Healthy on an Urban Farm

What do you hope will come out of the Brooklyn Food Conference?

I am really excited about the organizing; we had 3000 people coming together to share ideas. We are now creating a plan for involvement over the next year, maybe doing the conference again. People were empowered to discuss food, to bring about change about how food comes into their communities, not just food deserts but all communities.

What inspires you?

As part of running a mission, you feed, you clothe, and you house. You work with those who are impoverished, and you become sensitive to how they can be restored, their lives enhanced, through a connection to the Creator. People think that those who are down stay down, but people can recover, become successful, and break out of the cycle of poverty. That's what excites me.

More information about the Brooklyn Rescue Mission, including the Bed-Stuy Farm and the Malcolm X Farmer's Market, can be found at http://brooklynrescuemission.org/

This article was first published in The Jew & The Carrot, a blog about Jews, food, and sustainability. It brings together 3,000 years of Jewish thought and food tradition with contemporary issues like sustainability, organic eating, nutrition, food politics, and healthy, delicious cooking.

Rachel Kahn-Troster is Director of Education and Outreach for Rabbis for Human Rights North America. Recently ordained as a rabbi from the Jewish Theological Seminary, she lives in Teaneck, New Jersey with her husband and daughter, and is a teacher of Jews of all ages.