- The Bible Told me to Do It
- Dominion vs. Domination
- Eating Food is Like an Onion
- Does our Food Overheat the Earth? (the Global Issue)
- To Till and Keep or to Ravage and Destroy? (the Soil Issue)
- Why God Allows us to Eat Meat (the Animal Issue)
- What I Eat Might Hurt You (the Human Issue)
- When a Dinner Date Becomes Torture (the Hospitality Issue)
- The Holy Father on Genetic Modification of Crops
- But What if Eating the Perfect Food Becomes Your Idol?
- The Pope's Solution – Conversion
- Is Eating a Moral Act?
- Other KS posts on food and faith
It all started with the apple.
Adam and Eve were given one rule: Don’t eat the apple.
They had a simple choice to make: To eat or not to eat.
And then Satan complicated things with pride, envy, selfishness and the temptation of being like a god.
They messed up.
They ate the apple.
And now when I want to eat an apple, it’s not a simple choice anymore because the world is no longer a Garden of Eden. My mind is bombarded by questions:
- Organic or conventional?
- How much am I going to have to spend for this apple?
- Will the farmer get a fair portion of that price?
- U-pick sprayed 30 minutes away or triple the price for organic from another country?
- How far did the apple travel to get to me?
- What impact did the packaging have on the environment?
- Will washing help get the pesticides off?
- How did the growing impact the environment?
- Are there minerals and vitamins in sufficient amounts in the apple anyway?
- What about GMOs? Are they coming to apples?
- What was the condition of the workers who grew the apple?
- And how many do I buy? Eat? What’s my fair share for the world?
In Adam and Eve’s case, choosing the apple was clearly far more about morality than eating, more about obedience than sustenance.
But what about us?
When we lift a forkful of food to our mouths, when we place produce in our grocery bags, when we sauté spicy morsels to feed our family…are those moral acts, or just meeting basic needs?
Does food have anything to do with faith?
The Bible Told me to Do It
As a believer in God, the Bible is certainly one place I look for answers, especially to potentially moral issues.
So does the Bible say anything about what we should eat and why, from a moral perspective?
Although there are some “take and eat,” and “thou shalt not eat” sections in the Good Book, that’s not really what I’m talking about.
I mean are there ethical considerations or moral principles at hand whenever we pick up our forks, whether it’s to cut into a pork roast, spear an organic tomato, and everything in between?
If we look at food as something from the earth (which so far, it still is), then we need to explore man’s relationship with the earth to answer part of that question.
The creation accounts in Genesis “suggest that human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with the earth itself.” (Laudato Si, 66) All three have been broken by sin.
The first sin disrupted the harmony of the three because man presumed “to take the place of God and refus[ed] to acknowledge our creaturely limitations. This in turn distorted our mandate to ‘have dominion’ over the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), to ’till it and keep it’ (Gen 2:15).” (ibid)
Dominion vs. Domination
Dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28) was both a gift from God to man and a great responsibility entrusted to him.
God instructed this dominion to have certain qualities:
- Tilling – cultivating, plowing or working
- Keeping – caring, protecting, overseeing and preserving
Modern man has perverted this call to co-direct the earth with God in the same way Adam and Eve did in the first place: Trying to BE God instead of working beside Him.
Rather than care for the creation, we try to control it. This isn’t the way things should go.
Pope Francis is clear: “We must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.” (ibid, 67)
We were given dominion, yes, and “each community can take from the bounty of the earth whatever it needs for subsistence, but it also has the duty to protect the earth and to ensure its fruitfulness for coming generations.” (ibid)
Domination implies ownership, mastery, and use without concern for the future.
Dominion is fitting with the dignity of human beings, that we would consider the overall impact of each of our actions on society as a whole, both in the current generation and ages to come.
