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hunger
The clouds opened up, dropping heavy rain and forcing members of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) to huddle under a thatch roof to meet with members of the Trio Farmers’ Cooperative in Belize. SDOP recently spent a week visiting villages in remote sections of the country to see how work has progressed in enterprises that have received SDOP financial support.
Abel Perviez says he talked to God and asked for 19 more years to complete his life’s work. He started the Presbyterian mission in a tiny Cuban town dominated by a large sugar mill in January 2015 with just six worshipers. The mission is now up to 30 members and is still growing.
The Presbyterian Hunger Program’s (PHP) Advisory Committee gathered this spring at Stony Point Center in New York to see some of the anti-hunger work taking place there. They toured the gardens and greenhouses and heard about plans for the center to start working additional farm land nearby.
After months of planning, the “Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival” officially begins on Mother’s Day. The campaign, a continuation of the initiative launched by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 50 years ago, is calling for direct action at statehouses across the country as well as the U.S. Capitol.
Haiti Education and Production Initiatives (HEPI) is a nonprofit organization begun in 2010 by members of the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery in South Carolina. Haiti had been a focus of the presbytery for a few years prior to 2010. HEPI’s foci are education for children and adults, and production. Creations of Hope is the production arm of HEPI.
Next to the entrance of Lucy Janjigian’s apartment is a drawing that her granddaughter made. It depicts Janjigian, her granddaughter and the words “My grandmother helps orphans in Armenia. She inspires me to help other people.” Her granddaughter has pigtails. Janjigian has a superhero cape. In real life, Janjigian is a bit of a superhero.
Mangos taste so good that many consider them the world’s best fruit. But they have more qualities than flavor alone. The mango is one of the few tropical fruits that grows well on low-fertility soils and where there is a long dry season. Mangos are sold in local markets throughout the tropical world but can also be processed into dried fruit, drinks, pickles and chutney. Mango wood burns well and makes good charcoal.
The questions come in the darkness, usually around 3 a.m.
“What will my children’s lives be like without me?” wonders Farm Church co-founder Ben Johnston-Krase.
Everyone, regardless of race or background, should be able to eat healthily.
That’s a guiding philosophy of Soul Fire Farm, a farm in New York state with a goal to feed people living in “food apartheid” neighborhoods, a term used to describe areas with little or no access to fresh, healthy food. The Presbyterian Hunger Program was one of the first supporters of the farm, which was started in 2011.
“We grow our food and get it to those who need it most through a weekly doorstep delivery of vegetables and eggs. It goes to people who live in neighborhoods with no access to fresh, healthy food,” said Leah Penniman, co-founder and co-director of the farm. “People pay for food on a sliding scale, depending on their income. We work with many refugee families who receive a fully subsidized food share.”
As I travel around the world and visit farmers and other agricultural partners, my appreciation of farmers and respect for them grows ever stronger. Every day I learn more about what farming represents, not only for farmers but also for all of us as consumers. We depend daily on farmers and farms yet often do not get glimpses of their daily realities or struggles. Many farmers find themselves living in poverty and being affected by hunger. In 2015, three United Nations agencies reported that most of the 795 million people worldwide who don’t get enough to eat are in fact farmers.
