The Jewish food sustainability nonprofit Hazon and the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center announced their merger this week. The new entity will be called Hazon and will be headquartered in Falls Village, Conn. (where the retreat center is located) and New York.

Deborah Newbrun

Hazon also has offices in San Francisco and Colorado.

The new organization will include affiliated Jewish nonprofits such as the Teva Learning Alliance, the Jewish environmental fellowship Adamah, and the Jew and the Carrot (a Jewish food blog in partnership with the Forward). Hazon is best known for its environmental education outreach, food conferences and long-distance bike rides.

Adam Berman, founder of Adamah and a former Hazon board member, now heads Urban Adamah in Berkeley. Speaking of the merger, he said, “The growth and partnership of Urban Adamah and Hazon in the Bay Area is a good example of how we can renew Jewish life in incredibly profound ways.”

Adam Berman

Added Deborah Newbrun, director of Hazon’s San Francisco office, “Part of the intention is to grow the impact of what both organizations do nationally.”

David Weisberg, the executive director of Isabella Freedman, will be the merged organization’s new CEO and Hazon founder Nigel Savage will serve as president.

For more information, visit www.hazon.org. — jta & j. staff