Jewish community farms use farming, gardening, and food as a way to teach about Jewish tradition and heritage, build Jewish identity and community, and make the world a more just and sustainable place.
Coastal Roots Farm is a living Jewish farm, making practices that are thousands of years old relevant lessons for today and connecting people to compelling Jewish ideas through farming and food. These practices and ideas inform how we grow produce, share belongings, treat neighbors, observe the passing of time, celebrate and improve, care for plants and animals, and create a vibrant, welcoming community. All of this makes Coastal Roots Farm a Jewish farm for everyone.
We are inspired by Jewish values that are the basis for our deep commitment to responsible land stewardship; food justice including dignified access to fresh, healthy, affordable, and culturally-appropriate food for all; equitable access to education; and a safe and thriving Jewish community.
Additionally, ancient Jewish practices such as bal taschit (ethical consumption), shmita (honoring natural cycles of the earth), peah (lining the corners of one’s field with food for the stranger and poor), and tsa’ar ba’alei chaim (kind, humane treatment of animals) are as meaningful and relevant today as they have been over thousands of years and inform our work to care for community and the land.
JEWISH COMMUNITY FARMING
In response to a San Diego Jewish community demographic study and to combat food insecurity among low-income San Diego households, in 2014 the Leichtag Foundation incubated the Coastal Roots Farm which joined the growing movement of Jewish community farms around the country and serves as a unique, non-traditional, outdoor venue for creative Jewish expression in San Diego.
We are proud to be part of a national movement of Jewish Community Farming and part of a Field Building Initiative which integrates Jewish experiential education with agriculture. Its purpose is to cultivate community, promote environmental sustainability and food justice, foster opportunities for meaningful spiritual engagement and personal growth, and strengthen Jewish life. Click here to visit the Jewish Community Farming website.
Below are links to other Jewish community farms across North America:
Abundance Farm
Adamah/Isabella Freedman Center
Beantown Jewish Gardens
Eden Village Camp
Ekar Farm
Grow Torah
Jewish Farm School
Milk and Honey Farm
Pearlstone
Pushing the Envelope Farm
Shalom Institute
Shoresh Farm
Urban Adamah