Before a meal we bow our heads. We are reminded of our ul-

timate dependence on God’s provision for this life, on farmers’ weathered hands and earthy knowledge, on healthy soils and blessed rainfall. We are reminded of an everyday miracle: take a seed in your hand, drop it in a shallow furrow of rich soil with adequate sun-light and water and you get a bountiful harvest of food.

Full shelves in

At the Lord’s Table: Everyday Thanksgiving

the supermarket and meals on the table are not foregone conclusions. This abundance depends upon producers that steward and care for the land, the health of creation, and the mercy of God. By eating with this in mind, we nurture our gratitude during meals. We are reminded by author Sharon Parks of our “utter dependence upon the generosity of the earth and its peoples and the power and grace by which our lives are sustained.”1

Growing Food As any gardener knows, nutrients, sunlight, space, and water are the main ingredients for creating great food. Maintaining fertile soil, controlling weeds, and decreasing pests and disease are key ingredients to farming sustainably, a practice that aims for environ-mental stewardship for current and future generations, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. Traditional farming methods often use synthetic chemicals to control pests, weeds, and disease. Increasingly, though, these chemicals are negatively impacting human health and the ability of the land to bring forth God’s bounty.

“ If ‘thank you’ was the only prayer we uttered, that would be enough.” Meister Eckhart, Christian mystic

Our Food System Ironically, “traditional” farming methods are very modern. Up until about 50 years ago, food production in the United States was still very local-ized and low impact. The food system in the United States changed dramatically after World War II. Now, we are rapidly losing family farms, and most of our food is grown by corporate agriculture conglomerates that practice monoculture and the intensive application of synthetic chemicals. Our yearly use of pesticides has risen by 10 times since 1945 to more than 1 billion pounds.2

Monoculture In farms across the country, large swaths of land are planted with long, straight rows of corn, wheat, or other major agricultural products. Most of these fields employ a type of cultivation called monocul-ture, meaning that large tracts of land grow only one crop. Monoculture can initially increase production, but has had negative consequences that are making many farmers look for alternatives. Monoculture systems are more susceptible to crop failure because of pests and disease. Monoculture

crops also require labor-intensive input of synthetic fertil-izers, herbicides, and insecticides. This type of farming eliminates potential wildlife habitat and requires frequent, highly mechanized tilling. Not only does machinery for tilling consume large amounts of fossil fuels, but tilling soil contributes to global warming, increases erosion, and decreases soil quality.

Farmworker Justice Farmworkers in the United States are primarily seasonal workers. They follow the harvest, and perform backbreaking work to harvest 85 percent of the United States’ $28 billion produce industry. In the line of their work, they are exposed to high concen-trations of chemicals that have been proven to cause can-cer, neurological problems, and other health problems. A study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that women who have worked on farms are nearly three times more likely to develop breast cancer than those who have never worked on a farm.3

New Farming Practices To be good stewards of the land, some growers are changing their farming techniques, making use of historic as well as modern methods. Organic farmers rely on biological diversity in their fields to disrupt habitat for pests, are purposeful about main-taining and replenishing soil fertility, and do not use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

Another option available to growers is sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture does not refer to a prescribed set of practices, rather it challenges producers to think about the long-term implications of practices and the broad interactions of agricultural systems. Producers have more flexibility to adopt good stewardship practices at a pace that is comfortable and economically feasible. Sustainable agriculture is often marked by certain sus-tainable practices like integrated pest management, crop rotation, no-till or low-till farming to preserve soil quality, rotational grazing, use of cover crops, and maintaining crop diversity. Any grower, regardless of past practices can make small changes to become more sustainable and a better steward to God’s creation.

Transportation of food accounts for 12 percent of each consumer’s carbon consumption, so choosing local food significantly decreases each person’s carbon footprint and helps mitigate global warming.

Protecting the Environment and Human Health Well-managed agricultural land supplies important non-market goods and services. Farm and ranch lands provide food and cover for wildlife, help control flooding, protect wetlands and watersheds, and maintain air quality. Prop-erly stewarded lands can also absorb and filter wastewater and return potable drinking water to rivers, wells, and un-derground aquifers. More sustainable practices also protect our own health and the health of others. Anything that we can do to decrease the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, non-medicinal antibiotics in animal farming, and high energy input farming (like large livestock opera-tions), decreases our risk for developing cancer, immune deficiencies, bacterial resistance to important and life-sav-ing antibiotics, asthma, and a host of other environmental health problems.

