food choices

Following on the heels of transportation efficiency, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) urges consumers to make food-related choices the next priority for helping to reduce the size of their ecological “footprint.” Food is central to human survival, and often a central feature in many congregations: whether as a sacramental part of worship, an important dimension of fellowship, or an absolute necessity to those in need. The UCS writes:

Many congregational organizers have helped other members become aware of such environmental facts, as well as the impacts that their food choices have on farm workers, family farms, other species, and personal health. By fostering such awareness, people can begin to explore food choices that have a beneficial impact on the rest of creation. These more life-giving choices include: eating lower on the food-chain (i.e., less meat); buying organic produce; supporting local, family farms; growing some of your own food; and other choices that ensure greater health for individual consumers, farming communities, and ecosystems.

One congregation’s experience …
“St. Leo Serves Up Cups of Justice”

Lynda Flannagan, a Colleague from St. Leo Roman Catholic Parish in Tacoma, recently wrote, “The St. Leo Emergency Services is selling Equal Exchange coffee and tea as part of Seattle Audubon’s Shade-grown Coffee Program.” With money raised from sales of the coffee and tea, the Emergency Services is better able to respond to requests for rent, utilities, prescription medicines, and other basic necessities from those who need them the most. They order about $500-worth of coffee and tea every three weeks and have fifty parishioners who buy on a fairly regular basis.

She said: “The only problems we’ve had are finding the $500 to get started and getting reliable, responsible people to help with sales at all three masses. The first $500 came out of our Emergency Services funds and we were really worried that we might not make it back. We gave out coffee samples at fellowship after church and bought the paper cups imprinted with the Equal Exchange logo, for the samples. We figured that it would be okay to spend the extra money to promote the coffee. People thought that it would taste peculiar or not be as flavorful as the sun grown coffee; but after sampling it people were saying, ‘Wow, this is really good!’ We ‘broke even’ the first Sunday and sold out completely the next Sunday.”

As far as finding reliable people to sell the coffee and tea, Lynda wrote, “Lots of folks will help but they are not willing to take on the responsibility for making sure they take care of details like having change when they start …” or replenishing supplies as they run out. She’s helped to solve these logistical problems by purchasing an inexpensive roll-away cart that carries all of the needed supplies. She is also able to call on reliable people she knows who will already have a commitment to selling the coffee and tea – volunteers from the parish’s “Eco-spirit” and Emergency Services groups.

Educational Resources

· Earth Ministry’s Food & Faith: Justice, Joy, and Daily Bread focuses on the enjoyment of food, on our food choices as a dimension of Christian spirituality, on the ways in which eating connects us to the land and to each other, and on the responsibilities of eating as they relate to the economic, environmental, and cultural implications of our daily food choices. It encourages movement from passive consumerism to mindful participation in all the systems involved in bringing food from farmer to table. The book includes an extensive resource guide on where to shop (both locally and nationally) for more earth-friendly food and provides ideas on how to support local, sustainable agriculture. In addition, it includes an eight-session curricular group learning experience.

One congregation’s experience …
“St. Andrew’s and Food”

Sharon Wilson is a Colleague at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Seattle. Sharon helped to bring together a group to explore Earth Ministry’s Food, Faith and Sustainability (an anthology and study guide). The members appreciated the study and, in addition to personal lifestyle changes, the group asked church leaders to include a vegetarian option at church events. They hoped that this would help vegetarian members to feel more included and encourage others to eat lower on the food-chain. As a wrap-up to the study, Sharon and others made a presentation to an adult education class that summarized the group’s learnings as well as concerns about the World Trade Organization’s food policies. One of the group’s basic messages (according to Sharon): “Learning to eat and live more sustainably is an ongoing process for each of us, both individually and collectively; we need to keep that in mind as we make our food choices each day.”

More congregational members have begun to realize the value of supporting local and sustainable food systems. For example, several years ago a youth member helped to start a church vegetable garden, and even got a small grant from the city to help do so. The church’s preschool program and a few adult members continued to tend the garden and they contributed its produce to local hunger programs. Every year, St. Andrew’s also serves as a pick-up site for a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), subscription-based program. In doing so, the church provides a vital link between local organic farmers – who happen to be recent immigrants – and consumers (the “subscribers”). Subscribers are both community residents and church members. Furthermore, any produce that subscribers don’t claim during their weekly pick-ups is donated to the Refugee Resettlement program, which is housed at St. Andrew’s. No food is wasted, and it reaches people who need it
the most.

· The Union of Concerned Scientists’ Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices, by Michael Brower and Warren Leon, provides helpful information on the ecological impact of our food choices and how to lessen this impact. To carry out a food consumption audit, see EarthScore: Your Personal Environmental Audit & Guide by Donald W. Lotter (see our Recommend Curricular Aids and Congregational Resources guide for a description).

· For children and youth, you may want to look at relevant sections (e.g., “What Did You Have for Dinner?”) in Christie Jenkins’ books, Loving Our Neighbor the Earth and Your Will Be Done on Earth. See our Recommend Curricular Aids and Congregational Resources guide for more information on these books.

· An excellent, faith-based video for learning about hunger, food security, and global food economics is The Global Banquet: The Politics of Food, by Maryknoll World Productions.

Practical Resources

· Supporting local, small-scale agriculture ventures can be an ecologically-sound and socially-just activity for your congregation. For a listing of local farmers markets nation-wide, go to the USDA’s farmers market directory. To find out more about the nation-wide Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement, visit the Alternative Farming Information Center. This site will help to connect you with CSA farmers near you. To do a comprehensive search in your area for CSAs, farmers markets, u-pick locations, farm stands, and sources of fresh eggs, and meat visit Local Harvest.

· To find out more about sustainable agriculture, visit the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. Their site includes educational items, news and events, and links to organizations and individuals that support sustainable agriculture across the country.

· Coffee is the world’s second most heavily traded commodity (next to oil). Many congregations cherish their coffee hours as times of community building. Now congregations can buy and serve shade-grown, organic, and fair-trade coffee – coffee that benefits ecosystems and workers – as an example of their commitment to protecting communities and ecosystems world-wide. Excellent national programs, such as Equal Exchange and TransFair USA, help to bridge congregations and coffee farmers who grow coffee in ecologically-beneficial ways and receive a fair price for their work.

· When you and others in your congregation shop for food items, you can look for commonly found labels (often called “eco-labels”) that help to match your social and ecological standards with correlative farming practices. To see a listing of eco-labels go to the Consumer’s Union web site. Examples of these labels include:

o Fair Trade Certified – Companies have paid workers a living wage, ensured healthy working conditions, and work to protect and restore the natural environment.

o Organic Certified – Foods grown and processed without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, antibiotics, genetic engineering, irradiation, sewage sludge, artificial ingredients, and many other practices.

o Eco-OK – The Rainforest Alliance certifies foods that have been grown using environmentally-sound pest and disease management practices, soil and water conservation, and fair labor treatment practices.

o The Food Alliance (TFA) Certified – These foods meet TFA standards for pest and disease management, soil and water conservation, and “human resource development.”

· The Center for a New American Dream’s “Turn the Tide” program is able to calculate some of the positive impacts that your congregation makes when members decide to eat lower on the food-chain. This innovative web-based resource can give members the sense that their food choices can have a positive, measurable impact.

· For concerns about pesticides and information on organic agriculture, contact Washington Toxics Coalition.

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