And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” Genesis 1:29
The barren landscape of winter with its naked tree limbs and hard, frozen ground is hardly evocative of fertility, reproduction, and new life. Yet we know that these processes continue beneath the visible surface of things, and we have faith that the earth will spring back to life in a few weeks, growing a harvest that will nourish us throughout the year. God created a constant and powerful process of food growth and yield that is both steady and sufficient, and one that we all rely upon. The beauty of this process is that God has fully provided for us: there is enough food in the world for everyone to eat.
Why, then, is one in five children in the United States at risk of hunger? Perhaps our answer lies in the words of the Haitian proverb: “Bondye konn bay, men li pa konn separe,” which literally means: “God gives but doesn’t share.” Our Creator has provided everything we need for each inhabitant of the world to live a full, nourished life, yet it’s up to us to ensure that every person has access to the nutrition that they need to thrive.
Fortunately, our government responded to this challenge by creating feeding programs that reach children and their families who live in food-insecure households. The National School Lunch Program offers free or reduced-price lunches to 21.5 million low-income children, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides over 8.6 million low-income women and children with food and nutrition education, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; formerly known as the ‘food stamp program’) lifted 3.7 million Americans out of poverty in 2013.
These critical programs rely on government funding to impact the lives of each person that they reach, and as Episcopalians, we can be powerful advocates for robustly funding these initiatives. As we advocate on a federal level to change the systems of poverty, we can also engage our local resources to address hunger within our community. The reflection below illustrates a moving example of Episcopalians participating in a hunger ministry with their neighbors in Redmond, Washington.
Food Bank Farm: A Ministry of Food
“… for I was hungry and you gave me food” Matthew 25:35 (NRSV)
Bounded on the west by the waters of Puget Sound and on the east by the Cascade Mountain range, the terrain of King County, Washington was shaped by glaciers that deposited fertile soil and carved lush river valleys. Warmed and watered by currents of the Pacific Ocean, the area’s native vegetation — salal, berries, nettles, fiddleheads, hazelnuts — sustained generations with natural abundance.
Today, King County enjoys a new kind of abundance. Home to tech companies like Amazon in Seattle and Microsoft in Redmond, the county is attracting a huge influx of wealth and investment, and is currently experiencing the second fastest rate of growth of all counties in the U.S.
But in the midst of the county’s natural and financial plenty, there’s scarcity.
Here, the number of people experiencing hunger remains higher than pre-recession levels: Approximately 305,000 children in the state of Washington live in food insecure households, and 19.5% of families with children experience food insecurity. This means that in about one of five families, parents go hungry so their children can be fed — and sometimes, everyone goes hungry.
And in those places where the county’s poor can afford to eat, their options for healthy food choices are limited. Recently, the USDA identified 17 “food deserts” in King County, “urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.” These are areas where 20% of the people earn below the poverty line and 33% live more than a mile from a supermarket. In place of markets where fresh, nutritious food is offered, the landscape of these food deserts is dotted with convenience stores and fast food outlets. The USDA concludes, “The lack of access (to fresh foods) contributes to a poor diet and can lead to higher levels of obesity and other diet-related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.”
Jesus charges his disciples to feed his sheep. That’s our mandate. But how do we do this in King County, where the paradoxical epidemic of hunger and obesity is immense?
One answer lies in connecting the financial and natural resources God has planted here.
Holy Cross Episcopal Church sits in one of the wealthiest census tracts in the county, in the hills of Redmond, which is also home to Microsoft’s corporate headquarters. The growing congregation includes many parishioners who have relocated to the Seattle area, recruited by the local technology boom. And its rector drives a tractor.
Frederick Buechner says, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Holy Cross rector Fr. Jim Eichner can interpret this quite literally. Raised on a farm in Wisconsin, Jim brought to Holy Cross his passion for creation stewardship. Fr. Jim’s “deep gladness” lies in cultivating the earth — sowing and growing — and directly meets the world’s deep hunger in King County. Jim drove his tractor into the heart of the county’s hunger epidemic, and brought his congregation with him.
Holy Cross’s Food Bank Farm ministry began in 2011. Twelve volunteers from the congregation worked in partnership with Seattle’s inner city New Hope Missionary Baptist Church’s Clean Greens ministry, growing 3,750 pounds of food, for 5,000 servings valued at $5,625. That 2011 harvest was sold inexpensively at farm stands in Seattle’s urban food deserts, distributed via free boxes of produce to families in need, and donated to local food banks.
The Food Bank Farm ministry’s mission is “to end hunger in the Pacific Northwest by growing fresh produce for area food banks,” and its ambitious goal is to raise a million pounds of nutritious fresh produce for area food banks by 2021. They’re well on their way.
The congregation now cultivates an eight-acre tract in King County’s Snoqualmie River Valley, and the work has grown beyond just Holy Cross. Other congregations, organizations like the Scouts, even businesses that sponsor employee volunteer time off, such as retailer Nordstrom, have worked in the ministry’s fields. Many contributions come in via United Way and the Microsoft matching program. In 2014, over 700 people harvested 111,000 pounds of produce, providing 457,760 servings valued at $167,160.
The 2015 planting begins the second week of Easter, with plans for sowing 30,000 squash seeds. By the final harvest in November, volunteers will log over 1,500 hours of work.
Can the congregation meet their lofty goal of ending hunger in the Pacific Northwest? It is Holy Cross’s corporate vocation, and there is a power at work within them that is able to accomplish far more than they can ask or imagine. Please support their ministry in prayer.
King County’s hunger rates parallel national averages — there are hungry people where you live. Even one hungry child is a community crisis, and we are all called to act. Maybe you won’t find a rector on a tractor in your community, but there are local, national and global organizations that can channel your gifts, talents and resources to help end hunger. That same power that is able to accomplish far more than you can ask or imagine is at work within you, too.
Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life: Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits for the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, Prayer for Agriculture)
Resources:
Take Action: Go here to let your members of Congress know you support legislation that provides adequate nutrition programs to all children.
Speak out on social media about the need for our federal budget to support human needs programs. Join the conversation with #StopTheCuts.
Join the Domestic Policy Action Network to get monthly emails that provide you with an in-depth look at domestic policy. Email Office of Government Relations to join the network.
Learn more about the Food Bank Farm. Check out their website here!
This is the fifth installment of the Episcopal Public Policy Network’s 2015 Lenten Series: “Engaging Poverty at Home and Around the World.” To view previous reflections, click here. To receive these reflections to your inbox each Wednesday of Lent, sign up here.