Local Farms Foods at the supermarket can spend 7 to 14 days in transit before they reach your market and travel an average of 1,500 miles.4,5 The varieties sold are chosen primarily for their ability to withstand industrial harvest equipment and survive long transport. A super-market tomato is likely harvested when it was still green and hard and then sprayed with a hormone to make it ripen. In contrast, most local food is sold within 24 hours of its harvest, which dramatically increases its nutritional value and improves its flavor. Local farmers can grow a wider array of varieties providing consumers with choices, flavors, and nutrients that can’t be found at a supermarket.

Justice in God’s Good CreationAs Christians, we recognize that all of creation, as God declares in the first chapter of Genesis, is “very good.” We also recognize the need, as people of faith, to care for those in poverty and to seek justice. Simply put, then, the kind of agriculture we support ought to reflect the goodness of God’s creation and call for justice and greater equity within the human community. When creation is degraded, when those who harvest our food cannot sup-port their families or are exposed to harmful agricultural chemicals, then we, as Christians, have the responsibility to take action.

Food as SacramentThe sacramentality of food is perhaps seen most clearly in the Christian sacrament of communion, the Lord’s sup-per. Around the shared table of communion we take and bless the everyday elements of bread and wine, signifying Christ’s passion and reminding us of God’s provision of

2

3

Sermon Starters: Christ, the Good Bread

By Rev. Neddy Astudillo, Eco-Theologican and Presbyterian Pastor, Beloit, Wisconsin

Are we aware of the profound blessing to be found in each bite? Eating is the consummate whole experience—an act of survival, of pleasure, of

community, and of spiritual renewal. Food is God’s bounty—an entire growing season’s worth of work by a farmer and the product of rain, sunshine, healthy soil, and God’s grace. Food is the creator’s genius, a veritable miracle on your plate. Food is holy. So is it food if it hurts us and creation? Christ, as the good bread, is a powerful metaphor for seeking a food system that is life giving, life sustaining, and community building.

Life Giving: “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” … “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:26b-27a, 35)

Working with nature to produce our food makes us one with Christ in his desire to eternally and sustainably feed the world. Too often our food system works to domi-nate nature and mines the land of its life giving properties. Christ as the good bread makes us mindful of the many relationships that sustain us. Just as we live in Christ, we also exist as part of the natural world. Christ invites us to choose life, and leads us to see the many ways God brings forth life. Through the bread of life we become aware of our relationship with farmers, grains and living soils, the rain, the sun, pollinating and all the elements involved in our food production.

How have we become disconnected from our food? How can we become more related to it? How can the image of Christ as the good bread bring us back into life giving relationships?

Life Sustaining: “You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves

with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the val-leys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.” (Psalm 65:9-13)

Creation has been teaching us about God’s ways since the beginning. God’s Holy Spirit works in com-munity, involving all the elements of creation to provide bread for all God’s creatures and make life possible. When all creatures become aware of God’s providential presence, together we sing for joy. But our praise has been interrupt-ed. We are losing our capability to know God when we destroy God’s creative world. Water no longer flows clear over pastures and neither can it provide healthy loaves and fish. Seeds have been robbed of their eternally life giving properties and turned into infertile commodities that can only be found in the market place.

How has creation’s praise been interrupted in your own neighborhood? How does your community praise God? How can you help bring all voices back to the choir?

Community Building: “Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters”…“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:5-6a, 7)

God came to live among us in Christ. He wandered the land and chose to live as an outsider. To avoid con-forming to the teachings of the world, Christ invites us to live as foreigners wherever we are. The Old Testament teaches us that the earth is the Lord’s, but also invites us to love the land where God has sent us. We can never know how to care for creation as perfectly as God, but we can build a relationship with the land. God invited the Israelite exiles in Babylon to till and keep the land, just as they had done it in the promised land. When we begin to relate to the land we live in, love begins to grow and relationships

are developed. A mindful life pours out the seeds of justice and peace, and the Reign of God be-gins to sprout across the earth.

Where there is communi-ty, there is wealth. Reflect upon

the ways you care for the places you live in. How do these actions

build relationships and community?

4

our daily bread. We ought to approach our dinner tables just as we approach the Lord’s table–reverently and fully aware of the implications of our meal.

