t h es e m i

october 82 0 1 2

Managing Editor Carmen ValdésEditor Randall Frederick

Production Editor Matthew Schuler

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CREDITS

LEGAL

EDITOR'S NOTERANDALL FREDERICK

Around late December, I began brainstorming new ideas for The SEMI. Where I wanted the magazine to go in 2012, what was possible, and what had never been done before here at Fuller. I was meeting with some of our writers and we were generating some amazing ideas, but we didn’t have a “big idea” yet. Then, in the middle of a crosswalk, it dawned on me – food. And… theology? Culture. Food, Theology and Culture. At first, this was a hard sell. After all, what kind of theology can Christians come up with regarding food? We’re not exactly the best witnesses in that department. Even if we stretched things a bit, weren’t the dietary codes of the Hebrew Scriptures outdated? Besides, no one wants to really think about food. Most of us just eat and not overanalyze things.

But then, after I put the idea to the writers of this issue, they were ecstatic and immediately agreed – this was an issue they wanted to take on. In fact, in the process, some of them asked if they could expand their word limit or even write second articles! We at The SEMI are proud to have put together the issue you hold in your hands, but it isn’t the end of the show. On Oct. 24th we are hosting a Happy Hour Tasting Event in the Catalyst from 5:30 -6:30pm. There, you can meet the writers and sample some of their favorite recipes. Each author will also briefly share their ideas on food & culture as well as what those ideas mean for all of us theologically. Be sure to mark that date on your calendar. In the meantime, check out those extra articles and other exclusive content online at thesemi.org as we prepare our next issue on the Presidential election.

- Randall Frederick, Semi Editor

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Meet the Food Behind the Authors

Wed Oct 24 more info

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The Impor(tance of Ra mada n

A d a r a A z a d e h

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Yes, I fasted for Ramadan. No, I’m not a Muslim.

While neither my husband nor I are professed Muslims, we decided to participate in the fasting of Ramadan. My husband, having grown up in a Muslim household, watched his parents fast from a very young age. He would have to help his mother in the kitchen preparing the day’s dinner as she could not taste for the correct spice level. Some days he would participate, most days he wouldn’t. It is traditional for Muslim men, once they come of age and are able, to fast during Ramadan. My husband’s parents never forced him to fast and over time the observance was lost. I’d love to report that we came to the decision to fast through lots of spiritual searching, or researching the benefits of fasting but that would be all too inaccurate. Instead, the night before Ramadan began we decided, “Hey! Ramadan starts tomorrow, Why not?” Like most brilliant spur of the moment ideas we hadn’t really thought through the implications of what this meant. We didn’t think about not being hydrated during morning gym workouts, or no longer starting the morning with a protein-rich breakfast. We didn’t think about how taxing a 40 hour work week can be, or how much we depend on that morning coffee and afternoon snack. These thoughts only became realities as the days of Ramadan went by. Ramadan is the ninth holy month in the Muslim calendar and recognized as the time that Muhammad first received revelations from Allah. To mark and observe this momentous religious time, the Qur’an calls followers of Islam to fast during the month for greater spiritual reflection. Ramadan lasts for 29-30 days depending on when the moon signals the beginning of a new month. Fasting lasts from sunup to sundown and is broken each day with a meal at

sundown. This meal is known as Iftar. Iftar is traditionally started with a glass of water and a few dates as this is said to be how Muhammad would break his fasts. After the dates and water, frequently the fourth of five daily calls to prayer is observed and dinner then follows. Iftar dinners differ in their menus and guest counts. Sweets and desserts are a common staple but entrees can cover the whole spectrum. Ramadan is also a time of fellowship. This means that many meals are shared with neighbors, friends, and of course, family. While fasting during the day focuses the participant’s attention on what it is like to be without food, it is not out of the ordinary to invite those less fortunate in the community to join you for dinner. It is meant to be a time of spiritual reflection that brings the believer to depend more fully on the provisions of Allah. It also allows for not only spiritual reflection on one’s own religious journey, but helps the participant better appreciate the gifts in their life. For example, not drinking water all day can make you realize what an incredible blessing it is to walk to the kitchen, turn the faucet on, and have clean drinkable water pour out.

Often times Ramadan is viewed by non-

Muslims as a form of self-torture. This is not the case; nor is it how it is intended to be practiced as explicated in the Qur’an. Exceptions are made for those who are traveling, pregnant, ill, menstruating, old in age, or breast-feeding. While you are encouraged to make up days missed at other parts in the year, you are not “required” to participate. Charity is also an encouraged practice among many Muslims. A zakat, or monthly percentage donation to charity, is typical and during Ramadan is often accompanied by a sadaqa, or donation above and beyond what is called for.

Ramadan also has a fail-safe for those who forget that they’re fasting. You may wonder, “How can people forget they’re fasting?” It’s simple really. We’re human and make mistakes. One day when I was fasting, or roo-zeh as they call it in Persian/Iranian culture, I was picking figs in my in-laws’ backyard. If you know me, you know that I pretty much live for fig season and while plucking these plump, ripe figs from the tree, I forgot I was roozeh and popped one in my mouth. Immediately, I felt my stomach growl and thought, “Why am I so hungry?…oh no!” I looked at my father-in-law with a look of horror on my face, especially since it was the last day of Ramadan. He simply looked back at me and laughed. That night as we began Iftar and broke our fast, my father-in-law looked at me and smiled. “Ghabul Bashe,” he said, which means, may it be accepted. In that moment you are given hope and comfort that what you have done the rest of the day is significant. It’s not about perfection; it’s simply the practice and effort that is recognized.

