Results tagged “church” from Eat Well Food Tour

One of the things that's accompanied us these 1,300 miles so far is a crate of food-related resources, including two cookbooks created by the Mennonite Central Committee. One is Extending the Table, featuring recipes from around the world and stories to connect cooks to other cultures in meaningful ways. Another that we have with us is Simply in Season, which organizes recipes according to vegetables that are in season simultaneously. Simply in Season has been getting rave reviews by everyone we know who owns it.

The inaugural collection in the MCC series was More With Less, which we don't have in our crate because we don't own it, though we really should. Released in 1976, More With Less has been hugely influential for people of faith who seek to cook simple, healthy dishes not just for health reasons, but for reasons of Christian stewardship. We've heard from many folks who refer to their tattered 30-year-old copy or have bought a second copy because the original was falling apart from so much use. It's amazing how the creation of these three cookbooks, beginning with More With Less, has proven such a subtle, powerful act of culture making. Blessings, stories and tips help contextualize a way of cooking that values a fully formed sense of justice, offering both an outlet for and a means of shaping good cooking. I think it would be great to see more cookbooks from churches, Christian schools and other faith-based groups reflecting the holistic Christian consciousness of the MCC cookbooks, as opposed to just random collections of easy, overly processed foods.

If you don't have these cookbooks yet, I'd highly recommend them. They make wonderful wedding, graduation and housewarming gifts as well. You can purchase them online or at your favorite local fair trade or independent bookstore. By way of whetting your appetite, here's one of my new favorites from Simply in Season that I made this afternoon for our dinner tonight. Admittedly, it's slightly out of season, as this one is from the winter section, but in Grand Rapids, we can still buy Michigan apples from last fall at our local grocery store.

---

Apple Lentil Salad

• 1 c. lentils

Soak 15 minutes in hot water.

 

• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. curry powder
• 1 tsp. salt

In large sauce pan, heat olive oil. Add salt and curry powder and heat until bubbly. Drain lentils, add to saucepan, and fry briefly.

 

• 2 c. water

Add and cook until absorbed (adding more water if needed to cook lentils until tender), about 20 minutes. Drain any excess water. Cool.

 

• 2 tart apples (cored and diced)
• 1/4 c. lemon juice or cider vinegar

Combine to prevent browning. Mix with cooled lentils.

 

• 2 potatoes (cooked, cooled, peeled and chopped)
• 1/2 - 1 small onion (thinly sliced)
• handful of fresh or frozen parsley (chopped)

Mix in with salt to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

My notes:

• Leave the extra liquid in the lentils when done cooking, which makes the salad a little more saucy and eliminates the need for extra salt at the end.
• Definitely go with the cider vinegar.
• Forego the potatoes to save a little time. Replace their bulk with things like fresh, chopped asparagus, zucchini or summer squash depending on the time of year.
• Instead of or in addition to the parsley, use a handful of fresh cilantro.
• Can substitute green onions for white or yellow.

The relatively new Creation Tenders group at Covenant Christian Reformed Church in Sioux Center, Iowa, has been doing some wonderful work for creation care, from collecting electronics for recycling (inspiring a new city-wide program?) to developing a Creation Care Day Camp curriculum for kids. Covenant also has a table at church during the growing season where people can share excess produce from their gardens, which has been very popular, even early in the season.

Another project has been a community garden in collaboration with Christ Community Evangelical Free Church. The garden, located in a trailer park on vacant lots owned by Habitat for Humanity, has 18 plots, about half of which are cultivated by Latino families who live in the park. The partnership between Christ Community and Covenant is a great example of the Spirit moving to inspire creativity across denominations, as the Covenant group showed up one day to several plots that had been mysteriously tilled, only to find out that Christ Community had been pursuing the exact same idea through other channels. Habitat the city arts and recreation community both chipped in to provide water access.

We've heard people at several churches on the tour reflecting on how much land their churches have that could be used for community gardens, which are beneficial on so many levels. They provide an opportunity for people from various backgrounds to come together in one place, inevitably inspiring conversations. They provide a wonderful space for teaching children about stewardship of creation. They provide food for church and community members. They stand as a beautiful, living metaphor for the work of soil preparation and seed planting that happens within the church. So we say, if you're considering starting a community garden at your church or on other land in your neighborhood, go for it!

Beginning to think about food choices in the context of faith can be very overwhelming.  There are so many potential resources and starting points-where do we possibly begin?  Below are some suggestions and resources for working within your congregation.  Check them out and choose one that resonates with your resources and passions...then see where it takes you!

1. Observe World Hunger Sunday.  The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee offers tons of resources for helping your church pray and act on behalf of those around the world who don't have enough to eat. Pre-order resources from Faith Alive now for shipping in August.
2. Organize your congregation to fellowship with fair trade coffee.  Brewing only fair trade certified coffee ensures that the coffee farmer received a just wage for his or her labor.  Did you know the Christian Reformed  Office of Social Justice has its own fair trade coffee blend called Brew Justice?
3. Host Local Harvest potlucks.  Eating together is a wonderful way to build community with each other.  Think about how the potlucks your church hosts can also build community with local food producers by challenging participants to include at least one locally grown item in their dishes.
4. Sponsor a film showing and discussion.  There are an increasing number of documentary films that explore food issues in North America and beyond.  Consider starting with King Corn.  Also recommended: Global Banquet: The Politics of Food, which is broken up into two 28-minute segments with a discussion guide, which is perfect for an adult education time.
5. Form a book group.  Another good idea for adult education or even Sunday school with high school students is to read a book about food issues together and discuss the relationship between food choices and faith.  You might start with a collection of food and faith essays like Eat Well or with Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which is the story of a family's odyssey to eat as locally as possible.
6. Start a community garden at your church.  Many churches have extra land surrounding the building.  A community garden is a great way to be good stewards of church property and invite neighbors to gather together outdoors in warmer months.  For an example, check out the community garden club at Seymour Christian Reformed Church.
7. Involve the kids!  Food is something kids can grow, touch and taste, making it a great learning tool for demonstrating creation care, justice, creativity, vocation and more.  Grow a garden together.  Visit a local farm.  Cook a recipe from scratch.  Discuss food as part of a creation care curriculum.

Share more ideas below!