Web resources


Take and Eat, Taste and See: Living Grace Through Daily Bread
Belmont UMC All Church Retreat
Beersheba Assembly Springs
October 5-7, 2007

How might we - as individuals, as families, or as a church community - more wholly embody living grace through daily bread?

As Individuals and Families:

· Seek first God's Kingdom.
· Always share the best of what we have.
· Take only as much as we need.
· Take time to be intentional about our relationship with food.
· Share food openly - with friends, with the homeless.
· Invite others over for dinner more often, especially single friends and those who are 
  alone (4).
· Extend family meal one day each week by having family members invite others to 
  dinner. During the meal, people could share answers to the question, 'how have you 
  been blessed this past week?'
· Buy more food from local or fair trade farms.
· Migrate towards 250-mile diet.
· Focus diet on eating more seasonal fruits and vegetables (3).
· Eat vegetarian meals more often - lower on the food chain.
· Participate in a food coop.
· Support CSA's, even through the tough winter (3).
· Ask Avalon Acres for the restaurants who support them, so we can support them.
· Encourage restaurants to purchase from local farmers.
· Buy local, organic foods at the grocery store (3).
· Talk to grocery store managers and produce managers, ask for local, organic 
  produce (2).
· Pay attention to how food is packaged, if it is recycled or not, if it uses too 
  much packaging, etc. Buy more items in bulk to reduce packaging waste.
· Boycott the snack aisle at the store - heavily processed foods.
· Pay attention to the kinds of fruit/snacks eaten in the car.
· Use cloth grocery bags - like the Belmont All Church Retreat bag - at the store 
  to reduce plastic bag waste (2).
· Buy Fair Trade products.
· Boycott businesses that utilize unfair labor practices - e.g., Burger King, so they 
  will spend more on tomatoes and pay the workers more.
· Grow gardens, raise chickens.
· Compost (3).
· Work on making meals at public schools local, organic.
· Intentionally spread food ideas - esp. CSA - to neighbors and friends.
· Learn new recipes and new skills for local ingredients.
· Make more things from scratch.
· In addition to eating responsibly, try to lessen our ecological footprint in other 
  ways: walk/bike more, use less electricity, turn off lights, hang out clothes to dry, 
  living lightly, using less, using green power at home (3).
· Subscribe to Mother Earth News - a great source for gardening, alternative 
  energies, living with less.
· Learn about the farmer's dilemmas regarding subsidies, corporate control, grain 
  prices, seed availability, legal issues, and get involved - don't demonize the farmer!
· Vote our conscience - find out corporation ties.
· Read Barbara Kingsolver's book
· Watch the movie 'Farmer John.'
· Be respectful of the eating habits of others.
· Provide small loans through Kiva.org
· Address issues of safe drinking water (2).

As a Church Community:

· Put God's Kingdom first.
· Give the best of what we have.
· Wednesday Nights at Belmont (WNAB) - expand to include the homeless and 
  the hungry (3); serve local, organic foods (4); invite members to bring a guest each 
  week; have it be a potluck a few times a year; invite Community Supported 
  Agriculture (CSA) farmers to come do a series and talk about where our food 
  comes from (2); offer a session on composting/gardening and local CSAs; since we 
  often eat with the same people each week and don't always do a good job of 
  welcoming new people or people that don't come regularly, we could encourage 
  each other to eat with different people each week.
· Strive to make all meals served at Belmont - not just WNAB - environmentally 
  and socially friendly.
· Golden Triangle - provide assistance with food, being sensitive to dietary/cultural 
  requirements; share potluck meals with Golden Triangle; invite Golden Triangle 
  members to teach us some of their food traditions; garden with Golden Triangle; have 
  the youth choir sing at some of the Golden Triangle services; have a UMYF program 
  that  introduces us to the cultures that are in the Golden Triangle fellowship, including 
  ways they welcome newcomers, so we might do so to them; take time each week at 
  Sunday youth fellowship to learn a word or two that we could use in greeting or speaking 
  with Golden Triangle folks; listen to their stories; provide a culturally appropriate food 
  pantry for Golden Triangle (10).
· Plant and tend a Belmont UMC community garden.
· Grow our own vegetables for WNAB, Room in the Inn, etc.
· Hold 'Progressive' Dinners: Meet in homes for appetizer, dinner, then dessert. At each 
  respective place, the host would provide a recipe card describing where the locally 
  grown food was purchased.
· Encourage every member of Belmont UMC to participate in small, meal-fellowship 
  (agape) groups.
· Organize sustainability groups at church.
· Plan fellowship meals for members of the Church every month or even every week.
· Expand potluck communities (multicultural fellowship, Sunday school classes, entire 
  church).
· Hold potlucks with a 100 mile 'theme.'
· Participate in mutual meal preparation/sharing with others.
· Organize a Church-wide meal cooperative - some can buy ingredients, some can cook, some eat on busy weeks (2).
· Commit to the 100-250 mile diet during Lent.
· Make a covenant with each other to reconsider our eating patterns and food choices.
· Encourage our children and youth to see farming as a good and fulfilling vocation.
· Continue to support CSAs.
· Consider replacing Children's Ministry Foods with organic substitutes (goldfish, vanilla 
  wafers).
· Start a preschoolers program about gardening.
· Sponsor scholarships for organic horticulture.
· Compile Church Resource list for 100-250 mile diet (e.g., Farmers Markets, CSA's).
· Compile list of restaurants who use locally grown foods (put on website).
· Publicize activities currently at Belmont - CSA, recycling.
· Inform the Church (even General Conference) regarding labor practices with food plants 
  (i.e. Smithfield).
· Use Fair Trade Coffee at Belmont.
· Help UMW with sales of Free Trade Coffee, which will take place in November and 
  again six months later.
· Invite mentors to teach us about gardening (how to, when to, what) and cooking/canning - could build intergenerational community within the church (3).
· Host a Church summit to bring together ideas and methodologies and share with other 
  churches and communities.
· Share stewardship ideas with retirement communities and other Churches, community, 
  etc.
· Move from charity as one-way street to mutual giving and receiving. Seek 
  relationship-based charitable experiences (2).
· Discourage use of disposable water bottles.
· Participate in mobile Loaves and Fishes.
· Participate in the Crop Walk
· Plant and tend a community garden at Leland/Gale.
· Use green power at church.
· Encourage youth and their families to attend the multicultural fellowship.
· Expand Room in the Inn.
· Expand Belont/Edgehill experience.
· Connect with Camp Dogwood/Bethlehem Center.
· Recycling at Beersheba.
· Stockings for Beersheba.

Web resources

Local

http://www.localtable.net/ 
Everywhere is 'local' to someone. Whether you live in Nashville or New York City, it has become increasingly important to put something locally produced on your dinner table. In addition, the average American meal travels 1,500 miles to your plate and everyday we are confronted with another potential problem with food that travels long distances. Local Table is dedicated to celebrating the people who bring us homegrown food from Tennessee farms. Our goal is to support a community that celebrates every meal and is thoughtful about where we live and how we eat. When we eat locally raised food, we can literally ensure the continuation of the family farm, protect our rural green spaces and support a food system that brings a steady supply of fresh, healthy foods to our towns and cities.

www.greenernashville.org 
Greener Nashville is a local social networking website helping green organizations and Nashville residents to connect and work together in an effort to make Nashville a greener city.

www.foodsecuritypartners.org 
The Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee work to bring people together to create and sustain a secure and healthy food system for Middle Tennessee, from production to consumption.

www.fnfm.org 
Friends of the Nashville Farmers Marker

www.nashvillefarmersmarket.org 
Nashville Farmers Market website

www.slowfoodnashville.org/index.html 
Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic organization that works to counteract the disappearance of local food traditions. We seek to rekindle people's interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

www.picktnproducts.org 
This Web site will help you find information for agriculture-related tourism activities and facilities, farms activity and events, animals and livestock, fresh and manufactured foods, flowers, trees, plants, and so much more.

http://100milediet.org/home/ 
Resources regarding persons who pledge to eat food grown within a 100 mile radius of their home.

www.localharvest.org 
The best organic food is what's grown closest to you. Use our website to find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.