Eating, then, is necessarily an expression of our faith. The choices that we make everyday about food may seem mundane and unimportant, but their impacts reverber-ate throughout our local and global communities and are pervasive in God’s creation. We can be blessed with sacra-mental moments when we consume our food in a certain way: more knowingly than ignorantly, more lovingly than greedily, more skillfully than clumsily, more reverently than destructively. When our daily bread is experienced and respected for the sacrament it is then we all have much to be thankful for.

THE FAITH RESPONSE: TAKING ACTIONBuy Local Purchasing locally produced food not only supports local farmers and economies, but also reduces the distance food travels (decreases fossil fuel consumption), and is more healthy and nutritious. Three good ways to find local foods:

Congregational Meals Work to change your church’s institutional food purchasing practices and/or plan a local/organic potluck.

Lift Your Voice Local, state, and federal elected officials will soon consider farm bill legislation which impacts farmers, consumers and God’s creation. For infor-mation on current legislation and ways that you can speak out, visit www.nccecojustice.org

REFLECTIONS FOR ADULT STUDY1. In 1920, about a third of the United States population

lived on farms. Since 1935, the U.S. has lost 4.7 mil-lion family farms. Now there are fewer full time farmers than there are people in our prison system. Can you trace your family back to agriculture? How has food production changed since that time?

2. Do you feel a connection to the food you eat? The land and people that produce it? How?

3. Read Genesis 1:11-13; Leviticus 25:23-24; Matthew 25: 31-40. What do these verses teach us about creation and about caring for others?

4. Read John 6: 53b-58. Does the bread lose an impor-tant characteristic of its sacramental power when grain production contributes to significant agricultural runoff and related “dead zones” in coastal waterways? Does the wine lose an element of its sacramental essence when grapes are harvested by workers making significantly less than minimum wage?

5. Many denominations have policy statements on food and farming issues. Examine the policy of your faith tradition. Are you surprised? How can this inform your congregational ministry on these issues?

Sustainable agriculture embraces organic agriculture in addition to intermediate steps in the transition from chemically-based, high synthetic-input agriculture to organic agriculture.

1. Visit your local farmer’s market or start one on your church grounds. To find local farmer’s markets visit the USDA’s farmer’s market web page at http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/.

2. Join a CSA—a CSA (Community Supported Agricul-ture) is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters, who purchase har-vest “shares” in the farm. Churches can be great drop-off points for customers participating in a CSA. To find CSAs in your area check with www.localharvest.org.

3. Talk to your supermarket manager about stock-ing more locally-produced foods.

Buy Organic Organic food is grown free from exposure to harmful chemicals and in such a way that maintains the health of the soil and the ecosystem in which the crops or livestock are raised.

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se te

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spec

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con

sum

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For i

nfor

mat

ion

on c

urre

nt

legi

slatio

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d w

ays t

hat y

ou c

an sp

eak

out,

visit

ww

w.nc

ceco

just

ice.

org

Nat

iona

l Cou

ncil

of C

hurc

hes

USA

Eco

-Jus

tice

Pro

gram

For m

ore

info

rmat

ion

on h

ow y

ou c

an h

elp

prot

ect G

od’s

crea

tion,

vis

it th

e N

atio

nal C

ounc

il of

Chu

rche

s Eco

-Jus

tice

Prog

ram

web

site

at w

ww

.nc

ceco

just

ice.

org.

Con

tact

: kga

lles@

nccc

usa.

org/

202-

481-

6943

CA

LL T

O W

OR

SHIP

Lead

er: A

wak

en!

The

new

day

reve

als i

tsel

f in

ever

y m

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t, A

nd b

y th

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of G

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give

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you

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is a

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eve

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won

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very

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’s tr

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Cre

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prai

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OF

TH

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inte

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er: F

or a

ll na

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of t

he w

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that

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may

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good

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are

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Gos

pel a

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tice

for a

ll of

you

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n th

at re

ache

s bey

ond

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omm

uni-

ties i

nto

rura

l com

mun

ities

, int

o th

e fa

mily

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, int

o th

e ho

mes

of f

arm

w

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nto

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life

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tat,

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e se

ed.

