St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Urbana, Ill., puts the 4 acres adjacent to its property to good use, growing 40 types of vegetables for shareholders and to help feed the hungry locally.
CSA farms are financially sus-
tained through shareholders. The money gained through selling shares runs the farm, buys the equipment and pays for the farmer’s salary. Sola Gratia is funded by 75 share- holders. Full shares cost $500 while half shares are $300.
In return, the shareholders receive grace By alone Text and photo by Jeremy Ott A
fter years of growing crops, selling them and donating the profits to Foods Resource Bank, a nonprofit dedicated to alle- viating global hunger, St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Urbana, Ill., shifted its attention locally. For nearly a decade, St. Mat- thew used herbicides and pesticides to grow corn and soybeans on its 4-acre conventional farm. Now as a Community-Supported Agriculture
Ott, a senior at the University of Wisconsin– Oshkosh, was The Lutheran’s summer intern.
(CSA) farm, in partnership with Faith in Place, a nonprofit that gives religious people tools to work the earth, it’s on the way to becoming fully organic and grows up to 40 types of vegetables.
The name of the farm is Sola Gra-
tia (Latin for “by grace alone”). Rob- ert Rasmus, a pastor of St. Matthew, said they chose the name because it’s a reminder of the congregation’s goal of positive change. “It’s got a reformation ring to it and it keeps us mindful that we are stewards of the gift,” he said.
32 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Illinois congregation operates farm to stop local hunger
a small percentage of the harvest. The rest of the crops are distributed to local markets, restaurants and the Eastern Illinois Food Bank. Sola Gratia has donated more than a ton of produce to the food bank—the only CSA farm that con- tributes on a regular basis. Rasmus said the original goal was to donate 10 percent of the crops, but with extra support by shareholders the farm was able to increase it to 20 percent.
Jim Hires, director of the food bank, which receives 6.8 million pounds of food donations annually, said he is grateful for Sola Gratia’s presence in the city. “It’s been sig- nificant and it’s only the first year,” he said. “It’s a tremendous, tremen- dous partnership.” The idea for a CSA farm came about when Brian Sauder, Faith in Place’s central Illinois outreach and policy coordinator, approached Rasmus with the suggestion. Sauder told St. Matthew’s members that 1 in 3 children in east-central Illinois are food pantry clients and that “many people in the more rural parts of the state, surrounded as they are by food production, go hungry.” Rasmus not only liked the thought of helping local food- insecure citizens, but he wanted the farm to “go green.” But to make the
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