Churches Tackle Food Insecurity

Churches Tackle Food Insecurity | [View online]( [Give Now]( Advertisement [Local Church Outreach]( [CT Pastors]( [Subscribe]( [More on Outreach]( Wednesday, February 13, 2019 Churches Tackle Food Insecurity Until very recently, food insecurity was an issue I didn’t really understand. As a pastor, I’d led my churches to help alleviate hunger, but I didn’t realize that even when we get food to the under-resourced populations in our communities, the food is often less than healthy, leading to other bad health outcomes. To put it bluntly, eating healthy is a luxury of those who have the resources to afford healthy food. [Baltimore Pastor Models Sustainable Food Systems]( Pastor Heber Brown III of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Baltimore saw the people in his community suffering from a variety of health issues, so he launched a program that has [become]( a nationwide model: In a large lot in front of the church, Brown planted a garden filled with everything from summer squash to kale that now produces 1,100 pounds of produce every year. He also teamed up with black farmers in the area, who now sell their fruits and vegetables at the church on Sundays. Due to the "amazing" response, Brown said, he decided to bring the program to more congregations, launching the Black Church Food Security Network in 2015. Now churches in 10 states have replicated this model and are at work bringing fresh, healthy food to the under-resourced in their communities. [Churches in the Poconos Bridge Cultural Divides with Food]( Meanwhile in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, two churches are using food to bridge other divides. To celebrate Black History Month, these two congregations [featured]( foods from a variety of cultures: Pastor Leanon Trawick of Full Gospel Holiness Church of God in Christ teamed up with Mount Pocono United Methodist Church to reach people [sic] hearts through their stomachs. "More exposure to other cultures will help us to appreciate one another even as human beings," Pastor Trawick said. This event featured foods from the southern U.S., Central America and the Caribbean, all to celebrate cultures that are thriving in the Poconos. What a great way to celebrate the variety of cultures in their community and help folks learn and engage! [Fellowship and Food Allergies]( Of course, church potlucks can be complicated these days, with rising awareness of food allergies and the increasingly diverse preferences for locally sourced food or “clean” foods. How should churches handle this? Hannah Anderson and I wrote a piece for CT Pastors, “[Feasting and Fellowship in an Age of Food Allergies]( that works through some of the tensions between neighbor love and community fellowship: Sometimes, we can project our food preferences onto others, judging them for what they put on their plates. When a sister or brother reaches for diet soda, we recall the research study that showed the perils of artificial sweeteners. When someone opens a crockpot filled with fried chicken, we mentally scroll through the CDC’s latest report on obesity. When someone else has the temerity to offer up generic canned vegetables, we wonder how it is they are still alive and kicking. If we are not careful, shared meals can quickly become a source of judgment and division. The temptation is to turn our nose up at our neighbor’s offerings. We take satisfaction in knowing that we would never eat x. While our neighbors are legitimately suffering the isolating effects of food allergies, many of us actively embrace the isolation that they would gladly escape if they could, removing ourselves from the blessing of shared consumption. Suddenly, the feast which was intended as a source of communion, identification, and celebration becomes a source of division and conflict. Since my kids have some unique food allergies, church gatherings have become more complicated for my family in recent years. Yet we still want to be present in our church community, breaking bread with our brothers and sisters. I’m curious how your church handles these complexities. Email me some of your ideas and stories. [Daniel Darling] [Daniel Darling] [Daniel Darling](mailto:krohane@christianitytoday.com) Advertisement More from CT Pastors [Preaching Amid Pluralism]( [Preaching Amid Pluralism]( Elevating Christ in a culture that sees all religions as equal. 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