In that case, our call from God is to see the interconnectivity of everything in the environment – that when we fill our plates, we see not only the physicality of the food, but the story it tells:
- The farmer who grew it
- The soil in which it was cultivated
- The distance it traveled to reach us (and the fossil fuels used to do so)
- The packaging it came in and where that packaging ends up hundreds of years from now
- The chemicals used from seed to plant
- Whether the seeds themselves are genetically modified or not
Just because God gave humankind every seed-bearing plant and fruit from trees for food (Gen. 1:29) and later to Noah, “Every moving thing that lives” as food (Gen. 9:3) doesn’t mean that we should exploit the earth for the purpose of filling our bellies.
Pope Francis quotes Patriarch Bartholomew in Laudato Si, 8:
Why am I referring to the Holy Father’s latest encyclical so much? After spending a few hours reading (and skimming) Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home, I’m convinced it is the document from which to draw when discussing this issue. Any pope who writes an encyclical to be added to the social teaching of the Church and uses the word “agrotoxins” and chastises the “throwaway culture” is one I look toward for wisdom.
Eating Food is Like an Onion
It has layers.
Many, complicated layers.
And it might be enough to make you tear up sometimes too.
I just said in my New Food Rules for Kids earlier this week that I didn’t want to moralize food for my kids – good and bad – but once you’re an adult and can see beyond the black and white of good and evil and into the extensive grey areas, food becomes mired in so many moral issues, we can’t escape it.
Here are just a few of the genuine issues intimately connected to our 3-a-day (or 5-a-day?) eating habits:
- Global warming
- Soil demineralization
- Pollution of air and earth
- Over consumption of resources
- Human rights issues
- Genetic Modification
- Hospitality
I’d love to hear what you think about those layers. Do you consider any or all of them when you choose what to eat? Let’s explore more…
Does our Food Overheat the Earth? (the Global Issue)
When man discovered fire, it opened up a new world of culinary advancements.
Are we now overheating the earth, literally, by our food habits?
Global warming is impacted, we think, by many human actions, including deforestation for agricultural purposes and fossil fuel usage – both of which have myriad other consequences to the earth as well.
When the average American meal has traveled over 1500 miles from farm to plate (source), the amount of fuel both used (non-renewable resource) and emitted into the atmosphere (pollution, global warming impact) is a serious consideration when lifting that fork.
Fossil fuels are also used in plastic packaging, a problem compounded by our disposable society and further impacted by our over-consumption. Most Americans do not really seem to care if we throw away food (and plastic).
Many government regulations for food service and charities, along with the tendency to make too much for fear of running out, causing untold pounds of perfectly good food to be completely wasted at the end of each day.
Pope Francis is infinitely clear on the fact that our use of the earth is not only a moral act, but a sinful one in the current landscape:
The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters. –Laudato Si, 2
To Till and Keep or to Ravage and Destroy? (the Soil Issue)
While our most maltreated poor groans in travail from the soil, our children are starting to join the chorus as they are sickened by the very food that should sustain and nourish them.
Lydia Shatney wrote about the general ill health of our children recently, and in a surprising turn, she blamed not overeating, junk food or obesity, but the poor nutrient content of the soil (among other things). Over the last century or so, the nation’s farmlands have been demineralized by a number of ecological impacts, including not rotating crops, over farming (not giving the soil a rest – like the Bible says!), and the use of chemical fertilizers.
Even when we are eating wholesome fruits and vegetables, we aren’t getting the nutrients people did in the past eating the same foods.
And we vote with our dollar, and thereby with our stomachs.
The food we choose to buy directs the food that is grown and the way in which its grown.
So even if we aren’t farmers ourselves, we are still responsible in that interconnected way for the health of the earth – literally. And in that interconnectivity of the earth, that soil – and what farmers put on it – is responsible for our health.
Our fertilizers are causing a toxic algae bloom where the Mississippi runs into the Gulf of Mexico, impacting both human and aquatic life as well as economics (sources: 1, 2, 3); Roundup (glyphosate), the most widely-used herbicide in the world, is likely carcinogenic (source); and what scares me the most is what we don’t yet understand about how the chemicals used in fields may impact our health.
Why God Allows us to Eat Meat (the Animal Issue)
The documentary Forks Over Knives swept a good portion of the nation, and although its impact wasn’t enough to actually decrease the supply/demand balance for meat, many Americans explored vegetarianism after seeing how animals are treated and the impact animal farming can have on the environment.
