16 August 8 • 2019
jn
Hazon’
s annual Jewish Food Festival brings new pathways to learn about sustainability.
I
f you think you know what to
expect from Hazon’
s Michigan
Jewish Food Festival, think again.
For the festival’
s fourth year, Hazon,
a Jewish organization dedicated to
sustainability and education, decided
to go big.
With approximately 47 vendors,
15 food trucks and caterers, and 64
Jewish organizations participating,
director Marla Schloss expects this
year’
s festival to be spectacular. The
event is from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday,
Aug. 18, at Eastern Market, Shed 5,
in Detroit.
“This is bigger and better than pre-
vious years,” she said. “We’
ve added
so much, and we are so excited.”
The goal of the festival is to
educate people on sustainability
practices they can incorporate into
their daily lives. The event itself is
almost entirely waste-free, with no
bottled water, cans or Styrofoam
plates allowed. Even the signage and
balloons will be made with recycled
items and be completely biodegrad-
able. What little waste the festival
will produce will be sorted by a com-
pany called Zero Waste Productions
into recyclables and compostable
items, eliminating any waste.
Attendees of the festival can
expect to experience hands-on
activities and lots of food, as well as
live music. Activities outside Shed 5
will be covered by a canopy, keep-
ing patrons safe no matter what the
weather.
This year, Hazon is including a
section called ArtSpace featuring
artists who use sustainable practices.
Here, attendees will also be able to
make decorative pins out of DIA art
slides rendered obsolete by the inter-
net. This “upcycling” of the slides
into wearable art prevents them
from ending up in landfills.
Another activity allows visitors
to watch a craftsman from Pingree
Detroit make a pair of leather shoes.
The company was created by war
veterans who recycle leather scraps
from automotive companies and
use them to make shoes, wallets
and backpacks and more — a prime
example of a sustainable business.
Also new this year is the Family
Pavilion, a rest area for families
with small children complete with
blankets, pillows and quiet activities
such a games and books, all geared
toward furthering children’
s educa-
tion and understanding of environ-
mentalism.
Of course, a food festival wouldn’
t
be complete without lots of food.
Hazon supports local farmers who
want to do things sustainably, and
many will provide samples of their
produce.
Detroit Hives, a company that
creates urban bee farms, will exhibit
one of its farms. Festival goers will
be able to see what happens in a bee-
hive and what goes into creating and
harvesting honey.
Farber Farm, part of Tamarack
Camps in associate with Hazon
Detroit, will provide cuca-melons,
a mini hybrid cucumber melon,
for people to sample, and will offer
information about Michigan crops.
Tolgate Farms from Michigan
State University will bring along
some fuzzy friends including a goat,
lamb and chicken. Patrons will be
able to spin their own wool and
make bracelets from the yarn.
Hazon’
s trademark Topsy-Turvy
Bus, a vehicle that runs on vegetable
oil and solar power, is an education
tool as well as a crowd favorite,
Schloss said.
“Education is so important to us,”
Schloss said. “If we are able to move
someone one degree toward change,
that’
s one step in the right direction.
If we all think a little bit and every-
one takes just one step, think of the
difference it could make.” ■
For details or to volunteer, contact marla.
schloss@hazon.org or visit hazon.org/miff.
jews d
in
the
JESSIE COHEN JN INTERN
COURTESY HAZON
HAZON DETROIT
Hazon Detroit board member and food festival
committee member Carol Trowell with Marla
Schloss, festival director
Going Big, Going Green
An overall shot of last year’
s
Hazon Jewish Food Festival at
Eastern Market’
s Shed 5
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz (FL-23) on July 30
introduced the Trauma-Informed
Modernization of Eldercare
(TIME) for Holocaust Survivors
Act legislation that would help
ensure the roughly 80,000
Holocaust survivors now living in
the United States can get access to
the specialized care and services
tailored to their unique health
needs.
“Holocaust survivors have
endured the worst of human
atrocities and deserve special care
for the duration of their remaining
years,” said Wasserman Schultz.
“The TIME for Holocaust Survivors
Act can tend to that unique pain
in this closing chapter of their lives
and allow them to live out their
remaining years with dignity.”
The TIME for Holocaust
Survivors Act designates survivors
as a group with a significant social
need within the Older Americans
Act and creates a portfolio within
the Administration on Community
Living to take responsibility for
Holocaust-related issues.
The legislation also promotes
technical assistance and training
for nonprofits that serve older
adults still experiencing the long-
term consequences of this historic
trauma. In addition, TIME ensures
that nutrition services through
the Older Americans Act meet the
special dietary needs of Holocaust
survivors and others.
TIME for Holocaust
Survivors Act
Introduced in Congress
Detroit’
s Conservative community
will observe Tisha b’
Av at 10 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 10, with Ma’
ariv and
Eichah (Book of Lamentations) at
Congregation B’
nai Moshe in West
Bloomfield.
Tisha b’
Av, the ninth day of the
Hebrew month of Av, marks the
destruction of the first and second
Temples, as well as a variety of
other tragedies throughout Jewish
history. This special service is
marked by somber melodies,
the chanting of the Book of
Lamentations and other liturgical
poems.
Tisha b’
Av Observance