On the Road with Fair Food - Hazon Food Conference

Oran Hesterman recently addressed over 300 activists, thinkers and doers of the New Jewish Food Movement on the campus of his Alma Mater, UC Davis, during Hazon’s Annual Food Conference. Hazon, which means "vision" in Hebrew, is an organization dedicated to creating healthy and sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond.

Oran on the UC Davis campus

Oran gave the keynote address on Friday evening of the conference, sharing personal stories of inspiration from his days as a young farmer in Santa Cruz and stories of hope from his trip to the Amazonian rainforest. He was joined in the discussion by farmer and educator Leon Vehaba, current coordinator of youth outreach programs at the UC Davis Student Farm, and Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein, an integrative pediatric neurologist in New York. The three discussed their visions for the New Jewish Food Movement.

On Sunday morning Oran spoke about the 2012 Farm Bill to a packed house. The Farm Bill had been a popular topic among conference participants over the weekend, and the audience was eager to know what they could do to take action and effect change. Oran presented a history of the Farm Bill and visions for 2012 to an excited audience ready to make change happen. He was joined by Dahlia Rockowitz, a member of American Jewish World Service’s advocacy team.

Oran speaks on the Farm Bill

The event closed with a shuk, or Market, where Oran joined other authors and vendors and  had a chance to present Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All and meet and greet personally with conference participants from across the country and around the globe. Oran shared a table with his sister, Arla Hesterman, whose delicious zemalach pastry were greeted with enthusiasm from the crowd and invoked the flavors of Oran and Arla’s grandmother’s kitchen.

Oran and Arla share a table at the shuk

Overall, the Hazon Conference was a fun opportunity for Oran to talk about his vision for a fair food future with a large group of engaged citizens. Many colleagues he has known for years participated in the conference, including cookbook author Joan Nathan, Judith Bell of PolicyLink, Rabbi and visionary Elisheva Brenner,  Brahm Ahmadi of People’s Grocery in Oakland, and David Schwartz of The Real Food Challenge.