ENCINITAS—The Leichtag Foundation’s “Farmer D” has won a major food-writing award.
Daron Joffe, the foundation’s director of agricultural innovation and development, won an award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals – one of world’s two major food-writing awards – for his book “Citizen Farmers: The Biodynamic Way to Grow Healthy Food, Build Thriving Communities, and Give Back to the Earth.”
“I am honored and humbled by the IACP award,” Joffe said in a news release. “Everyone can be a farmer and make a contribution to a better and more sustainable world. This book was written to empower people to find their soul in their food and share it with their community.”
In the book, Joffe writes that the “citizen farmer” movement is about “taking actions that foster a healthier, more sustainable food system and passing these values to the next generation.”
Joffe has helped to spearhead Leichtag’s development of the former Ecke Ranch property into an educational community farm inspired by Jewish agricultural traditions. One of the farm’s goals is to improve the local food system, according to a news release from the Foundation.
He has also been actively involved in the discussions of the city’s urban agriculture ordinance, which seeks to make the regulatory climate in Encinitas more hospitable to farming and agriculture.
Joffe will be speaking and signing books on May 17 at Eco-Fest at 450 Quail Gardens Dr.
