Social Justice, Food and the Land(s) of Plenty

Today at the Divinity School I attended a seminar called "Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty" (based on a book of the same name by Mark Winne). It was co-lead by Dr. Ellen Davis (Old Testament Scholar at Duke) and Dr. Norman Wirzba (Ecology and the Land Scholar at Duke).

Living with Katie Potter pointed me to what it means to see Jesus and the Land--granted the two professors noted above make their living in this area and who I can learn from in my time here at Duke, but it is Katie who showed me much of the truth that could be found in the lecture. Katie was able to show me that God called her to care about the land because it was not only part of creation that we are bound in relationship with, but that our sin shows up in how we treat the land. Issues of social injustice and poverty can be found in food and water distribution.

As citizens of two lands of plenty (the United States and the Kingdom of God), we are olbigated to play a part in the just distribution of food. Gupy taught me that God has provided more than enough for all his creation (populations explosions aside--remember God was also the one who said be fruitful and multiply--and that doesn't mean go have a quiver without praying).

Some notes/and thoughts from the discussion are found below:

Eating reminds us that our first identity is that of creature. It is therefore a reminder that we depend on others for our eating which results from the sacrifice of others. We are creatures of dependence in our natural state, and in our rebirth we are now dependent of the Bread of Life (Jesus). --Norman Wirzba

The poor are deprived of the nourishment in food that God gave for them. Due to the injustice of healthy and inexpensive options of grocery stores not opening in areas where the poor live. And also, on a more global scale regarding the poor, we deny people the privilege and humanity to feed themselves--rather than rely on food kitchens, banks and other non-profits organizations.

11% of Americans go hungry, while 65% of Americans suffer from obesity and diabetes (most of this percentage falling heavily on the poor.

A food desert is a rural or urban area that one has to travel more than 10 miles to buy healthy food. Keep in mind that most of the people in those areas probably do no have access to a car. Bus systems are great, but it you have humbled yourself to use them (I say that because in my privilege it was a shock to my system) you quickly find out that you are a slave to the bus' schedule and not your own. I remember during Gupy that it took an entire afternoon to go to the grocery store across town using the bus. And just think, we still had to have a staffperson with a car pick us up because we couldn't carry all that we needed just for one week!

"Poverty is the cause of Hunger."--Mark Winne

"We cannot turn our food into energy."--Norman Wirzba on turning to our food into gas because our entire consumption of food (I can't remember the time period) results in 2 gallons of gas.