“When you eat a meal, thank the farmer who harvested it and think about their livelihood. Food is something that connects all of us as a community, wherever we live.” – Oxfam Fact Sheet
This statement is from a farmer and my sister, Ellen Walsh-Rosmann. It helps me remember that something as basic as eating food and sharing it with community influences how I contribute to the reign of God.
I am from a food family. I grew up in a rural, agricultural, Christian community that taught me to understand that caring for Earth and neighbor is an issue of social justice. Our neighbor is the land as are all creatures large and small that also claim the land as home. As a child I would help…
[This is the beginning of my latest column for the online newspaper, Global Sisters Report.Continue reading here.]
Cabbage in the FSPA organic garden. (Photo by Jane Comeau)
If you were to ask the Sisters I live with what my favorite TV show is, they would probably say Chopped.
It’s true. I really am very passionate the show Chopped.
If you’ve never watched, here’s the premise. Each episode is a competition between four chefs. There are three rounds: appetizer (in 20 minutes), main course and dessert (in 30 minutes each). One person is eliminated each round, depending on the evaluations of the panel of three judges in the categories of taste, presentation and creativity. Besides the challenging time limits of each round, the other thing that makes the show really interesting is the major catch: for each round of cooking, the chefs are given a basket of four mystery ingredients that they must somehow incorporate into their dishes. Squid ink, day-old french fries, stale waffles, ghost peppers, pig snout — the basket almost always contains something bizarre or seemingly impossible. I become amazed with what the chefs manage to create so quickly.
It’s great television, the sort of stuff our culture just eats up (at least now). Chopped can be dramatic, creative and even informative. I learn a little every time I watch. Sure, it’s reality TV full of all types of personalities and competition. But at its basic core, it’s a cooking show that teaches me how to be a better cook.
On any ordinary day, my mind can easily wander into a Chopped daydream. I wonder if I’d be calm or frantic if I were in a timed cooking competition. I daydream about new foods and cooking techniques that I learned on the show. I look forward to my weekly cook night because then I can I can try out a Chopped inspired idea that I am excited about, or simply challenge myself to prepare a tasty, creative and beautiful meal for the Sisters in limited time.
Even though I daydream about it, thoroughly enjoy it and am inspired by it, I actually hesitate to say that Chopped is my favorite TV show. This is due, in part, to my social awareness and my desires for Gospel-centered social justice. I have some serious questions about the show. My Chopped daydreams have also found me wondering: How much food gets thrown away in a taping of an episode? How much fuel was used to get the food and the people to the studio in New York? How were the animals treated before they became food? Who were the farmers that grew the vegetables and what are their farming practices? What are the working conditions in the food factories? How has earth been impacted by Chopped? Who can actually afford to buy the fanciest basket ingredients contestants get to use? Who eats all the extra food in the kitchen’s fridge and pantry?
Despite my numerous questions and concerns, I am not going to be boycotting Chopped. I don’t think it would do any good for me to do so. Plus, I actually have found that watching the show has helped me remain mindful of some of my religious convictions.
Make do with what you have: Even with all its extravagant ingredients, Chopped inspires me to live simply. My best Chopped inspired meals were made because I took stock of what was in the kitchen and then challenged myself to make something delicious out of what we had (I remain very proud of the kale, bacon and pine nut tacos I once made!). Really, the lesson of trying to make the best with what I have applies to much of my life, not just cooking. I don’t need any more stuff in my closet or collections. I know God provides for all my needs every day and I shouldn’t worry. Even in my time management, I don’t need to be stressed about all my tasks, I just need to say “yes” to one thing at a time.
Every moment is holy: Speaking of time, on one particularly memorable episode a Zen Buddhist chef amazed me. While her competitors were frazzled and stressed by the limited time, she remained calm and peaceful. She even seemed to be working slowly, as if savoring each second’s holiness. Amazingly, she was able to get her cooking done with seconds to spare and still create beautiful and tasty food. Watching her felt like a bit of a meditation for me. Every moment God has made is holy and God is in all things — even the Chopped kitchen.
Food is sacred: I believe the reason shows like Chopped are popular and that there is such an increase of foodies, food critics, and restaurant dining in our culture is because it all strikes a chord with something very innate about our human nature. Food is how we connect as community, it is how we connect to our mother after our birth. Jesus taught us the Truth of compassion, inclusivity, peacemaking and forgiveness over meals and through stories about eating. The summit of our Christian life is also food: the sacrament of the Eucharist connects us to God and to each other as one holy body.
I challenge you to watch Chopped, face your own faith in food and create to your spirit’s desire. Happy cooking and Christian living!
The main problems, apparently, are due to the way we farm more than the way we distribute the food. We need to remember, though, that our consumer culture influences the way things are farmed. What we buy, cook and eat impacts what farmers grow and how they grow it.
No one wants anyone to starve to death. Christians understand that Jesus is the Bread of Life and the Eucharist is a Blessed Sacrament that unites us together as a body of Christ. Farming, cooking and eating are very sacred, holy acts. These basic, ordinary, life-giving acts are powerful and rooted in the Gospel.
