Food and Faith

"The strawberries taste like strawberries!"

It isn't exactly the magical candyland of Willy Wonka,  
but it just so happened that when my parents and I were travelling in Peru, they were consistently amazed at the fierce flavors of seemingly commonplace foods. They remarked that they felt they were discovering tomatoes, grapes, lettuce, eggs and even meat for the first time, as if just now, after over half a century of "knowing" the flavors of these foods, they were really tasting them. 

We also ate new fruits unknown to us, like chirimoya, granadilla, and snozzberries.

Ok, not snozzberries ... "who ever heard of snozzberries?"

How sad, we remarked, that we have to go back to the US with its flavor-homogenized diet.

And why is it that the food in the US doesn't come close to the vibrant lip-smacking delight of strawberries that taste like strawberries?

Food eaten locally in Peru is not produced in industrial quantities the way that agriculture for export is or food grown in the US. It is not planted with GMO seeds that are manufactured to resist plagues, have harder shells, and withstand extreme temperatures. Fields are not smothered in petroleum-based fertilizers to compensate for lack of natural minerals and vitamins in the soil which have been leeched due to over-production, mono-cropping, and lack of rotation and "fallow" land (the practice of leaving a segment of land unplanted in order for it to recuperate its pH balance and nitrogen levels). Industrial agriculture overuses land to the point where plants need external elements to support their growth because soil nutrients are absent. So the "flavor" is fertilizer.

But in Peru the food is produced for eating, not just for selling. Land is ripe with nutrients and consciously maintained healthy in order to pass down to the next generation. That means they are filled with vitamins, minerals, and healing properties that get lost when the focus is on yield, export and profit. 

Food for export is harvested before being ripe and shipped in storage containers to the land of US box stores where it is displayed in styrofoam and plastic wrap, as disconnected from the land as possible. So strawberries with a sticker from Peru will not taste the same as strawberries bought at a local market in Peru.

But we buy it. We buy the whole story: still-green tomatoes, peeled, sliced and packaged carrots, boxed meals and canned vegetables. Because its easier to pay $50 for groceries than to scrub and peel potatoes or even harder, consider the impact of our purchase on the health of the land or our bodies.

I think if we actually knew what food was supposed to taste like, that is the flavor of Mother Nature and not of Monsanto, we would start to demand higher quality food. Maybe we wouldn't be able to handle it: our senses have become de-sensitized to the point where blandness is banal. And a strawberry is just a strawberry, after all, right?

When we eat, we should use all of our senses. And have faith that Mother Nature knows best what a strawberry should taste like.

I think with some creativity, we can bring around this change. After all, as Willy Wonka says, "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."

Paddle for the Planet finds hope on the Mississippi River

When my 76-year-old mother, 19-year-old nephew and I joined four high school juniors and leaders David and Sam T., they had already paddled 439 miles from Lake Itasca at the headwaters of the Mississippi to St. Cloud, Minnesota. We joined them for the final 81 miles of this 518-mile Paddle for the Planet.

Mary, Colby, Sophia and Jamiah; juniors at Scattergood Friends School

These students, plus Sam C. who left midstream when he got news that his best friend had died in a car accident ["Everyone, please drive defensively!"], had set out into the wilderness for four weeks with the gear they could lug on their capable backs, including water testing equipment to see how human activity was affecting the Mississippi River.

Minneapolis TV, WCCO, covered the story on the last day of paddling.

To prepare for the the trip, Jamiah had done a Dead Zone Report to explore how what folks do in Minnesota affects the health of the river and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico. To find out for themselves, they took nitrate samples each day from the river.

To their surprise, they found very few nitrates - almost none - in the river water!

Why is that important? Because it means that very little fertilizer run-off from farmland is flowing into the river during the weeks they tested. Potassium nitrate is used in chemical fertilizers to supply crops with nitrogen, along with the other key nutrients of potassium and phosphorus. I was eager to learn about the impact of agriculture along the river, and the fact that regulation could make a positive difference was very encouraging.

Here is trip leader, David Abazs, doing the nitrates test and talking about the revival of the Bald Eagle and other wildlife along the river.

Background on Paddle for the Planet:

As captured in the Paddle for the Planet bulletin insert (pdf) from Valley Community Presbyterian Church, who welcomed the group to join their Pentecost worship service and picnic last Sunday, the goals of Paddle for the Planet were to:

1) BUILD COMMUNITY along the river banks and within our international crew celebrating each other, the river and the planet
2) CONDUCT RESEARCH on water quality and watershed issues along the full length of the river
3) EDUCATE ourselves, the community and planet about our connections between the river, energy and agriculture.
4) FUND RAISE for non-profit organizations working on energy and agricultural issues.