Once we made the decision

to observe Ramadan, we felt backlash from within the Christian community. Coming from a more Christian conservative background, my mother immediately wanted to know why I was participating in a “Muslim Holiday”. I passionately defended Ramadan, explaining that as a follower of Christ I am to follow his example of standing in solidarity with my Muslim neighbor. Out of love, respect, and appreciation for my Muslim brothers and sisters, I can fast with them and so I was going to participate in a Muslim holiday. My mother simply looked back at me with one of those, “That’s nice...my daughter has lost her mind,” looks that I get from time to time. But I realized I was missing the crux of the argument. I was failing to articulate the area that would hit home with my Christian community; Jesus fasted.

Fasting and “going without” is a spiritual practice in many world religions, Christianity included. The discipline of going without to focus on and be thankful for what one has is a ubiquitous religious practice. Going without as a form of prayerful petition for God to hear one’s prayers and respond is not a uniquely Muslim practice. Unfortunately, it seems that over the past 2000 plus years we’ve forgotten that fasting is part of the Christian tradition. Please don’t humor me with arguments of giving up chocolate or soda for Lent. While that in and of itself is an admirable and significant practice, it is not the kind of fasting we see set out for us as biblical examples. I had the opportunity recently of traveling to Jericho to see the caves where Jesus is reported to have fasted and whether these specific caves are the actual historic location or not, my perception of the “wilderness” drastically changed. Jericho is hot. I mean really hot. And dry. The “wilderness” that Jesus fasted in looked more like the Mojave Desert than Glacier National Park. Sometimes I feel like we forget this. Imagine going without food or water in the middle of the hot dry desert for 40 days. How does that make you feel about giving up Skittles for Lent? My goal is not to ridicule those who give up vices for Lent. In fact, I’m one of those people. I used to give up junk food, desert, or soda. But fasting for Ramadan has opened my eyes up to so much more. Fasting for Ramadan is not about pretending to be Muslim, it’s about standing in solidarity with my Muslim neighbors and embracing a practice Jesus himself did. It can become a time to reflect on our own spiritual journeys, be they Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, etc. and find solidarity with one another as lovers of God. Now that Ramadan has ended, most people ask what I learned, but there is no simple answer to this question. Everyone learns something different. What I learned was that having access to clean water, warm or cold, is absolutely incredible. I learned to

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practice grace when I forgot I was roozeh and realized that the most important aspect was the effort. I learned that you can go a day without food and not be “starving to death” (a term we grossly misuse almost daily) and I learned that a little effort goes a long way in building relations. When my Muslim friends and relatives learned I was fasting for Ramadan, they thought it was “really cool” that I was participating as a non-Muslim. I find it to be a great loss that the Christian community has neglected the practice of fasting. While Ramadan may be over for this year, it doesn’t mean you have to wait to fast until then. Pick a weekend you would want to try it and go for it. I know and believe that we have a lot to learn from our Muslim neighbors. Practices such as fasting for Ramadan are beautiful and generative places to start. **Please Note: It’s always wise to consult your doctor before fasting**

Adara Azadeh has been a member of the Fuller community for the last five years. Adara is passionate about promoting peaceful relations between the United States and the Middle East, focusing specifically on U.S. – Iran relations, as she has family and loved ones living in Iran and throughout the Middle East. Adara writes for PeaceofIran.com, an anonymous blog that aims at building bridges between cultures by debunking stereotypes, offering anecdotes, and sharing recipes.

Adara can be contacted atpeaceofiran@gmail.com .

Adara Azadeh

Join usfor Fuller’s

Food Distribution

Program

Every Wednesday 12:00 - 3:00 PM

Behind Taylor Hall

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We know that money is in short supply for many students. That’s why we would encourage you to take advantage of Fuller’s Food Distribution. If you are in need, we’d love for to come. It’s a great resource and a wonderful way to connect with your neighbors.

Contact Carmen Valdes:carmenvaldes@fuller.edu

L i v i n g J u s t l y : What is Required (of You?(

Naomi Wilson

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What does it mean to live justly? I have been wrestling with this question for quite some time. My curiosity intensified during a class I took this spring on Isaiah 1-39. My professor told us again and again, “If there is anything the eighth-century prophets want to tell us, it is this - that God hates social injustice.” I had originally intended for this to be an up-on-my-soapbox article on the merits of purchasing fair trade products - chocolate, coffee, sugar, tea, et cetera. I am good at being preachy - and it is not a stretch to preach about the importance of making sure the people who produce the goods you purchase earn a fair wage for their labor. I could give you statistics about how much it costs to produce these products and how much we pay -- how much farmers earn -- the wage difference between fair-trade and normal farming operations. I could talk about fair trade until my face turns blue, but I am not sure that it would convince people that God desires that we live justly. Rather, they are more likely to walk away, purchase fair-trade goods on their next trip to the grocery store, then forget about it and go back to their normal purchasing habits. Would that truly be striving to live justly? And then, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Saying that I live justly because I purchase fair-trade products is rather like saying that I am a humanitarian because I only purchase TOMS shoes, or saying that I am a missionary because I hand out tracts at the mall. (Let the record indicate that I do neither of those things). It is not a complete solution to the problem of injustice, just like handing out shoes is not a complete solution to the problem of poverty. In my study of the 8th century BCE prophets, I came to the same conclusion as Dr. Hays - that God hates social injustice. The condemnation of the northern kingdom of Israel for their participation in injustice is

a common theme among the prophets. The wealthy elite were greedy for land, more concerned with acquiring property than doing what God had commanded them to do. We see this greed in Isaiah 5, the song to the vineyard, when the prophet says,

Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land! - Isaiah 5:8.We can see it again in Amos 2, when the prophet says,For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth. - Amos 2:6-7.

