food and faith


The significance


The issue of food has appeared in the headlines recently in a way not seen for some time. Undoubtedly prices have risen, in some cases very fast, especially in other parts of the world. So what is going on, and what might a Christian response be?


Price rises in commodities during 2007 were steep with wheat rising by 130% and rice by 74% but this was from a comparatively low base. That is not to minimise the problem that such rises cause, particularly to the poorest who spend proportionately more of their income on food. However for the average UK household the proportion of income spent on food has fallen over the last 50 years from 33% of average income to 9%.


The recent hike in food prices is due to many factors, including the rising cost of oil, speculation on the commodities market in view of the volatility of the dollar, a decrease in world food reserves and the rise in use of bio-fuels; increasing population and changing eating habits.


So what can we do?


The problems seem so immense what can we do as individuals? One very practical action would be to cut down on food waste. As individuals we waste over £400 of food per household every year. Food is also wasted in the retail industry in the pursuit of the perfect and uniform.


The Bible provides many insights into the subject of food and creation here are a selection.


• The whole of creation praises God, Psalm 65:12-13, Psalm 64:4, Joel 2:22.


• The prophets warn how Israel’s lack of faith has consequences for creation, for example Hosea 4:1-3. In the New Testament Paul echoes this (Romans 8:19- 22).


• Food production is about sharing, the food humanity produces is for everyone. Leviticus 19:9 gives


instructions about leaving the margins of a field for the poor and alien.


• Thankfulness is a key theme, beginning in Deuteronomy where the first fruits are given as a thank offering to God. In the gospels we see Jesus regularly giving thanks for food. Thanksgiving is about more than being grateful: it is to understand food as a gift of God. ‘To understand daily bread as gift is a crucial part of what it means to live under grace rather than, as Paul puts it, under law. To know food as gift is not only to be aware of the immense amount of labour, of justice and injustice, which lies behind everything we eat. It is also about our self understanding.’ (See Timothy Gorringe, Harvest, 2006, SPCK p59).


• Thankfulness gives rise to thoughts of justice. Timothy Gorringe develops the idea of ‘just food’. He affirms that ‘just food’ is not wasted; it is food that is targeted at the common good; food that repays the grower with a fair price; and food that is grown in a way that respects the ecosystem.


• Food is also about communion with God. In Genesis 18 Abraham hosts God in the form of three angels. The people of the Exodus are told that the promised land will flow with


milk and honey. The Kingdom of God is often likened to a feast particularly in the Gospels. At the centre of most Christian worship lies a meal, the Eucharist. A meal in which bread is taken, blessed and broken, a place of communion with God. If we reaffirm the Eucharist as a meal, ‘it becomes for us first of all a parable of how all created life is meant to be, i.e. offered, blessed, enjoyed in communion with God and one another.’ (Peter CSWG, The Thursday Agape Meal, from the Journal of the Community of the Servants of The Will of God). This echoes the holistic view of creation apparent in the biblical narrative and is perhaps the clue to sacramental living.


Future Issues Land use


Land is of course a finite resource and most of the land suitable for agriculture is already under production, and some of this is at risk of erosion and degradation and urban development. There are competing pressures on land use for leisure and bio-fuel production as well as for growing food. The Gallagher report released in 2008 by the UK Government called for a slowing down of bio-fuel use to ensure that the production was sustainable. Part of this was a recommendation that it use marginal and waste land. Technology such as bio- digesters will also ease the pressure on land.


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