27 Mar 2017
Beit Jala, Palestine
Sustainable Food and Agriculture

Hosh Jasmin is an organic farm and a restaurant set on a hillside in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, which serves traditional Palestinian food. The ambiance, the food served and the facilities offered in Hosh Jasmin makes it a unique place for many people to exchange experiences and support a sustainable lifestyle.

Mazen Saadeh and Aidan Pendleton created this project in 2012 with the aim to produce their own food. Since the beginning, Hosh Jasmin produced varieties of 100% organic vegetables including eggplants, tomatoes, green beans, and many others. More recently, Hosh Jasmin has also started to produce its own organic wine and arak. Thanks to its employees, seven people from the local community, the restaurant offers visitors a plethora of Palestinian food.

Hosh Jasmin also offers hiking, camping, art workshops, volunteering, screening films, music events, and among other activities once per month Hosh Jasmin organizes the Full Moon Night. In addition, this inclusive restaurant provides for free its space for all organisations to arrange their own events.

Hosh Jasmin seeks to inspire an agricultural revolution in the region, by providing a healthy food, and showing the need to take care of the land, the nature and the culture for a better future, but this is not a local dream, in 2016 Mazen Saadeh has started a brother and sister project in Nicaragua, called Hosh Mombacho, with the same objectives.

Our objectives are to sustain the life and offer local employment opportunities, but we also want to offer an artist-friendly space, a place where people feel safe and relax, eat good and healthy food, and enjoy the nature”. Mazen Saadeh, owner of the organic farm and restaurant.
An Organic Farm-to-Table Cuisine on a hillside near Bethlehem | The Switchers

Photos by Hosh Jasmin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hosh-Jasmin/226947110764271?fref=ts

Story by Lydia Chaparro

Lydia is a Marine Ecologist with an MA in Biodiversity Conservation. She works with topics linked to fisheries management, marine reserves and responsible seafood consumption. In her spare time, she is also an activist within different NGOs and she has contributed by writing Switchers stories mostly related to marine issues. Find her online @Lydia_ChE

Hosh Jasmin Organic Food and Agriculture