AUGUST 18 • 2022 | 15

al programs the academy offers 
to students as young as middle 
school. The DFA trains students 
in culinary arts where they can 
eventually find employment and 
try their skills in one 
of the small batch 
companies in partner-
ship with the academy. 
Some of its most well-
known products are 
its Slow Jams, Mitten 
Bites Energy Bars and 
Popsicles, all available for pur-
chase at the festival. 
Author Anita Pazner of West 
Bloomfield will be reading and 
selling her new children’s book 
The Topsy Turvy Bus (2022 Kar-
Ben Publishing) a book about 
sustainability. Fueled with left-
over vegetable oil collected from 
restaurants, the real Topsy Turvy 
bus will be on site at the festival, 
and visitors can climb aboard, 
though it will stay put during the 
festival. Pazner will also teach 
about the values and importance 
of home composting with a 

hands-on demonstration. 
Inspiration for the book came 
to Pazner during volunteer out-
ings on the bus at the height of 
the pandemic. Former Hazon 
Detroit Director Wren Hack 
drove the bus to pick up used 
cooking oil in local restaurants 
and deliver food to area food 
banks. 
Pulling on the Jewish value 
of tikkun olam — repairing the 
world — Pazner said the book can 
show children of all faith back-
grounds that there are things they 
and their parents can do to make 
the Earth a healthier, more sus-
tainable place to live. 
“When I walk visitors through 
the bus, I’ll teach them how it 
uses vegetable oil and solar power 
and talk about the benefits of 
composting,” Pazner said. 
“I hope by visiting the bus, and 
by reading the book, kids and 
their parents will come to under-
stand that we can all perform tik-
kun olam one new, fresh idea at a 
time.” 

Scenes from the 2019 Jewish Food Fest, before the pandemic forced organizers to scale it back.

Anita 
Pazner
world — Pazner said the book can 

grounds that there are things they 

Scenes from the 2019 Jewish Food Fest, before the pandemic forced organizers to scale it back.
Scenes from the 2019 Jewish Food Fest, before the pandemic forced organizers to scale it back.