Bela Farm offers a new way of stewarding the land
Artist Rochelle Rubinstein saved 99 acres of prime organic farmland from development. Over the past decade she has created a space for community to grow and engage with the land while subverting capitalism and offering another model for land owners and farmers to work together.
U of T graduate students experience life on the farm for pastoral literature course
This summer, Professor Andrea Most’s American Pastoral course taught students what it’s like to work in the field – literally. Going back to ancient times, pastoral literature has idealized rural life and landscapes for urban audiences, often relocating a troubled urban character to a rural setting for reflection and redemption. In a world facing dire environmental […]
Centre for sustainable, land-based Judaism opens in Ontario
More than 200 people came out June 26 to celebrate the opening of Bela Farm, a 114-acre centre for sustainable, land-based Judaism. Risa Alyson Cooper, executive director of the grassroots Jewish environmental organization Shoresh, which runs the farm, located in Hillsburgh, Ont., one hour northwest of Toronto, said she was “thrilled to see a very diverse […]