 Dinner because of a Movie
Hope Church holds a "50 Mile" Potluck and talks about food justice
by Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor
Somewhat organically after a string of emails on the church list serve, four members of Hope Church (Disciples of Christ/United Church of Christ) in Jamaica Plain met to discuss the documentary film Food Inc., and share thoughts about what lessons it might have for Christians.
The film, based on the book "Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer - and What You Can do About It" edited by Karl Weber, contends that our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment.
"When we got together to talk about the film, we discussed how our food choices impact the world; and then we decided that there was a lot of information to share with the wider community about the negative impacts of corporate farming on God's people, animals and land," explained Angela Letizia, one of the organizers. So the group planned a "50 Mile Potluck" that served up excellent food and information.
The four who gathered for the initial conversation and went on to plan the dinner weren't on any particular committee, but just members of the church inspired by the film who were trying to make changes to their own consumption patterns. Interim Pastor Rev. Wendy Miller Olapade said "Hope Church's model of ministry is designed to open up space for short-term, task-specific groups to pop up out of their passion and do powerful ministry. In this case, we had four folks who felt strongly about food justice and thought we could do something fun to integrate faith and action and educate our community."
The standing Social Justice (Mission) Ministry Team, lead by Covenant Partner Neeka Stanley, gave the local food project their blessings and support.
"We encouraged folks in the community to bring a dish for which the main ingredient was grown or raised within 50 miles of their home," said Letizia. The group supplied information about three area farmers' markets that could help in their quest.
The four shared their recipes ahead of time and invited folks to have 'cooking buddies' if they were intimidated by making something new. Some of the recipes included: Quinoa salad with local veggies and local cheese, eggplant parmigiana, and roasted beet salad, as well as more simple dishes like homemade applesauce, pickles and kale chips. The timing of the event, at the end of September, meant that many great local produce were being harvested from local gardens and available at local farmers markets.
Laura Everett approached the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture to get some resources like the Massachusetts-Grown Produce Availability Calendar to encourage eating 'seasonally' and a poster showing 10 Good Reasons to Buy Locally Produced Food. Everett brought her CSA (or Community Supported Agriculture) share so people could see how much food is delivered when you join a CSA. CSA's are dependable programs that assure farmers of a certain level of income for the year while providing consumers with local and seasonal produce.
"Historically, churches are very good at potlucks. We thought we could use this tendency, with the '50 mile' challenge thrown in, to help our church feel empowered to eat more mindfully and locally. People got very creative in showing off what they could make when challenged to use local food sources or things they had grown. And it turned out it was an easy opportunity to invite friends to church for a great meal." Everett said.
The potluck meal was coupled with a regular Sunday worship service dedicated to themes of global hunger, sustainable food sources and local food concerns. The worship service also kicked off Hope Church's campaign for the first Boston CROP walk.
One of the organizers, Lisa Price, offered a reflection during Hope's regular 5:30pm worship service about Jesus' experience of hunger. "We confessed our corporate sins of complacency in a world filled with hungry people, shared our testimonies of how God had called us into justice work, and sang songs that praised God's grace and the hope for redemption through action," said Letizia.
About 40 people attended the potluck and shared stories of their relationships to food and farming and discussed specific changes that people could make to help live more sustainably and build up the Hope Church community. Price offered up the idea of the church as a local milk or CSA vegetable drop-off site. A number of parishioners are already splitting a Community Supported Fishery share through the Cape Ann fisherman's Association.
Everett, an apartment dweller without a yard, hopes that the church can create a space for common compost. During the past year, a small number of parishioners living in apartments or homes without gardening space participated in "yard shares" with other parishioners who had backyards ready to be cultivated. Bob and Doris Drake cultivated a garden with hosts Nancy Azar and J. Conlon. Bob Drake said "Locally grown food is not only healthier, but it tastes much better".
You can reach Angela at the church office (office@hopeboston.org). The church has moved back to Jamaica Plain, sharing the building of Central Congregational Church at 87 Seaverns Ave.
[photo credit: Laura Everett]
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