We the people, have some good, God-given power. We don’t have to despair that things will only get worse for humanity just because some scientists have predicted that they will. The Gospel gives us great solutions (feed the hungry, share the loaves and fishes, pray, trust, listen, include everyone and invite others to our tables) and we are graced to be real instruments of peace while we live the Good News.
Plus, as stated in the NPR story, the scientists have suggestions too:
“First, stop cutting down forests to grow crops. Second, instead of that, focus on land that’s already being used to grow food but isn’t very productive… Third, use water more efficiently, also fertilizer. Fourth, in rich countries, don’t throw away so much food. In poor countries, keep it from spoiling before it gets to the people who need it. Fifth, and this may be the most controversial thing in this paper, eat less meat.”
Plus, it’s harvest season- the season of abundance- so we can be grateful for the great labor of farmers and how they bless us all.
I am excited to be spending some time on my younger sister’s farm this weekend. She’s a great, young, organic farmer and food activist in Iowa who is modeling for all of us how we can work for change in these systems. In celebration of her great witness, she has even been featured in the Oxfam World Food Day campaign.
When I return to the city from the farm on Sunday I hope to carry with me some good fruits and veggies. I’ll be using my favorite cookbook, The More-with-Less Cookbook, to prepare meals for the next week and avoid buying any extra food.
I was thinking it might be nice, though, if we did a little recipe sharing right here on this blog. What dishes are the rest of you planning to cook up using your fall harvests? What cooking tips do you have for me? I’d really like a yummy, non-conventional way to cook up a big pie-pumpkin.
Sharing recipes is fun because it builds community. For me, one of the great joys of eating is the experience of building relationships. With every bite we can celebrate the relationships we have with other parts of God’s creation and with one another. Together we get to work to create the world, the meals, and the unity that God intended.
While we do all this together, let’s remain mindful that we need to be able to live within all extremes and limitations. We need to balance. We need to love and help everyone- no matter how hungry they are- know the goodness of abundance. As we eat, let’s be grateful and celebrate Life.
St. Paul did it quite well, and so can we:
Brothers and sisters: I know how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.
My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father, glory forever and ever. Amen. –Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20
Good news: God has mercy and God is helping us! We are being preserved in spite of famine, scripture says.
Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, To deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine. Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you. (Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22)
I am a great lover of food. Much of my life has been centered around it. I grew up in a farming community and family. I knew how to pull weeds before I knew how to read. I knew how to bake and cook before I knew how to drive. I understood how to milk animals before I knew how to type.
Today my younger sister and her husband are organic farmers. My parents and my brother now own and run a world famous restaurant, in the middle of nowhere. But I live in the city, away from the family food business. I tend to go grocery shopping, read cookbooks and then invent and share new culinary creations for fun. Plus, I love gardening; when work is really difficult at the high school I fantasize about giving it all up and becoming a gardener or a baker.
Food is such a big deal to me that I entered a Eucharistic-centered community, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, before I was 25. We’ve been adoring Jesus as Eucharist for over 133 years and it is very rad.
Obviously I am not unique because my life is centered around food. It is for all of us. God designed it that way on purpose. It’s sacramental. It’s unifying. It’s life-giving. It’s essential. I’m grateful.
Food is also oppressive. The systems that control our consumption cause people to starve while others throw food away. In the United States, we keep getting fatter while the rest of the world riots and dies because of food costs. I wrote a bit about this for a Mexican food blog last week. The reasons why our food problems are so severe are complicated, economical and political.
As we gain awareness of the truth, we tend to be converted. The freedom paradoxically requires us to be mindful and responsible. It’s an act of solidarity and community. Since food unites us, when any person in the body of Christ- in humanity- is suffering, we all are suffering. For Lent this year I am working hard to simplify my diet, trying to fast, praying for those that are hungry and advocating for systemic justice.
This week at the high school I am leading two big events. Please pray for me and my students! On Wednesday my seniors are hosting a Peace and Justice Fair. They’ve analyzed complex social problems and will now try to inform the community and inspire others to meaningful social action. On Friday, we are hosting a Food Fast. The students will not eat for 24 hours, but still be very busy, as an act of solidarity and prayer for people who frequently go 24 hours without eating but keep working hard. I have games and activities planned to teach about global hunger and the students will engage in acts of service.
It’s really not that hard to make a difference. Like my students, you can play games at FreeRice.com and donate rice to the UN WFP. You can click (and shop for Fair Trade goods) at The Hunger Site and donate 1.1 cups of food. You can learn about the challenges of farming and survival in the developing countries by playing a game here. And, you can learn about living in poverty in the United States by playing a game here.
There are several other meaningful social actions that really make a difference. You can literally buy an animal for a community in poverty through the Heifer Project. And, of course, you can pray, fast, give, advocate, and try out simple recipes through the Catholic Relief Services rice bowl campaign.
Together, we fast with hope and trust that our merciful God is leading us through the messy famines and injustices. As I eat, I believe that the nourishment shall wake us all up to the heavy truth that we already have enough, we just need to learn how to share. This sharing is the simple way that Jesus taught us, it is the way of freedom.
