Negev Nectar Staff
Marvin Israelow, Founder
Marvin was first introduced to the Negev more than 40 years ago. Working as a volunteer on Kibbutz Lahav during the summer of 1966 he developed an attachment to the land and an appreciation for the pioneering spirit of the people. For the past 30 years he and his extended family have been involved with Ben Gurion University of the Negev, inspired by the commitment of the University to fulfill David Ben Gurion’s vision of making the desert bloom.
Marvin and his family have continued to look for opportunities to help support the applied research of BGU focused on making life sustainable not only in the Negev but also in other desert regions of the world as well. Several years ago he was introduced to Dr. Zeev Wiesman of BGU who had been conducting research on sustainable plant life in the desert for nearly a decade, gaining recognition last year as the world-wide expert in the field with the publication of Desert Olive Oil Cultivation. Marvin was intrigued to learn that certain plant varieties, including olive trees, tend to thrive on brackish water and that the Negev holds a very large quantity of brackish water in underground aquifers. He sampled the olive oil from several farmers and was pleasantly surprised to discover the high quality of oil that was being produced and further that a few of these farmers were growing their crops organically. Future trips to the farms revealed additional agricultural treasurers. Marvin created Negev Nectars to connect a select group of Israeli farmers with American consumers and to help these farmers expand the market for their products.
Jeffrey Yoskowitz, Operations and Marketing
Jeffrey has been active in the sustainable food world for a number of years, as an activist, writer and speaker. He sat on Hazon’s Executive Planning Committee for the 2009 Jewish Food Conference. During his time at Brown University Jeffrey focused his energies on transforming how the University’s Jewish community sourced its foods and simultaneously worked with the local community center nursery school on enhancing their menu. He has since been an Adamah Jewish Environmental Fellow where he learned the principles of organic agriculture and put them into practice. He returned to Adamah after a year in Israel to make pickles, jams and other value added products, focusing on product development and marketing. He now sits on the organization’s steering committee. While in Israel, Jeffrey wrote for the Green Prophet, a Middle Eastern environmental blog, and deeply engaged with Israel’s organic scene. He even worked on a number of farms, one of which was at Kibbutz Lahav in the desert. Negev Nectars is a perfect synthesis of Jeffrey’s belief in sustainable living and his connection to Israel.
email Jeffrey at jeffrey@NegevNectars.com