The fact remains that God gave humankind animals to eat in Genesis, and we can only get Vitamin B12 – a necessary nutrient – from animal products. Many vegans and some vegetarians end up B12 deficient (source).
So what’s the balance when it comes to animal products in particular as a moral issue?
Conventional animal farming may negatively impact the environment more than plant farming because of the miles the food for the animals travels, the immense amount of waste that must be managed in a concentrated area, and the fact that many pounds of crops must be raised for one pound of animal meat (and the chemicals involved in that agri-system multiply as well of course).
Traditional animal farming is a bit different though – grazing animals require no fossil fuels to ship their corn, no chemicals to grow it, and their waste is returned to the earth as its own fertilizer. There still may be more impact on the earth to eat a pound of grassfed, organic beef or chicken than lettuce, but how the animals you’re eating have been raised is a definite consideration when eating morally.
So is what part of the animal you eat.
Let’s imagine for a moment the vast plains of the American landscape as white settlers were traversing westward. The Native Americans hunt buffalo, and when they make a kill, what do they get from the animal?
Answer? Everything.
Clothing and shelter from the hides, tools and weapons from the bones along with nourishing soups, meat for the winter from the muscles, organs eaten immediately for vitality.
Every part of the animal was utilized, and the Creator was thanked.
As we all know, the path of the white settlers was quite different, and the over-hunting and wasteful use of the great beasts has rendered them far less prolific.
Our modern society is so disconnected from its food sources that people don’t even consider what part of the animal they’re eating and whether they’re stewarding the environment by using the whole thing. Our penchant for only boneless, skinless chicken breasts, ground beef and steaks – the parts that are easy to cook and easy on the palate – makes us very similar to the ravaging white settlers killing off the bison of the Great Plains.
Perhaps it is a moral act to eat liver. To use the heart in your ground beef. To ensure that your family is getting adequate gelatin (use the coupon KS10 for 10% off!) from the hooves, skin and cartilage of the beast. When is the last time you thought about how you used the skin of an animal?
Make broth from the bones. Vital Proteins will extract easy-to-use gelatin from the hides and help you use the whole thing (use code VPKS10 for 10% off). And visit my freezer, where I have quite a few packages of liver that I’m terrible at using. But I know I should!
What I Eat Might Hurt You (the Human Issue)
Bethany’s excellent post a few weeks ago, “Why I’m Tempted to Ditch the Organic Foods Movement,” included a very thought-provoking exploration of the morality of food, including Bethany’s realization that her purchases and her consumption affects people, real human beings, in an immediate and economic way around the world.
She included points about human rights in other countries, child labor, and fair wages. The comments are equally fascinating, with quite a few chiming in to further grey up the grey areas. They discuss the value of children working to sustain their families, if that’s the only choice there is. The fact that not all child labor is a bad thing. That some work is better than no work at all for the very poor. And even that buying local food doesn’t ensure you are not contributing to poor labor conditions. They’re worth a read.
Laudato Si also has more to say about the interconnectivity of eating and social justice, the call of God to humans to care for the entire world, both human and environmental landscapes.
Saint John Paul II said:
And further:
I am humbled by this:
Is our technology going faster than our earth can keep up? Are we valuing progress at the expense of social justice and Christian values?
Each bite is an opportunity to reflect…
When a Dinner Date Becomes Torture (the Hospitality Issue)
Our family tries our best to eat wholesome, nourishing foods – which means we eat radically differently that most other families around us. It also means food preparation takes a LOT of our time and energy in the household.
I’m saddened that sometimes, food can be a hindrance to hospitality, which is another mandate from Scripture. We should be hospitable and open our homes to people, and we should be gracious guests when we visit others.
I find that dinner and party invites can be a source of stress, wondering whether we should just stay home because the food won’t be healthy for my family. I’ve also felt like I didn’t want to host company from time to time because of both the time and money expense of the food we choose to eat.