Lead

er: F

or o

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ongr

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and

cong

rega

tions

in ru

ral c

omm

uni-

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cogn

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and

min

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to th

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can

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suffe

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sure

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er: F

or th

e fa

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s and

peo

ple

in fa

rm-r

elat

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usin

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s who

suffe

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om d

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Lead

er: F

or ru

ral a

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all t

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com

mun

ities

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lly th

at w

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w

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toge

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to b

uild

a su

stai

nabl

e fu

ture

whe

re th

e fo

od w

e ea

t is a

s go

od a

nd h

onor

able

as G

od’s

crea

tion

that

mak

es o

ur fo

od p

ossib

le.

Lead

er: F

or th

ose

who

farm

the

land

, tha

t the

y m

ay se

e th

eir l

abor

as

part

icip

atio

n in

God

’s cr

eativ

e ac

tivity

in th

e w

orld

.

Lead

er: F

or th

e hu

ngry

, tha

t the

y m

ay n

ot b

e fo

rgot

ten

as w

e w

ork

for

just

ice

for f

arm

ers.

All:

Am

en

PRAY

ER O

F T

HA

NK

SGIV

ING

Gra

ciou

s God

, you

who

supp

ly y

our p

eopl

e w

ith e

very

ble

ssin

g in

abu

n-da

nce,

lift

up o

ur h

eart

s in

grat

itude

and

than

ksgi

ving

this

day.

We

prai

se

you

for t

he g

ifts o

f our

eve

ryda

y liv

es—

for f

ood

on th

e ta

ble,

for o

verfl

ow-

ing

supe

rmar

kets

, for

fres

h fr

uits

and

veg

etab

les.

Hel

p us

to th

ank

you

and

to g

lorif

y yo

ur n

ame

for h

ow y

ou h

ave

wat

ched

ove

r us t

hrou

gh y

ears

of

seed

time

and

of h

arve

st. H

ear o

ur p

raye

r, an

d he

lp u

s to

live

as o

ne

with

you

r cre

atio

n, e

ver a

war

e th

at y

ou h

ave

entr

uste

d it

to u

s to

stew

ard

in y

our s

tead

. With

gra

tefu

l hea

rts,

we

ask

it in

Jesu

s’ na

me.

Am

en

PRAY

ER O

F C

ON

FESS

ION

Kin

d G

od, W

e ha

ve ta

ken

the

frui

ts o

f you

r cre

atio

n an

d yo

ur m

erci

ful

abun

danc

e fo

r gra

nted

. We

have

utt

ered

pra

yers

of t

hank

s with

out g

rati-

tude

. We

have

take

n of

ten

of g

ifts t

hat w

e se

ldom

not

ice.

We

have

faile

d to

ope

n ou

r eye

s to

the

suffe

ring

of th

ose

who

pro

duce

our

food

. We

have

allo

wed

our

selv

es to

bec

ome

sepa

rate

from

our

food

. We

unde

rsta

nd

that

we

are

utte

rly d

epen

dent

on

you

and

your

bou

nty.

For

thes

e th

ings

, w

e as

k fo

r You

r for

give

ness

, O G

od. O

pen

to u

s a n

ew fu

ture

in w

hich

w

e ca

n gr

ow in

you

r lik

enes

s and

imag

e, li

ke fi

elds

of c

orn

stre

tchi

ng

heav

enw

ard,

thro

ugh

Jesu

s Chr

ist, t

he su

nlig

ht, w

ater

, see

d, a

nd ri

ch so

il of

the

wor

ld.

Am

en.

ASS

UR

AN

CE

Lead

er: I

n lo

ving

com

pass

ion,

We

are

bles

sed

and

mad

e w

hole

. In

lovi

ng c

ompa

ssio

n, W

e ar

e fe

d an

d w

e ar

e no

urish

ed.

In lo

ving

com

pass

ion,

We

are

forg

iven

and

we

are

wra

pped

in th

e w

arm

em

brac

e of

God

as w

e go

fort

h

To d

o ju

stic

eA

ll: A

men

.

7

IDEAS FOR YOUTHPlant a Vegetable or Container Garden Use a corner of your church grounds to become a local food producer. Or, if you congregation is space-limited consider container gardening. First-hand experience with growing food is important to understanding that food does not come from the supermarket. Use your fresh produce for church meals, distribute it to shut-ins, or donate it as part of your hunger ministry. Note: This is a great project for youth and adults to undertake together!

