Netiya/VBS Harold M. Schulweis Day School/MLK Day

Netiya/Valley Beth Shalom Harold M. Schulweis Day School/MLK Day

One of the best ways to spend a winter day in Los Angeles is with your hands in the soil of a vegetable garden harvesting a stalk of broccoli. That’s exactly how the 4^th graders at Valley Beth Shalom Harold M. Schulweis Day School spent Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this year, partnering with Netiya, the interfaith food justice network.

Parents and siblings joined the students during this national day of service to harvest Brussels sprouts, rosemary and Swiss chard from the Shared Earth Project. This joint community garden on land serving the Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City, Temple Beth Ohr and Congregation Tikkun Olam faith communities was mounted with Netiya’s guidance.  

The Los Angeles-based nonprofit, founded by Rabbi Noah Zvi Farkas of VBS in 2010, cultivates gardens on unused congregational land to grow and tithe nutritious food. It fosters collaboration around food procurement and food relief, so that Angelenos of all faiths can have greater access to food that is worthy of a blessing.

“For Netiya, urban gardening on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a powerful community tool for our congregations, said Devorah Brous, Netiya founding executive director. “It really brings home the message that access to healthy food is a right worth organizing for.”

Since March 2011, the 44+ member network’s Just Garden program has worked with organizations to install and/or upgrade 12 sustainable gardens in organizations such as Ikar, Prince of Peace Church and the Masjid Bilal Mosque. Produce from the gardens goes through a reverse tithing – 90% to be donated, 10% for the institution.

According to Kim Schaeffler, Netiya’s education representative that morning, “when people connect back with nature, it enables a greater spiritual connection. People are part of an inter-dependent environment where everything has its purposes and value. It’s important for us to understand that and be good global stewards.”

Netiya's Just Foods program, the educational arm, works with institutions to help them make informed and ethical choices about procuring food and distributing leftover or community-grown food.

“This program creates educational content designed to help expand understanding of the issues related to our broken food system,” Brous said. “We develop material for celebrating our harvest festivals and approach community building through growing food and sourcing food locally.

“There are many important life lessons that our students learn through gardening, said Rabbi Avi Taff of the Day School.  “Taking care of the earth, learning to be self-sustaining while at the same time leaving the corners of our fields for the poor.”  

Monday’s harvesting activities are part of the 4th graders family experience in which students and their families participate in their mitzvah project to feed the hungry. Throughout the year they have the opportunity to volunteer on a Sunday at the SOVA food bank, take part in experiences like Netiya’s Just Gardens and help feed the hungry with Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission. 

The 4^th graders also collect canned food on a weekly basis and every Rosh Chodesh (new moon) the students bring in fresh produce, either purchased or from their home gardens, to donate to SOVA.  In the last two months they’ve donated over 1,000 pounds of fresh produce.

Dana Hadl, Netiya executive board member and director of the synagogue’s Community Supported Agriculture program, feels strongly that fresh produce should not be a privilege. “I’m happy to be working with an organization that is so committed to food justice.”

Her daughter Lilah, 10, liked being surround by the garden’s beauty and Ari, 6, liked learning about the plants and tasting them.

Sunny Rad thought it was “such a valuable experience for our kids to see that everyone deserves to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables.” For Noah, 7, helping in the garden meant helping the homeless. Ten year old Jasmine “liked the garden because people can stop eating canned food and start making better food choices by eating more fruits and vegetables.”

Rose Bicas-Dolgen, 9, especially liked harvesting the broccoli. “I think it's important to plant, harvest and donate fresh produce,” she said, “because everyone should be able to have fresh fruits and vegetables on their table because they are yummy and nutritious.”

Monday’s harvest was taken to SOVA by Heather Binder and her boys Ben, 9 and Adam, 11. Ben thought the composting was really cool because he didn't know plants could be turned into dirt. His brother Adam said working in the garden on Martin Luther King Day was special because he felt like he made a difference in the world.

“Netiya has become a hub for interfaith food justice work in the city, Brous said. “This has been our intention from the moment we set down our roots. All over the city fallow land comes to blush with fertility, feeding those who are food insecure.”

Article and pictures by Bobbi Rubinstein