Food and Faith Food Archives

August 30, 2022

Weaving our Way to Wholeness

Posted 12:58pm

While wholeness may be the ultimate goal, in the meantime, I value determined weaving. The wholeness we seek may be beyond our reach given the lack of maturity of Homo Sapiens Sapiens (such a self-congratulatory term), but weaving with those you care about is good, true and (while definitely messy) beautiful! Today, the gift I… Read more »

May 10, 2019

Faith and your dinner plate

Posted 6:13pm

globe and web with climate justice or climate chaos printed on it

Food choices help mitigate climate change Originally published in the Presbyterians Today March/April 2019 edition Choosing a protein for a meal is no easy task. Can you afford it? Is it good for you? If you have kids, will they eat it? Then there are the less common and more challenging questions: Was the earth… Read more »

August 10, 2018

Why did your organic milk get a ‘0 cow’ rating?

Posted 10:34am

One would hope that organic milk would be healthy as well as being good for land and cows. Alas. This scorecard crushes that hope. Based on a just-completed comprehensive study –Full Report | Executive Summary, the Cornucopia Institute has released a handy five-cow ranking chart where you can find 160 organic milk brands. I was eager to see… Read more »

August 20, 2016

When in Iceland, eat sheep

Posted 12:09pm

By Kathleen Murphy, former Boston Food Justice Young Adult Volunteer and PHP Food Justice Fellow, pictured here in Thingvellir Park, Iceland, where the continental divide goes through the island nation and the ancient parliament met. As an adventurous eater I was really excited to see what kind of trouble I could get myself into when… Read more »

November 25, 2014

There is Chicken Blood on my Pants (and No, I’m not a Witch).

Posted 12:00pm

It is quite humbling to catch a chicken, hold her, pet her, attempt to calm her, pass her off to Steve, and look her in the eye as the hatchet comes down. Then after plucking feathers, and knifing away the vitals, I carry it on ice to my freezer. I did that today. I caught a bird that has lived at Ferncliff much longer than I have, and helped end her life.

This article is about killing chicken. I thought you should know that here before you decide to keep reading or not.

There was a bright vivacious red color blood. There were feathers–lots of them. There was a small child calling at his father, “please don’t kill it Dad.” There was slimy smelly guts. There was skin. There were feathers we missed. There was yellow fat. It smelled like a dead animal, it did a lot of twitching. It bled on me. It’s smell lingers in my arm hairs hours later.

July 8, 2014

Whitewater Valley Presbytery Anti-Hunger and Opportunity Corps – VISTA member

Posted 3:16pm

About Anti-Hunger and Opportunity Corps: The Anti-Hunger and Opportunity Corps (AHOC) is an AmeriCorps VISTA project, sponsored by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Wal-Mart Foundation, and managed by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger. The VISTA members work in both rural and urban areas… Read more »

March 5, 2014

Roots, Beets, Ashes

Posted 5:33pm

It was silly, but I was still surprised that they did not come out of the ground ready to be borsht. They are covered in dirt, dark brown, earthy smelling. And I realized; it was a root.

January 17, 2014

Participate

Posted 7:28pm

Have you noticed an increase in obesity in our nation? What about a decrease in physical activity? The makers of HBO’s “Weight of the Nation” sure have and did something about it. The 4 part documentary is a commentary on our nation’s health crisis: obesity. At times is tough to watch and other times… Read more »

December 18, 2013

Christmas: A Cure for Winter Blues

Posted 1:26pm

In recent years, I find myself increasingly melancholy in the days leading up to Christmas. There is a lot I want to love about the holiday, like stopping and spending time with loved ones, and the outpouring of kindness on one another. These are beautiful sentiments, but so often hard to focus on during the hustle and bustle of the season.

November 5, 2013

Thanksgiving Traditions

Posted 11:02am

The aroma of macaroni and cheese, collard greens, chicken, ham, green beans, potato salad, yams, corn pudding and corn bread slithers up my nostrils. Four generations of my family form a circle and link hands. We bow our heads for prayer. My uncle asks God to bless the food and the hands that prepared it. We whisper our thanks and say “Amen” in unison. We part and create a path for the elders to make their plates then the children. Everyone has a place at the table. We eat and laugh for hours. Plates are licked clean. Stomachs are full. Pants are bursting at the seams. We find comfort at the table, where our family congregates and share the fruit of their labor. Never do we discuss where our dinner comes from. Never do we discuss the health related consequences of the food we eat. All that seems to matter is the taste and the fact that we have plenty.

Posts Categorized: Food