\/b> and to sign up
\nfor Global Hunger Shabbat, visit http:\/\/ajws.org\/hunger\/<\/a>. Be sure
\nto also check out our “From the Ground” blog<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jordan Namerow is the Senior Communications Associate of American Jewish World Service. Why does a typical family in the developing world spend 80 percent of its income on food? Why are more than a billion people chronically hungry when our planet produces more than enough food to feed everyone? These are just two of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4316,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}