The oracles in Amos and Isaiah end with a dire prediction for the Israelites - that a vast and powerful army will come and carry them off into exile, away from the land given to them by a God to whom they were no longer faithful. The army to which the prophets refer is the Assyrian army; Assyria was the dominant power in the Ancient Near East during the 8th century BCE, and had various policies for dealing with surrounding kingdoms, one of which was carrying them off and resettling them throughout Assyrian-dominated territory. This is exactly what happened to the northern kingdom of Israel. With the advent of globalization, injustice permeates the global economy. Our participation in injustice, no longer affects only the people living around us. That is the nature of globalization. Yes, we can communicate with people across the globe. Yes, the world has become a smaller place - rather than taking months to travel from Los Angeles to, say, Beijing, it now takes only hours. Yes, in some ways we are more

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aware of people whose day-to-day lives have nothing in common with our own. But at what cost?

Here's the thing: I think that a great deal of the time, the Church does a decent job talking about social injustice. I grew up in the evangelical church and from a young age was aware that some people had a lot of things, while others had very little. Some people lived in war zones, while some people never had to worry about their safety. Some places had enough water to power 50,000 gallon-per-hour water slides, while other people did not even have access to clean drinking water. Starting in junior high, I was aware of all of these things. I am not, however, convinced that the church equips people to deal with these issues in their day-to-day lives. Many short-term missions trips consist of nothing more than holding babies in an orphanage and dumping suitcases worth of used goods in villages. The focus is more on personal spiritual growth than on how the way we live affects people across the globe. The nuclear family reigns supreme. We talk about justice, but we do not know how to do justice. There is not an easy answer to the question “What does it mean to live justly?” Buying fair trade might be part of the solution, but it is not the whole solution - a baby step, so to speak. Sometimes I think living justly might mean moving someplace really warm, living in a hut, and doing subsistence farming (this thought occurs to me most often in the winter). Sometimes I think living justly is all about being a conscientious consumer - making sure to purchase only the things I really need, and making sure that they are ethically sourced. I have met people who think that living justly is ditching everything to live on Skid Row, hanging out with homeless people and dumpster diving.

What I do know is that we are called to pursue justice in our everyday lives. For me, it has been helpful to start with the small things - and it has been rewarding. Buying fair-trade coffee and chocolate is easy, and it is something that I have come to love. Having clothing exchanges with my friends so that we can wear each other’s old clothes rather than purchasing new ones has been a great opportunity. Participating in the Million Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin with a friend from Fuller was another small way to participate in God’s plan for justice. But these are only the beginning of a just lifestyle. Friends, these things I mention are EASY. They are small steps -- steps in my own pursuit of a lifestyle that reflects God’s justice. I do not have all the answers to the question “What does it mean to live justly?” and I do not foresee a time when I will have them. But I know that for now, I will answer God’s call in ways that I do know, and that I will pray and seek to live more and more justly. I hope and pray that you will join me in this endeavor.

Naomi Wilson (MDiv, ‘13) is the All-Seminary Council Sports Coordinator and works in the Admissions office. Her personal library has quintupled since beginning seminary. Besides reading and working, she enjoys singing, baking, and exercising.

naomiwilson

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Cooking Lessons from My M o t h e rVerónica A.Castañeda

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When it comes to food,

everyone claims their mother is the best cook in the world. I am no exception to this tasty cliché. If Gordon Ramsay had a Spanish cooking show? My mom would be a sizzling contender. Like most good cooks, her family influenced her experience and passion for food. She was raised in a traditional Mexican family where females learn how to cook at a very early age. As the eldest of eight children, my mother’s first cooking lesson was to make 18 pounds of flour tortillas daily for her family and father’s farm workers. For most children in my family, making flour tortillas are a rite of passage into cooking. One of the reasons why the “tortilla” remains an essential part of a Mexican meal is because it was traditionally the utensil of the poor.

In my family, we tend to eat our entire meals with tortillas, never having to pick up a fork or a spoon! When I left my home, I was given three vital cooking appliances: a palote (roller), a tabla (board), and molcajete (grinding stone). The first two are to make tortillas and the latter is to make salsa. Unfortunately, with our fast-paced urban lifestyle, this craft is becoming a lost art. Those of you who have only eaten store bought tortillas have been seriously deprived of this gourmet and need to immediately visit a Mexican abuelita (grandmother).

Flour Tortilla RecipeIngredients:4-cups of all purpose flour2-teaspoons of baking powder1-teaspoon of salt½ cup of lard, oil or butter1 ½ cups of hot water (the hotter, the better)BoardRolling PinMedium BowlSkillet

Directions :1. Combine and Mix: Pour all ingredients

(except water) into a medium size bowl and work the mixture with your hands.

2. Add Water: Gradually add 1 ½ cups of hot water into the dry mixture; knead until dough comes together and is no longer sticky. Allow dough to rest for 15-minutes and cover with plastic.

3. Divide: Squeeze out small-size dough balls and place back into bowl.

4. Roll: Roll dough balls one by one with rolling pin, until they are approximately 7’ in diameter. Keep dough covered as your roll. Roll and cook them one at a time.

5. Heat: Heat dry skillet over medium-to-medium high heat. Allow each side of tortilla to heat until bubbles rise; each side is ready when they are a light brown. Cover with a warm towel, until they are ready to serve.

