Conversations from the soil

and around the table.

With Anna Woofenden

and Sam Chamelin.

THE FOOD AND FAITH PODCAST

"Are we becoming too spiritually and ethically removed from the realities of food production?" These questions and more

are explored on

The Leading Voices in Food with Dr. Norman Wirzba.

NORMAN WIRZBA

On average, each calorie of food on your plate requires 7-10 calories of energy from fossil fuel to get there. But it wasn't always like that - until 1840, US food production depended almost entirely on renewable energy sources including labor. Currently, on the other hand, agriculture and forestry are responsible for 1/3 of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally! Download this free guide to learn much more about greenhouse gases and food.

GREENHOUSE GASES AND FOOD: THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

A Ministry of the Church of the Nativity, Raleigh NC. "We seek a connection to God through our connections with one another, through caring for the natural world, and through an examination of our interior life. All these things are a form of prayer. We hope that the reflections of this website and blog reveal and inspire this belief,  and help lead to a restored planet."

ZERO WASTE CHURCH

Interested in composting? In your backyard? As a congregation? Want to get your business involved? Learn how to do all this and more at the NC Composting Council website. Check out their resources and get involved today!

NC COMPOSTING COUNCIL

"We take our name, Anathoth, from a Biblical passage where the prophet Jeremiah summons the Israelites to “plant gardens” and “seek the peace of the city” in response to violence (Jeremiah 29).
We envision people of faith engaging with root causes of violence, poverty, and malnutrition in rural communities by working collaboratively to create a more just, sustainable, and equitable food system.
Our mission is to heal divisions between neighbors and the land by growing food together in Cedar Grove, NC."

ANATHOTH COMMUNITY GARDEN & FARM

From the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University.

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"For faith leaders working on food insecurity, health disparity, or ecological degradation, the level of complexity is immense. We can easily become overwhelmed by the scale and difficulty of the problems our communities face. Which thread do you pull? Where to begin?"

FOOD, HEALTH, AND ECOLOGICAL WELL-BEING PROGRAM

Project Drawdown is the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. One hundred solutions are proposed, based on existing technology and processes. Regenerative Agriculture is solution #11!

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"Regenerative agriculture enhances and sustains the health of the soil by restoring its carbon content, which in turn improves productivity—just the opposite of conventional agriculture. Its practices include no tillage, diverse cover crops, in-farm fertility (no external nutrients), no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, and multiple crop rotations."

REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE PROJECT DRAWDOWN

If you’re in the Raleigh, Durham, or Asheville areas, consider CompostNow for your composting needs! For the price of 1 cup of coffee a week, the folks at CompostNow will pick up your food scraps and transform them into rich compost; transforming our depleted soil and souls. Choose to have the finished product delivered to you for use, or donated to local farmers and organizational partners!

COMPOSTNOW

Dr. Kathy Shea shares 10 principles of Earth-friendly, Healthy Eating in this NCIPL booklet. Download it from our website and share it with your congregation!

EARTH-FRIENDLY, HEALTHY EATING

Do you know who grows your food? Making the food-faith-climate connection means working with local farmers as we create a more just and sustainable food system. Schedule a farm tour with the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association  to learn more about what local and sustainable agriculture looks like. Go with friends, your family, or your church! Get to know the folks who grow your food, and while your at it, advocate for more just food and farm policy in North Carolina. Check out RAFI and their policy work around the Farm Bill. Then, head over to their Advocacy Page. Learn about how else you, your congregation, and those you know can become involved.

CAROLINA FARM STEWARDSHIP ASSOC.

Does your congregation have lawn space sitting idle? Become a Sacred Grounds Congregation through the National Wildlife Federation by creating a wildlife habitat on church grounds — a space that invites congregants to experience the Divine outside the church building; a space where children can listen to birds or marvel at tadpoles, investing in the Foodscape of all Creation.

SACRED GROUNDS

"The NC State Compost Learning Lab (CL2) is an education, research and demonstration site in the heart of the 1,500-acre Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory in Raleigh, North Carolina. The site has 26 types of backyard composting and vermi-composting units, both medium and small scale, and areas for hands-on training activities. A 40-ft by 30-ft Worm Barn houses a dozen types of worm bins ranging in size from household bins to a 40 square feet continuous flow-through raised bed!"

NC STATE COMPOST LEARNING LAB

Project Drawdown is the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. One hundred solutions are proposed, based on existing technology and processes. Reduced Food Waste is the solution #3!

"When food is wasted, all the energy, resources, and money that went into producing, processing, packaging, and transporting it are wasted too. [...] If measures are taken to reduce food waste by improving storage and transport systems, generating public awareness, and changing consumer behavior, this solution could lead to substantial reductions in waste and carbon emissions."

REDUCED FOOD WASTE PROJECT DRAWDAWN

PHW is an initiative of the NC Council of Churches, designed to bridge issues of faith, health, and social Justice. It seeks to provide people of faith with the necessary tools to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives. By improving the health and well-being of people of faith, we hope to impact the larger community and reduce the health care burden on our state.

PARTNERS IN HEALTH

AND WHOLENESS - PHW

The things that we throw “away” are never really gone. They languish in landfills and contribute to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions. Learn how to cut back and use less! Check out Toward Zero Waste and embrace the change.

TOWARD ZERO WASTE

"Now in our ninth growing season, The Lord’s Acre continues to inspire new ways of living in community and increasing food access. We don’t buy the “giver”and “receiver” labels of charity—everyone has something to offer and something they need. What we do believe in is weaving folk’s strengths, passions, talents, and creativity into addressing issues like food security, loneliness, prejudice, and the isolation of modern society. Yes, The Lord’s Acres believes a garden and the acts of learning, growing, and eating food together can accomplish this. We believe it because we see it every day."

THE LORD'S ACRE

"Simply put, we can’t think of a better place to be in touch with God and with each other than on a farm. There’s something about sinking our fingers into the soil, of nurturing the lives of plants and animals, of harvesting the gifts of creation and sharing them with others… There’s just something about it all that feels like, well, worship."

FARM CHURCH

A Ministry of the Plainsong Farm - 'growing food for people and people for God', they put together a huge directory of Christian food ministries. Below is a part of their welcome page message:

"When we eat, we acknowledge our complete dependence on God. We recognize our mutual dependence with all Creation.

We didn’t create the seeds or the soil or the beasts of the field. They are God’s handiwork. And so are we. Every human soul.

God uses food to remind us that – though we are made in the image of God – we are not God.

We say grace before meals to help us remember: We are the Creation, not the Creator. We are dust, and to dust we shall return; God only is immortal.

Our role is to glorify God with our days – to glorify God with our work, with our rest, with our worship.

With our meals."

THE CHRISTIAN

FOOD MOVEMENT

Project Drawdown is the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. One hundred solutions are proposed, based on existing technology and processes. Composting is the solution #60!

"In 2015, an estimated 38 percent of food waste was composted in the United States; 57 percent was composted in the European Union. If all lower-income countries reached the U.S. rate and all higher-income countries achieved the E.U. rate, composting could avoid methane emissions from landfills equivalent to 2.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2050."

COMPOSTING

PROJECT DRAWDOWN