DEUT1011 The push for local, organic, and other alternatives to industrial agriculture is grounded in the need for healthy food and environmental stewardship, goals that reflect Jewish values as important as the impulse to feed everyone for as little cost as possible. From Leviticus to Maimonides, we are commanded to keep our bodies healthy, so that we might better serve God (or pursue tikkun olam). The commandment bal talchit, which enjoins, “Do not destroy things from which humanity may benefit,” reminds us to be good caretakers of our limited natural resources (Deuteronomy 20:19-20). The environmental and health effects of industrial agricultural--the contaminating sewage pools common at Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs, or factory farms), the air pollution and energy consumption that results from moving the average food item fifteen hundred miles from farm to fork, and the exploding levels of childhood obesity--make it increasingly clear that our Jewish tradition demands a change. The philosophy behind the Fresh Food Financing Initiative argues for a different set of food justice values than our traditional food policy: it's not just the quantity of food that matters, but quality, location, impact, and access. This vision of food justice means that all people should be able to obtain healthy food in their communities, not just buy massive quantities of cheap corn-based processed food products. It requires a turn away from subsidized corn and soy to a focus on producing fresh food and vegetables and consuming food grown within a few dozen miles of our homes instead of thousands of miles away. After all, the Talmud teaches that “it is forbidden to live in a city that does not have a green garden” (Kiddushin 4:12). (By Michael Namath and Rachel Cohen, “RAISING OUR VOICES FOR FOOD JUSTICE”)