My mother’s heritage has taught me that food is the heart of generosity, with a bond that unites family and friends. If you have a Mexican friend, you know this to be true because you’ve likely been invited to a “carne asada” (steak barbecue) at some point—the official codeword for “get together.” When my family “get’s together” they spare no expense when it comes to food and always make sure to cook abundantly in order to send everyone home with leftovers. Latina Kitchen Saying #1: “mejor que sobre y no que falte” (it’s better to have more than not enough). Needless to say, there are no vegans, no size zero’s, and no rationed portions in our family gatherings. Whenever I invite my friends to eat with my family, there are two important rules they must follow: They must come with an empty stomach, and They must never decline food or say they are full. Their only way out is to say that they’re making room for dessert and coffee.

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More often than not, these same friends ask me if I can cook as well as my family. My answer is no. Despite my mother’s exquisite culinary abilities, my love for authentic Mexican food was an acquired taste that took most of my childhood to develop. I remember staring at a full bowl of albóndigas (meatball soup) unable to leave the dinner table because I couldn’t finish it. I was leery about the vegetables and a certain ingredient that resembled grass (cilantro). I would sit there daydreaming of hamburgers and pizza instead. To this day, my love for American food is one that craves the fast food preservatives and carbs. I’ve come to realize that as a multi-cultural American, my appreciation of American food is influenced by the ethnic fusion, which for the most consists of a traditional recipe “name,” with one or two authentic ingredients. For example, if you Google one of the following words: Taco, Mex, Loco, Baja, Panda, Wok, Bowl, Teriyaki, Olive, Roma, Uncle, or Papa, and you’ll end up with a list of American restaurants with a blended menu of our cultural reality. Latina Kitchen Saying #2: “Entre mas lejos esta la frontera, mas lejos esta la comida del sabor autentico.” (The farther the border, the farther the food is from tasting authentic.) The beauty of living in Los Angeles is that immigrants from various countries bring their authentic cultural food recipes to our communities. For those who long to eat an authentic Mexican meal, the strategy in finding a place that is local, “a hole in the wall.” These restaurants tend to resemble other locations in Mexico, known to us as “fondas,” which are restaurants in homes. What makes this type of environment so unique is that they make the customer feel as though they’re in their mother or grandmother’s kitchen. My family’s recipes, customs, and tradition, around certain dishes and experiences, are

passed down through each generation. In my family, we do not use measurements; we always taste the food as we cook it. A new family member learns a recipe by study, observation, and participation. When it comes to customs, one of the practices my family continues to honor is that men eat first. Although this may seem chauvinistic, the custom is prevalent in agricultural regions where men labor all day in the field and their wives and children grant their place at the table as a token of their appreciation. Another tradition that continues to unite my family is our Christmas cooking; all of the family – men, women and children — participate in cooking pozole, tamales, carnitas, buñuelos and champurrado. Although we spend most of our day in the kitchen, time disappears as we share family stories, jokes, and folktales, always competing to be the last woman standing. Latina Kitchen Saying #3: “You’re ready to get married.” Whenever a single woman cooks a savory meal, people will respond with by saying, “You’re now ready to get married.” Perhaps this is why subconsciously I rarely cook? You’d think that as my mother’s daughter, I would have inherited a genetically predisposed cooking ability but apparently it is underdeveloped. I owe my sporadic cooking talent to my aunts, mother, grandmother, the Food Network, and my microwave. Yet, one of my most prized recipes I acquired was my grandmother’s “pozole,” which I was able to obtain before she passed away, last November. This recipe has been in our family for five-generations and was once used by one of my family members, as her steady income.

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Abuelita Teresa Pozole recipeIngredients:4–ounces chile California pods1–large can white hominy, drained and rinsed (6 lb, 12 oz.)1–cup lime (cal)3–lbs of meat (pork or chicken)8–cloves of garlic½–OnionSalt2–tablespoons of dry oregano3- bay leaves Directions:1. Soak hominy in ½-gallon of water

and 1-cup of lime, for 6-hours. Rinse hominy until water is clear.

2. Fill large stockpot with 5-quarts of water; soak chile California pods and bring to a boil.

3. Fill another large stockpot with 5-quarts of water to boil meat; add salt, ½ onion and 4-cloves of garlic.

4. Begin to boil meat, add rinsed hominy, bay leaves, and oregano. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and cook for 15-minutes.

5. Prepare the red sauce by pureeing in a blender the California chiles, 2 ½ cups or so of the soaking water/liquid, a teaspoon of salt, and 4-cloves of garlic. Strain the red sauce through a sieve.

6. Add the red chile California sauce to the meat and hominy; 2-teaspoons of salt and lower heat to a simmer.

7. Cook for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat is completely cooked, and taste for seasoning.

Latina Kitchen Saying #4: “Estomago lleno, corazón contento” (full stomach, happy heart).

If I were to sum up the essence of my culture’s food in one word, it would be hospitality. Hospitality, because the food invites me to savor the memories of my family. Hospitality, because I can feel

my family’s warmth and love in every spoonful. Hospitality, because my mothers “tamale” sales have generously helped me pay for some of my academic expenses. Hospitality, because I delight in welcoming friends and visitors with “cafecito con pan” (coffee with bread). And lastly, hospitality because it opens the door to develop deeper interactions. Perhaps the most evident paradigm of this relationship builder is Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper; the hallmark of Mexican hospitality. You know you’re walking into a traditional, authentic Mexican kitchen if this replica hanging beside the dinner table. Even though collective prayer is not present during our family meals, I believe the painting represents our reverence unto God. This may conceivably be a morbid image for exegetes but for my family’s kitchen, it illustrates our connection to the provider of our sustenance and faith. So the next time you watch the Da Vinci’s Code, or visit the refractory in the Covenant of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy, I hope you’ll be eating a fresh flour tortilla, thinking of Latino hospitality.