Stores committed to carrying local foods:
The Produce Place
The Turnip Truck
Wild Oats
Whole Foods
www.plumgoodfood.com 

www.farmtoschool.org 
Farm to School programs are popping up all over the U.S. These programs connect schools with local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing health and nutrition education opportunities that will last a lifetime, and supporting local small farmers.

National/International Resources

www.foodsecurity.org/index.html 
The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3), North American organization dedicated to building strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for all people at all times.

www.foodfirst.org/ 
The Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First shapes how people think by analyzing the root causes of global hunger, poverty, and ecological degradation and developing solutions in partnership with movements working for social change.

www.seedsavers.org 
Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations. When people grow and save seeds, they join an ancient tradition as stewards, nurturing our diverse, fragile, genetic and cultural heritage.

www.seedsofchange.com/ 
In 1989, we at Seeds of Change started with a simple mission: to help preserve biodiversity and promote sustainable, organic agriculture. We sought to do this by cultivating and disseminating an extensive range of open-pollinated, organically grown, heirloom and traditional vegetable, flower and herb seeds. This is still our mission.

www.nffc.net 
The National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) provides a voice for grassroots groups on farm, food, trade and rural economic issues to ensure fair prices for family farmers, safe and healthy food, and vibrant, environmentally sound rural communities here and around the world. The NFFC (founded in 1986) represents family farm and rural groups in 30 states whose members' face the challenge of the deepening economic recession in rural communities caused primarily by low farm prices and the increasing corporate control of agriculture.

www.wn.org 
World Neighbors approach is unique - we do not give away food or material aid. Instead, we provide training so that people gain the skills and leadership to work together for change. We operate programs for an average of five to 10 years, and take pride that most of our experienced International Program staff and volunteers are local people from the countries in which they work. As World Neighbors moves to other areas of need, we leave behind a network of leaders with the skills to enable the community to undertake development initiatives on their own.

http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/ 
This website continues to document the project of Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and may help you find more resources and other local-food devotees in a rapidly growing movement.

www.fatalharvest.org 
The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture

http://www.fwjustice.org/ 
Farmworker Justice is a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower migrant and seasonal farmworkers to improve their living and working conditions, immigration status, health, occupational safety, and access to justice.

http://cds.aas.duke.edu/saf/ 
Student Action with Farmworkers

Faith-based Resources

www.pcusa.org/smallchurch/pdf/urwhatueat.pdf 
We are what we eat - A study by the Presbyterian Church (USA).

http://presbyterian.typepad.com/foodandfaith/ 
Presbyterian (USA) website/blog on issues of food and faith

http://www.umc-gbcs.org/site/pp.asp?c=fsJNK0PKJrH&b=3389693 
UMC General Board of Church and Society

http://www.ncrlc.com/ 
The National Catholic Rural Life Conference applies the teachings of Jesus Christ for the betterment of rural America and with respect for the care of God's creation. We provide spiritual, educational and advocacy assistance in our mission to help rural people shape their own destinies and lead lives of dignity.

http://www.agriculturalmissions.org/welcome.htm 
Agricultural Missions, Inc. is an ecumenical organization that accompanies rural peoples in their efforts to address the structural causes of impoverishment and injustice in their communities. Founded in 1930, the ministry of Agricultural Missions is an expression of the churches' commitment to the fulfillment of the Gospel's promises of "abundant life'" for all.

www.nfwm.org/worshipresources/scripture.shtml 
Scriptures related to farm workers and immigrants

www.webofcreation.org/ 
Ecology Resources to Transform Faith and Society