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Imagine only eating food that is grown within 100 km of where you live. Sound strange? Why would someone make such a choice? The Washington World Watch Institute estimates that the ingredients of the average North American meal travel between 2500 and 4000 km on the way to your stomach. Imagine all the greenhouse gases produced in that! Choosing to eat locally is an environmentally friendly choice.
But it is also a spiritual choice, inasmuch as it connects you with the rhythms of your land. No more watermelon in winter, strawberries in early Spring. Some foods would be removed completely from your schedule - how would you go without tea or coffee?
I remember visiting fishing villages in the Philippines where their evening food was caught in the afternoon. No fishing catch and the meal was rudimentary to say the least. It also meant less waste, as there was nowhere to refrigerate the fish for later use. How different from the lifestyles we lead, where our cupboards could keep us going for months. Any wonder our connection with creation is broken.
To give consideration to the environmental impact of our eating habits will become more of a necessity with the passing of years. Reclaiming it as part of our spiritual heritage is increasingly important. Remember the place that meals hold in both Jewish and Christian history: the Passover Feast, the Eucharist (or Lord's Supper), consider the space given to dietary laws in the Pentateuch. Clearly God intended the act of eating to be an expression of our relationship with Him.
At the heart of the christian celebration of eucharist is the reminder of a central aspect of faith: "as often as you eat bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." This is the grace in which every meal is celebrated.
Posted by gary at March 4, 2006 07:03 PM
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