Verónica Ann Castañeda, is a California native that enjoys the Arclight’s opening week midnight showings and loves crunching on half-popped kernels. She is a Fuller MAT ‘10 graduate and MS MFT ‘13 candidate, who is working towards an integrative vision of serving the marginalized Native-American community thorough faith (theology) and praxis (psychology).

Verónica Ann Castañeda

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Coquo Ergo Sum: I Cook Therefore I Am

samantha curley

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Before coming to Fuller I decided that

the newness and adventure of moving to California provided the perfect context to change the way I ate. I considered going vegan - what’s trendier than living in California, driving a Prius, and being a vegan? - or exclusively shopping at farmer’s markets and showing off my super-cute, reusable bags. Yet while Pasadena farmer’s markets do provide year-round access to local and fresh produce (details/locations at the end of this article), becoming a raw-foodist or a fruitarian seemed impractical and unsatisfying. So after much contemplation, I settled on the ingenious idea of making all my own food, from scratch. Instead of choosing between Wonder Bread, Pepperidge Farm, or the sprouted Ezekiel 4:9 options, I would knead and bake my own loaves. Instead of buying granola, I would buy oats, almonds, and honey. Hummus, cookies, salsa, salad dressings - all homemade in my very own Chang kitchen! My parents had bought me an Italian Imperia pasta roller for Christmas last year and some dear friends had all chipped in for a pistachio-colored Kitchen Aid mixer as a going away gift before I moved. So it was decided. I was inspired, armed, and determined.

And then I was hungry; realizing that no matter how many carrots I binged on, my new eating regiment left me lacking enough calories to sustain energy and life. Turns out that actually making food, rather than merely ‘preparing’ or ‘buying’ it, takes significant time, strategic planning, and more than a bag of Trader Joe’s flour. And this was only the beginning of the many flaws in my from-scratch-eating diet.

I’ve spent almost a lifetime of exploring and manipulating my relationship with food: religiously counting calories in high school, not eating any dessert in 2010, attempting indoor/apartment composting, and becoming a vegetarian. I am fascinated

by the way food impacts how we live, act, move, and feel. And now, as a seminary student, I’m learning there is a theological framework in which to think about food.

We are in a unique and strange situation not to know or to think about where our food comes from. Agriculture began a mere 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent of Western Asia. Revolutionizing the means of food acquisition, a previously hunter-gatherer society could now hunt and grow their food supply. Fewer people and less time were required to feed a community and surplus became available. Cities formed around fertile, food-producing land as food acquisition was the center of social, physical, and even religious life. Rome waged wars, not merely to conquer territory or impose religious ideologies, for example, but to control the land that held and produced grain. To feed people was to control them.

In the 1900’s everyone was what Mark Bittman calls ‘locavores.’ Every family had a cook (usually, though not always, the mother), frozen food hadn’t been invented, and chain stores didn’t exist. Margarine, patented in 1869, was required by many state laws to be dyed pink so as to warn consumers that it was fake by making the product visually unpalatable. What people ate consisted of mostly one ingredient and they often personally knew whoever grew, killed, and sold them their food. Not only was the food market the social, economic, and geographic center of the city, it was also a visible part of the landscape. Animals would literally walk into cities to be slaughtered outside of the restaurants where customers saw and waited for their meals; it was impossible not to know where whatever ended up on your plate had come from. Railroads emancipated cities from geography; food no longer had to travel

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by foot. The Industrial age divorced the relationship between agriculture and the city, between cities and nature. Food became anonymous, periphery, and devalued. The land just outside cities - no longer reserved for farmland - became residential suburbs. People moved out of cities as food moved out of sight. Soon farming became about economic efficiency, leading to monoculture crop production. Massive government planning and intervention became necessary as agricultural hubs shipped grain across the country. Farmers discovered how to can and freeze food items because farms, especially in California, were producing too much to ship fresh. Expiration dates began to appear on food labels and consumers grew ignorant, separated, and distrustful of the food they ate.

By the 1970’s, food production had become its own industry. At the same time, women began entering the work force in greater numbers leaving no one at home to plan and cook meals. America slipped into a fat-phobia frenzy (Weight Watchers began in the 1960’s) and we ate packaged diet foods lacking in nutrition: yogurt replaced ice cream, granola bars replaced Snickers. We packed our foods with corn and soy, calling them ‘value-added.’ The answer to our food health craze was industrialization - cheap food on demand - moving us further away from a relationship with the raw materials that were filling our stomachs. As bodies physically grew bigger and sicker, caskets grew wider, some no longer able to even fit inside hearses. Today, the food situation continues to grow more complicated. Twenty percent of the greenhouse gas we produce (more than from car pollution) comes from livestock production. More than half of the antibiotics produced in the country go to feed the

animals we slaughter. The world drinks one billion cans of Coca-Cola a day. Diet-related, preventable diseases account for over half of the deaths in the United States every year, where it takes ten calories to produce every one calorie we consume. Half of the food produced in the United States is thrown away and one-third of the grain crop grown in the global world is fed to animals, not humans. Despite this rather grim snapshot of our relationship with food, we don’t need a romanticized image of our agrarian past. Farming is hard work and a full-time job. Industrialization and the supermarket have changed the world, largely for the better. Counter movements - the fallacy of returning to some idealized notion of the simple past - will not restore our relationship with the food we eat, nor will it heal the broken and hungry people in the world. Neither nostalgia, nor short term solutions will solve the deeply ingrained systematic problems regarding our food. I’m not sure what will. But I want to propose two, relatively simple ideas that I believe will move us in the right direction: cooking and table fellowship. Step one - get your butt in the kitchen and cook something. Step two - gather people around a table and eat it with them.

