This week, it’s no surprise that we circle back to food waste in our wider coverage of waste. Food is so much a part of our everyday, tangible existence — which for many of us in quarantine, has looked like equal cycles of delight and dread as we cook homemade sourdough everythings, and/or really nothing at all (ordering take-out does help our local food industry & workers!).
Food is literally the foundation of our bodies, the building blocks of our cells. In terms of our faith, Jesus uses such mundane, everyday items (bread and wine, fish and loaves) to help us re-member and heal the fractures in ourselves, our communities, and the world, and make evident the miraculous abundance of the Kingdom (more on our food ministry here)
Food waste
to food security
This week, we invite you to learn about food insecurity by chewing on the Truth & Justice reflection written by Alysun Deckert, Studio 3 Elder and registered UW Medical Center dietician. As Alysun highlights the very real statistics behind food security, especially in a pandemic and especially among Black and Brown folks, there are ways we can continue to redirect food away from waste and towards security (while also lowering carbon emissions!) In addition to resources shared on her post, here are some more ideas:
Increase food access through the University Food Bank by rescuing excess food and funneling it to folks who could use it. Union goes weekly and sends food directly to LUV & Compass House, along with using produce rescued in our 300+ weekly burrito roll.
You as an individual or family can also rescue food there; rescuing food has low barriers and it can go far for yourself or if you’re cooking for others (Compass House & LUV included!). Email Adrienne to get in touch with a Food Bank staff member.
Check out Civil Eats for great reads, inspiring stories, and news updates on what is happening across the country in the ways of food and politics.
See the FAO (UN Food & Agricultural Organization) for the global perspective on food security, with special attention to their food loss indicators, and affirmation on shifting excess food to those who are hungry.
Shift your household’s food waste. Before food is wasted, cook some homemade meals for Compass House, LUV, or other neighbors in need. More info here, otherwise email Adrienne if you have any questions! And consider buying Imperfect produce for “ugly” food that has already been reclaimed.
As Kitchen Table Conversations talked about this week after listening to the 2nd episode of the Chief Seattle podcast, consider some of the health conditions of folks you are cooking for. Providing balanced meals low in sugar and high in protein, full of veggies, and with attention to common sensitivities (gluten, soy, nuts, dairy) can make a huge difference for folks who are diabetic or who have other food requirements.
As Christ affirms with his incarnation, bodies are good and the tangible, accessible food that nourishes our bodies is also good. Because of this, we cannot ignore the food injustices present in our communities, especially among communities of color as related to environmental injustices, systemic racism, histories of colonization, capitalism, and immigration rights — the powers and principalities that be.
Let us continue tending to the work of justice in our neighborhoods by leveling our food systems. We leave you with such images from Scripture as Mary sings in the Magnificat,
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…[God] has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; [God] has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.”
Luke 18:46-47, 52-53
And as Isaiah 40 proclaims:
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”