Do you thank farmers when you say grace before a meal? In a globalized food system, you have many farmers to cover! And a substantial number of them are scattered around the world, growing everything from coffee and cacao, to cantaloupes and chickens. Yes, despite the fact that the U.S. grows its own melons and millions of chickens, we both export and import those very same items.
Just outside of the town of Blacksburg, which is located about 40 miles southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, sits a church with a unique rock exterior. It sits on a plot of land along Highway 5 across the street from its cemetery. There is perhaps no other church like it in the area, at least none that could match its solid-rock edifice that was built by Black men who left a permanent symbol in honor of God and their place of worship for future generations.
The Presbyterian Hunger Program accompanies Presbyterians doing the important work of questioning our economic lives as we move beyond what our dollars do in the offering plate, to considering what our dollars do in the marketplace. Over the years, educational resources, travel experiences and direct outreach to congregations via projects has helped Presbyterians ask themselves important questions like: Does my coffee provide good wages to small farmers or does it enrich CEOs at the expense of the producers? Are our Palm Sunday palms damaging God’s Creation? Is my savings account supporting development and women’s rights or fueling human rights abuses? Were our youth group T-shirts printed in a sweatshop?
At a recent worship service, we read from the end of the book of Revelation. It described the beautiful vision of the New Jerusalem descending from heaven to Earth, and God coming to dwell among the people and the world God created. Listening to it read, I was struck again by the image of the tree of life on the banks of the river, producing new fruit for each of the 12 months of the year.
Since 2009, the Nigerian government has been engaged in violent conflict with Boko Haram militants in Northeastern Nigeria. People’s homes have been burned along with their farming fields. Food, tools and other possessions have been stolen. And many women and young girls have been raped by the insurgents. Many have lost their lives.
From Sept. 1 to Oct. 4, Christians around the world celebrate the Season of Creation. Some of us pray, some of us do hands-on projects, some of us advocate. We all protect creation. It’s powerfully good work that’s urgently needed.
It’s been more than a year, but the mere mention of the devastation causes Lourdes Perez’s chin to tremble. Tears fill her eyes.
Everything was lost. The coffee trees. The plantain trees. Everything from the farm she and her husband, César Oliver, had been building for more than three decades.
Coffee is a major agricultural product of Mexico, the beverage of choice among millions of people in the U.S., and a link in a mission partnership that transforms people in both countries.