In order to restore our

relationship with food, the first and most basic task is relearning what it means to cook; stepping back into the kitchen, peeler in one hand and colander in the other. We need to become reacquainted with and passionate about finding recipes, learning cooking techniques, and sitting around our dining room tables. We need to stop watching Top Chef and start making dinner. We need to become what Heribert Watzke calls, ‘coctivors,’ taken from the Latin word coquere, meaning ‘to cook.’ We need to recapture the entertainment, design,

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creativity, and transformation of a cooked meal. Coquo ergo sum: ‘I cook, therefore I am.’ Cooking is both a fundamental human activity and is inversely correlated to obesity rates; the further removed we are from our kitchens, the larger and less human we’re becoming. We must become people who think about and plan the food we eat and who are mindful of where our food comes from. We need to eat real food that tastes good, while remembering to share it with others. Let’s become amateur chefs who delight in the culinary arts of creation, land, community, and food.

Norman Wirzba says “feasting and fasting are two of the primary ways we enact relationships. How we eat, what we eat, and how much we eat demonstrates what we think our responsibilities to each other and the world should be.” Jesus’ radical hospitality during table fellowship coincides with his radical forgiveness (Mk 2:13-17). To eat with people is a way to heal them, to bring them back into restorative relationship with their community. Wirzba also points out that, “patterns of eating are so closely and so early [i.e. breast feeding] tied to patterns of loving, we should not be surprised that a culture that is confused about love should also be confused about how to relate to food.” We lose something deeply human and central to life when we relegate food to fuel and consume merely to fill our stomachs. We experience the effects of eating this way in our broken relationships with our own bodies and with our communities. Cooking and table fellowship are the gateway into restoring our relationship with food, self, and other. It is within our ability and power to make simple, yet thoughtful choices to adjust

our own eating practices. I think we’ll see changes, not only in our meals, around our waistlines, and on our dinner tables, but in other seemingly unreachable aspects of our community as well.

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Resources:Norman Wirzba, Food & Faith: A Theology of Eating.

Mark Bittman, “What’s Wrong With What We Eat,” TED Talk.

Carolyn Steel, “How Food Shapes Our Cities,” TED Talk.

Heribert Watzke, “Heribert Watzke: The Brian In Your Gut,” TED Talk.

Ann Cooper, “Ann Cooper Talks School Lunches,” TED Talk.

Louise Fresco, “Louise Fresco on Feeding the Whole World,” TED Talk. Farmer#s Markets:pasadenafarmersmarket.org

Tuesdays @ Villa Parke Center363 East Villa Street at Garfield Avenue (walkable from Fuller)8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Wednesdays @ Playhouse DistrictEl Molino Ave & Union Street (walkable from Fuller)3:30-7:30 p.m.

Thursdays @ South PasMeridian Ave & El Centro (Metro Gold line at South Pasadena Station)4-7 p.m.

Saturdays @ Victory ParkSierra Madre Blvd at Paloma Street8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Samantha Curley (MAT ‘13) is drawn to spiritual formation through cultural mediums, especially film. She is fascinated by wonder, space, and the questions that move people. Along with writing, she loves cooking, yoga, and sitting around big dinner tables with friends. You can follow her personal ponderings at samsstorybook.com.

samanthacurley

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Recipe:

Pesto Pasta with Lemon, Spinach, Edamame & Toasted Almonds

serves 4 to 6#

8 ounces spaghetti1/2 cup pesto8 ounces spinach2 cups edamame (shelled and shucked, the peas, not entire pods)juice from 2 lemons (plus fresh lemon wedges for serving)3/4 cup almonds, crushed and lightly toasted. Heat a large pot of water to boiling, cook pasta until al dente. Remove from water, strain and rinse with cold water. In a large bowl, stir pasta, pesto and spinach until combined (some spinach will wilt, some will stay firm — this is a nice contrast of textures). Finally, stir in the edamame and squirt the lemon all over the finished dish. Reserve a few lemon slices for people to add more if they like. On a low heat, toast crushed almonds until just fragrant. Garnish pasta with the toasted almonds.

Food Blogs:

thenakedkitchen.comkblog.lunchboxbunch.comcinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.comthekitchn.comglutenfreegoddess.blogspot.comepicurious.com/wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes

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fourcafe.neteagle rock.

T h e G u i l t y E a t i n g Habits of Faithful P e o p l e

jordan mattox

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Who really believes that those semi-putrefying and over-priced “organic” apples are really healthier? The point is that, by buying them, we are not just buying and consuming a product—we are simultaneously doing something meaningful, demonstrating our capacity for care and global awareness, participating in a larger collective project.Slavoj Zizek

There is a sense when one steps into the produce section of Whole Foods in Old Town that one has entered a sacred space. The delicate ambiance created by the well-tuned lights and gentle pure of background music cloaks the organic kale in an almost mystical aurora. Like a church service, Whole Food’s shoppers dress for the experience, donning bright shades Yoga pants, organic slippers made with bamboo reeds, or any locally made organic cotton tee—in a concerted effort to show completeness of their healthy and ecologically-sensitive lifestyle. Moreover, when they reach the checkout line and fork over what for many normal-folks amounts to a whole paycheck, the acolytes gently absorb this small sacrifice as doing their part for their environment and their bodies.

The tongue-in-cheekness of the above vignette aside, it is my contention that the foodie movement in United States represents a new attempt by Western folks to fashion a folk religion, an ideology that gives their lives purpose and morality. This folk religion is founded on a myth that is based on Christian imagery of the Garden of Eden, but has been repackaged in the modern ideology of ecology. Out of this, adherents have developed religious practices and virtues to give people living in late capitalism meaning to their consumption.

