FOOD IN PRAYER, PRACTICE, AND PLANNING

        

         As we plan for feasts this holiday season, here are three things to keep in mind:

 First, here is an article by Bruce Friedrich in Reflections, a publication of the Yale Divinity School: Toward A Divine Diet.  In it, Bruce (whom I've mentioned before), talks about faith and veganism.  He addresses the many impacts of eating animals, discusses food choice as a way of prayer, and suggests, "Eating connects us to the processes that go into producing our food, and by choosing to eat plants, and not animals -- as it was in the beginning and as it will be -- we can all begin to live God's peaceful vision for all of God's creation." 

    Second, and by way of contrast, here is Mark Bittman in the Washington Post with an article entitled "How A National Food Policy Could Save Millions Of American Lives," addressing the sorry state of our current national food policy, and the grievous implications that has on our health.  While he does not discuss food as a theological issue, what he has to say shows that we are reaping what we have sown in our disregard for our roles as stewards of God's animals, God's planet, and God's people. 

     And finally, here are some amazing-sounding cruelty-free holiday recipes from the Choose Veg blog, so we can all develop our own compassion-based diet in celebration of God's compassion toward us and all that He has made. 

      Eat plants, pray to God, love His creatures.  Amen.

Eating connects us to the processes that go into producing our food, and by choosing to eat plants, and not animals – as it was in the beginning and as it will be – we can all begin to live God’s peaceful vision for all of God’s creation. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpu

Eating connects us to the processes that go into producing our food, and by choosing to eat plants, and not animals – as it was in the beginning and as it will be – we can all begin to live God’s peaceful vision for all of God’s creation. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf

Yet slowly but surely, faith communities are recognizing that food matters – that food choices are not just political, but spiritual too. And as more of us do, the dire ramifications of meat consumption, as well as the inevitable cognitive dissonance of expressing mercy for animals while habitually killing and eating them, will disintegrate. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf

Yet slowly but surely, faith communities are recognizing that food matters – that food choices are not just political, but spiritual too. And as more of us do, the dire ramifications of meat consumption, as well as the inevitable cognitive dissonance of expressing mercy for animals while habitually killing and eating them, will disintegrate. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf

Yet slowly but surely, faith communities are recognizing that food matters – that food choices are not just political, but spiritual too. And as more of us do, the dire ramifications of meat consumption, as well as the inevitable cognitive dissonance of expressing mercy for animals while habitually killing and eating them, will disintegrate. - See more at: http://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/toward-divine-diet#sthash.qrGfK6eV.dpuf