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Other Paddle For The Planet Student Projects!
Renewable Energy Report Learn about Colby's thoughts on how renewable energy could play an important role in the future health of the river. 

Mississippi River Fish Report Sophia's interest in fish will look below the surface and some things may surprise you...

Phenology Report What is phenology? Well, Mary didn't know until she put together this report. It has currently been lost in the elctronic world, but the time for her story is not ready!

Useful Plants Report Jamiah found some interesting plants and more that can help clean the water and save the planet. Some of his links are amazing! 

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This slide show with music, prepared by paddler Colby Abazs, will give you a feel for what they saw and experienced while canoeing the mighty Mississippi.

Protect the Clean Air Act: Protect Food Sovereignty

In the coming days, Senator Murkowski (AK-R) will bring a bill to the floor of the Senate that, if passed, will undermine the Clean Air Act and prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases.

Senator Murkowski's bill would allow some of the biggest polluters in the country to continue spewing carbon dioxide and other contaminants into the atmosphere with no oversight, resulting in dirty air for all of us, and for generations to come.

In addition, regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act is a very important option for addressing the U.S. contribution to global climate change, as Congress is currently hamstrung on dealing with a number of issues, including global climate change.

Increasing droughts caused by climate change are a major threat to global food sovereignty and will likely cause more hunger worldwide in the coming decades. Regulating greenhouse gas emissions may prove the only meaningful way in the near term to address climate change emissions.

Tell the Senate to let the EPA do its job. Send a note to your Senator today.

Go to the PC(USA) Washington Office website to send an email to your Senators.

face-off over Africa

The industry and their devotees tell us that genetically modified crops are the way to feed Africans. Whether they truly believe it or not, they apparently see GM in Africa as the way to feed their future bottom line.

So they are using the billion hungry people as the rationale to espouse, promote and market high-tech and genetically modified food as part of US foreign policy and development agenda. Last month, they had their day in the sun as Ministers of Economy lined up next to Bill Gates to promote a new 'Green Revolution' for Africa. Canada too announced it will contribute $230-million (U.S.). 

At least when it comes to Haiti, there is a degree of skepticism about the promises of GM technology. A colleague says she has found an article stating that the Haitian government has ensured that Monsanto can never bring GMOs into Haiti. I hope she is right. Seems Monsanto, USAID and the Haitian government knew civil society would be outraged by this. 

In contrast to the hoopla in Washington, Dr. Angelika Hilbeck, of Zurich's Institute of Integrative Biology declared the following in her excellent article about the IAASTD (find out what this important acronym is all about here):

Post-war industrialized, chemical-based agriculture and food production is coming to an end – it has to if we are to reach the millennium goals and keep the planet in a livable condition. Food (including water) and the environment are issues of global peace and justice – no more and no less.

The lines in the sand are drawn and the transgenic biotech lobbying machine is roaring around the halls of Congress at full speed. As people of faith who care deeply about impoverished people, we must stay engaged in public policy advocacy and the anti-trust hearings happening this year. In this way, we have the possibility of limiting the power of giant agribusinesses and perhaps preventing decisions from being made that may harm tens of millions of people in Africa for decades to come. Contact php@pcusa.org to learn how you can help.

until all are fed

In cadences that bring the listener along, McFarland witnesses to hard issues that must be faced, but sings, in the midst of those hard issues, about healing, hope and finally about the divine “You.”

~ Walter Brueggemann, Old Testament scholar & author

If you haven't already, consider supporting "Until all are fed" which has been spirited along by, among others, musician and Hunger Action Advocate, Bryan McFarland. This is a nifty project of music and hymns that will go to benefit the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Here is what Bryan says about it:

Ending in May, musicians, pastors and other friends of the Presbyterian Hunger Program have launched a unique project of music and mission called "until all are fed." Individuals are invited to help fund the production of a CD of hymns & spirituals. 10% of the production costs and 20% of the profits go to the Presbyterian Hunger Program. The goal of the project is to raise awareness and funds with "music on a mission" that can make a difference until all are fed. The "...until all are fed" CD and subsequent hunger action events called "Jacob's Joins" are designed to equip congregations, presbyteries, campus ministries, etc. with hymns, songs and spirituals to SING the mission of the Presbyterian Hunger Program to "alleviate hunger and eliminate the causes of it."

http://www.untilallarefed.net

Rice field art

It is rice planting season in Japan. There, most replanting of seedlings is mechanized, except for paddies in the hilly or marshy areas. These are planted by hand...

Yes, these are real. See more photos of field art.