Advertising itself as Israel’s first food-focused conference, “Mazon Le-Machshava” or food for thought, opens in the Tel Aviv port next Thursday, November 19.

In addition to a Top Chef-style cookdown to produce the tastiest meal with the lowest carbon footprint, the conference also promises conversations about farming, energy and water.

It taps into a growing trend – organic farming has a following not only in Israel, but also in the West Bank and Jordan.

The featured speaker is Ruth Ozeki, author of “My Year of Meats” (1998), about two women living in Japan and America and connecting over a TV cooking show.

Sponsors include the Heschel Center, the Arava Institute, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Tel Aviv University.

The conference costs a recommended 80 shekels for Thursday, and extra for tours and workshops held on Friday, November 20th.

You can register and pay online, and it seems if you can’t pay the full freight, you can choose how much to contribute. For more info, go to foodforthought.org.il, or email kenes.mazon@gmail.com.