Make a Corn Husk Cross Throughout history in many different cultures, good luck harvest figures were made to celebrate the harvest and insure a good one the following year. Explain to youth, that we know that we don’t need good luck for a good harvest, we know that we can depend on the generosity of God. Tell them that they will be making a harvest figure, but that their figure will be a cross. Instead of a good luck charm, what might the harvest cross signify? You can find dried cornhusks at any craft store, and many supermarkets during the fall. If necessary, soak cornhusks in water to make them pliable. Give each participant two or three long pieces of corn-husk. Ask them to place them on top of one another and fold them in thirds lengthwise. Then ask them to fold this long narrow piece in half. This will be the long arm of the cross. Give each student two pieces of yarn. Ask them to tie the first piece near the top fold, about a fourth of the way down. Distribute a smaller piece of corn husk and ex-plain that this will be the short arm of the cross. Fold this piece of corn husk in half or thirds lengthwise, and then in half again, so that it is shorter than the first husks. Slide this piece in between the main fold of the long arm of the cross beneath the first piece of yarn. Tie the second piece of yarn below the short arm to complete the cross.

“ To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of creation. The point is, when we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament; when we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration…in such desecration, we condemn ourselves to spiritual and moral loneliness, and others to want.6” Wendell Berry

Emphasize Everyday Connections to Farms and God’s Creation Read the story of the fish and loaves in a children’s story Bible, or from the text (Matthew 14: 13-21). Talk about the miracle. Bring a number of food and fiber items with you, including fresh produce, meat, dairy, processed foods, a cotton t-shirt, and some paper. Perishable food items can be represented by their packag-ing (e.g. egg carton). Make teams of three. Put each item in an opaque paper bag, and distribute them to the teams. Have the teams write down ten words to describe each item. Then have teams take turns presenting their item(s) and making the rest of the teams guess what is in the bag. When each item is revealed talk about what farm crops or animals are needed to have the item. When all of the items have been revealed place them all in the middle of the classroom and ask the youth what life would be like if we didn’t have any of these things. Ask them if they think it’s a modern day miracle that God has provided so gener-ously for us. Explain to them that God has been generous in many ways. It is important that we are thankful for all that we’ve been given and that we treat creation with love and care so that God can continue to provide for us. Talk about some farming practices used for items in the room and more sustainable alternatives.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND FURTHER STUDYSustainable Table—a consumer education website with background on the issues of sustainable agriculture, reci-pes, and the Eat Well Guide to help you find sustainably-raised meat and dairy products: www.sustainabletable.org

Food Routes—a website dedicated to reintroducing Americans to their food – the seeds that it comes from, the farmers that grow it, and the routes that carry it from field to table: www.foodroutes.org

Organic Farming foregoes certain practices that are environmentally damaging and pose human health risks such as using pesticides and chemical fertilizers, growing genetically modified organisms, and using antibiotics and hormones. Food that is certified organic is regulated according to rules set by certifying agencies.

Eco-Justice ProgramsNational Council of Churches110 Maryland Ave., NESuite 108Washington, DC 20002

“ Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled.” Matthew 14:19-20 NRSV

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For more information on how you can help protect God’s creation visit the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program website at www.nccecojustice.org. Contact: kgalles@ncccusa.org/202-481-6943

Local Harvest—a directory of small farms, farmers markets, and other local food sources searchable by zip code: www.localharvest.org

Earth Ministry—a faith-based creation care or-ganization with excellent food and farming resources, including a book of essays with study guide, “Food and Faith: Justice, Joy, and Daily Bread”: www.earthministry.org/food_and_farming.htm

American Farmland Trust—an organization of farmers, ranchers, conservationists, and others dedicated to protecting farmland from misuse and development: www.farmland.org

Farm and Food Policy Project—a broad coalition (including the NCC) of organizations seeking policy solu-tions to agriculture problems through reform of the next Farm Bill: www.farmandfoodproject.org

Endnotes1 Parks, Sharon Daloz. “The Meaning of Eating and the Home As Ritual Space,”

from Sacred Dimensions of Women’s Experience, (New York: Roundtable Press, 1988) edited by Elizabeth Gray, pp. 184-192.

2 The Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park.3 Brophy, James et al. 2006. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences..4 Auburn University Sustainability Initiative.5 Pirog, Rich and Andrew Benjamin. “Checking the Food Odometer: Compar-

ing Food Miles for Local Versus Conventional Produce Sales to Iowa Institu-tions,” Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University. 2003.

6 Berry, Wendell, The Gift of Good Land, (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1981) pp. 272-281.