EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Four, Number Three January/February 1995 Conference Challenges Congregations to Rethink Our Food System It is hard to find a church that is not involved in some way in feeding the poor as Jesus commanded. Rarer is the moral and ethical reflection on how food is produced and distributed. A conference on Growing Roots for Change: Ethics for a Just and Sustainable Food System, sponsored by the Interfaith Network for Earth Concerns, Portland OR, addressed these concerns. In his keynote speech, organic farmer and theologian Dr. Fred Kirchenmann of Nebraska linked the financial, technological and marketing infrastructures with the loss of family farms and environmental degradation. He emphasized the power of the consumer to transform the food system. Participants heard about community gardens, urban farms and buying clubs as examples of community food security. (See Coop Directory story.) Responsible eating may be a fruitful entry point for churches into environmental stewardship. For more, write Jenny Holmes, 2325 NE 44th Ave., Portland OR 97213; 503/281-8175. Home     Table of Contents