Most religious traditions contain within them a certain myth about the world. For instance, for most of the history of Christianity, the guiding myth has been the Garden narrative of creation and the fall. After the enlightenment, when society broke itself from the control of religious authority, various myths were used to supplement the loss of the Christian tradition. Terry Eagleton shows the evolution from German idealism, to Romanticism, to Marxism, and finally arriving where we are today in Capitalism, each with their own distinctive story for how the world works. During the Cold War, this story of capitalism had a vitality that it has lost now with the “end of history” as Francis Fukayama predicted in his book of the same name. Capitalism needed a new obstacle to conquer to give people a sense that their shopping had purpose. Enter ecology. With escalating climate crisis, growing world population and increasing food shortages, modern society has responded with a myth of ecology. This myth runs something like this: there existed a harmonious environment, humans entered and corrupted it, and now because we corrupted we must respond by re-entering it and establishing a harmonious relationship with nature by creating new tools of human relationship (green technologies). There are a few key points to highlight.

First, nature is inherently idyllic and perfect. Humans have the power to break it and fix it. But most importantly, the way we fix it is not consuming less, but consuming differently. In other words, capitalism has transformed the climate crisis into an opportunity to give humanity meaning by solving this apocalyptic problem by consuming better. Second, these myths of the world necessitate a series of religious practices. The ecological myth leads humanity toward

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responding in a number of ways that are labeled as “green.”

For the purpose of this article, I will focus on the ways related to food. One of the big responses to ecological myth is the locavore movement. The idea is that humanity has become alienated from its food supply through modern agribusiness, which contributes to pollution and over consumption. According to the myth ecology, we need a more harmonious relationship with the food supply because it is better for the person and the environment. As a result, farmer’s markets and CSA (community supported agriculture) movement’s have flourished. Everyone from Whole Foods to Wal Mart has gotten into the movement, providing locally produced food. Moreover, organic foods are treated as superior food products because they allow the plants to remain unpolluted by human corruption. Underlying these interestingly is an idea similar to the food purity laws of the Old Testament. In the book of Leviticus in particular, certain foods were labeled as pure and others impure. The reason one avoided certain foods was to have purity so that one might come before God. Purity, to be clear, was not necessarily a moral status, but a necessary way to commune with God. Priests observed these laws closely in order that they may enter the tent of meeting before God. In a similar way, by attaching ethical value to food products with the complementary idea that these products have an effect on the consumer, members of this green movement unconsciously created a system of purity. This ideology is subtly at work in commercials that pair organic food with the phrases “feel better” and “taste the difference.” The implication is that there is a sense of guilt people feel at the way the environment has been polluted and they atone that by practicing these food laws.

The notion of guilt in fact may be the driving factor of the foodie movement. Without the starting point of guilt there would be no sense for why one might seek betterment. Seeking purity through food then allows one expunge this deep-seated guilt through human effort. The more guilt one feels, the more emphasis is put on consuming good foods. It is not a stretch to argue that this guilt under food practices highlights a general sense of guilt that is common feature of Western culture that extends beyond the guilt for the destruction of the environment, and is intrinsically part of the mentality of sin that is axiomatic for most western people that comes from an erroneous theology that views God as a purveyor of judgment upon the perennially guilty humanity.

In addition to creating a sense of purity, these religious practices create sociological divisions. If one believes that this food is ethically superior to another, it follows then that one begins to divide society into those who are practicing and those who are not. The problem is that this creates a sense of ethical superiority. This would not be controversial if the food movement was not necessarily class-related. There is a reason that Whole Foods is often sarcastically referred to as “Whole-Paycheck-Foods.” It is one thing to buy a few vegetables from a Farmer’s Market, it is another thing to feed a family with a meager salary on organic, locally-grown foods. Like the Pharisees who lost sight of the point of the law and who expected the impoverished Jews not to pick grain from the field on the Sabbath, modern foodies have removed to potential for ethical food consumption from the ability of working-class folks, placing themselves on hill to stand as the ethical example of ecology. Thus, the purity code

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when enacted naturally creates divisions among people and particularly on class lines.

Ultimately, Christians must recognize that the ecological movement is tied to loss of meaning that came with postmodernity. More than that, the individualizing tendency of western culture has left people wanting for solidarity and identity with a movement. With rise of global capitalism that has transformed everything into a market as authors Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri showed in Empire (pub. 2000), and as philosopher Simon Critchley has argued for years, politics and power have been divorced and leave people with a sense of hopelessness about changing the world.

Consequently, ecology has given people the dual sense of belonging and the ability to atone for our deep-seated guilt. More than, in a relativistic world where the term morality has lost any significant meaning, ecological eating allows one to measure their ethical progress. The problem, however, is that this morality, as Nietzsche would be quick to point out, is tied to power and wealth and is attached to a false sense of guilt. The move to cleanliness flies in the face of Christian understanding that all foods are now clean.

Although Jesus only makes this claim explicit in one gospel, Paul devotes major portions of his epistles to exactly this issue. In particular, the Corinthian church was using food sacrificed to pagan deities as reason for divisions among the church. More than likely, the church members who abstained from these foods felt superior to those who continued to consume this unethically produced food. Paul responds by telling the community that what is important is the unity of the community over and against one’s personal ethics. Paul identified the danger of food purity: it

creates divisions and disunity. His solution is to give one’s personal ethic proclivities for the sake of the community. In other words, all foods are clean that work for the incorporation of all people into the body of Christ. This is possible because of the healing work of Christ, who saved humanity and allowed us to live free from the bondage of guilt and impurity. With impurity and guilt destroyed, all humanity can access God freely and without observing food purity laws or rituals. Thus, dividing people by food practices is an attempt to reinstate the divisions of the levitical priest code and make the saving work of Christ an human enterprise: (hu)man as the measure of all things. In view of the work Christ, Christian tradition instead views food as the place of unity: the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, all Christians become united through saving work of Christ by consuming the bread and the wine. This is the message of the Christian gospel and one desperately needed in a world rife with divisions and guilt.

Jordan Mattox (MAT, ‘13) writes for castrocigar.wordpress.com andpoliticaltheology.com/blog. His interests lie in the intersection between Marxist philosophy, political theology, and intellectual history. On the weekends, he likes gardening, bicycling, and cooking.

jordanmattox

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CLASSIFIED

Asian American & Pacific IslandersSeeking Biblical Values and Social Justice ConferenceHave you ever wondered, “How would Jesus vote?” Are you seeking opportunities to expand your perspectives on important social issues and how they relate to your faith? Join an exciting, open discussion at this historic conference with keynote address by bestselling author and Sojourners founder/editor the Rev. Jim Wallis, and a panel discussion and workshops by AAPI Christian leaders. October 12-13, Union Church of L.A., Little Tokyo. Register early (student discount) at apisjchristians.tumblr.com.

Free Counseling!

The School of Psychology is once again offering 10 free individual therapy sessions on a first-come-first-served basis for qualified adults. This opportunity will be available during the Fall, Winter and Spring quarters of the 2012-13 school year (clients will see a therapist during one of these quarters). PhD students, under the supervision of a licensed mental health professional, provide the therapy. This is ideal for individuals going through relationship issues, life transitions, personal growth, stress, sadness, self-esteem issues, anxiety and identity issues. Please contact Amy Drennan in the School of Psychology at (626) 204-2009 to set up an intake. amydrennan@fuller.edu

Room for Rent

Fuller Psych Grad has master bedroom with attached private bathroom for rent in 1300 square foot deluxe townhouse in Monrovia, conveniently located near freeway, stores, restaurants, theaters, etc. Includes access to the entire townhouse, including kitchen, dining room, living room w/fireplace, private garage parking, and beautiful pool and spa. All utilities included as well as wi-fi, Direct TV, monthly cleaning/maid service and private laundry area. Pix available on request. Rent is $ 800/month. Contact Dr. Lee Stoltzfus 818 590 4617 or dr.lee.phd@doctor.com.

columbia auto

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Columbia Auto Body- Quality collision repair since 1982. We work with every insurance company. Lifetime Warranty! Owned by Fuller graduate. 323-258-0565 1567 Colorado Blvd- Eagle Rock.

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Email us at semi@fuller.edu for more info!

SUPPORT GroupAll student wives are invited to join SUPPORT, the Bible study, prayer and fellowship group just for you! We have two distinct meeting times, so choose the one that is best for you or come try both.

Wed Mornings, 9-11 amPasadena Presbyterian Church, 3rd floorChildcare is provided for children 0-5 years.

Thurs Evenings, 7-9 pmChang Commons, Theme Room 2No childcare provided.

Contacts: Lyndsay Piña 209.480.3609 or Janna McConnell 626.644.2942

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EVENTS

juan l. martínez in chapel - Travis aud

Associate Provost for Diversity and International Programs, professor of Hispanic Studies and Pastoral Leadership speaks in chapel. Dr. Martínez speacializes in Latino Protestantism.

day of prayer in chapel - Travis aud

In worship, God speaks and God listens. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God challenges us, comforts us, and awakens us...By the prompting of the Holy Spirit we listen and then respond with praise, confession, petition, testimony, and dedication.

The Trial of Jesus and american Capital Punishment - payton 101

Would Jesus be sentenced to death under current California law? Join us for a mock trial of Jesus and be part of the jury. Prop 34, which seeks to replace the death penalty with a life sentence without parole, is on the ballot in California this fall.

Life after Rowan: the Future of Anglican Communion? - Travis auditorium

Rev. Dr. Francis Bridger, Ecclesiastical Professor of Anglican Studies at Fuller and Executive Director of the Center for Anglican Communion Studies along with Rev. Dr. Andrew Goddard, Associate Director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics in Cambridge, England.

Division + Dialogue in the Church: Anglican Indaba the Answer? - Travis Aud

Rev. Dr. Francis Bridger, Ecclesiastical Professor of Anglican Studies at Fuller and Executive Director of the Center for Anglican Communion Studies along with Rev. Dr. Andrew Goddard, Associate Director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics in Cambridge, England.

The Gospel after christendom - the university club

Join Phyllis Tickle and Ryan Bolger as we celebrate the life, mission and work of Dr. Edmund Gibbs with the publication of essays in his honor.

Harvest festival - the quad

Games, Candy, Balloons, Face Painting, Hayride. $4 Ride Pass: Giant Slide, Bounce House, Pony Ride. $5 Snack Pass: Nachos, Hot Dogs, Roasted Corn, Popcorn. $7 Meal Pass (includes Snack Pass): Korean BBQ or Zankou Chicken. Pre-sale Tickets Oct. 22-25th Res Comm Office.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict + Reconciliation Theology - geneva room

Join in conversation with Salim Munayer, a Palestinian-Israeli peacemaker from Lod and instructor at Bethlehem Bible College. He is also founder of Musalaha, a non-profit organization promote reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians as demonstrated in the life and teaching of Jesus.

for more event listings, visit thesemi.org and portico.

October

1010am

October

1710am

October

177pm

October

177-9:30pm

October

187-9:30pm

October

097pm

Oct

265:30-8pm

Oct

259am

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