I know the Lord wants us to be in community, and I’m saddened that trying to eat morally can cause tension in this area. We live in a fallen world, though, and there’s no perfect answer! I’d love to hear about your struggles and solutions to the hospitality/real food issue.
The Holy Father on Genetic Modification of Crops
I was pushing through the Laudato Si document to find sections specifically on food and farming, when around page 100, I found a few paragraphs focusing on genetic modification in particular.
I was entranced.
And surprised.
Here’s a quick rundown (any emphasis is mine):
- Saint John Paul II wrote, “Scientific and technological progress [is] evidence of “the nobility of the human vocation to participate responsibly in God’s creative action.”
- But he cautioned, “We cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention to the consequences of such interference in other areas.”
- The Church does value molecular biology, genetics, and its application in agriculture.
- But John Paul also said, “This should not lead to ‘indiscriminate genetic manipulation’ which ignores the negative effects of such interventions.”
- And, “Any legitimate intervention will act on nature only in order ‘to favour its development in its own line, that of creation, as intended by God.'”
- The current Holy Father, Pope Francis, comes back with this zinger: “It is difficult to make a general judgment about genetic modification (GM), whether vegetable or animal, medical or agricultural, since these vary greatly among themselves and call for specific considerations. The risks involved are not always due to the techniques used, but rather to their improper or excessive application.”
- He goes on to compare genetic modification to domesticated animals and crossbreeding species, as well as noting that GM advancements began with observing natural bacteria that spontaneously modified plant genomes, but pointed out that it is a slow process in nature.
- Paragraph 134 begins: “Although no conclusive proof exists that GM cereals [meaning grains, I assume] may be harmful to human beings, and in some regions their use has brought about economic growth which has helped to resolve problems, there remain a number of significant difficulties which should not be underestimated.” Including:
- Economic/social justice: Land falling into the hands of a powerful few and exploiting small producers and running them out of business.
- Environmental/ecological: GM crops destroy the “complex network of ecosystems, [and] diminish the diversity of production.”
- Ethical/economical: The dependence of farmers to buy seed from producers because of infertile GM seeds.
I’ve been conflicted over the years about genetically modified foods, to be honest. Some people are so fiery about them, that they’re the ultimate evil and to be avoided at all costs, while others of course think that GM foods are the answer to world hunger. Morality abounds with this topic.
Personally, I have always felt that we can’t be playing God…so it’s a bit shocking to me that two popes are saying that genetic modification may be just another way human creativity is manifested (but with cautions, thank goodness).
The difficulties Pope Francis elucidates in paragraph 134 are significant, and the ethics of genome manipulation and interspecies merging aside, there may be enough moral tangle to catch GM foods in the web of “no” anyway.
Because so much is unknown and there are so many difficult questions surrounding GMOs, I prefer to avoid them whenever I can, but I’m not militant about it.
Being militant about certain foods is in itself a tangled question.
But What if Eating the Perfect Food Becomes Your Idol?
All of these questions can very much become consuming of time, energy, thought, and stress.
The hospitality issue begins to touch on the dark side of eating morally – not that we might eat incorrectly and in so doing contribute to the devastation of the environment, but that we might eat too correctly and err in idolism.
We might make food more important that our prayer time. Spend more money than we have and hurt our family or leave the Church short. Mistreat others because they don’t eat the way we do. Feel superior because of our food.
Or simply hurt ourselves, ironically damaging the temple of our body by stress, when all we’re trying to do is respect our body and the gift of the earth.
Nothing is simple in this fallen world, and food has become one of the most complicated and painful matters that I contemplate.
I received this comment not too long ago from a reader with an interesting and important perspective:
We, on the other hand, have live (and have lived) in places where people are just thankful for something to fill their (and their children’s) bellies for a few days.
What can I say?
I think all this focus on the right, natural, non-GMO, Paleo, no grain, food is just another idol we Christians (especially in America) worship in our lives. It’s true. Families who will not eat certain foods…what if they were invited to someone’s else’s home for prepackaged whatever for dinner? Would they be grateful? Would they live out the WORD and thank God for the food and, more importantly, the fellowship?
It is all a very unfortunate thing and many bloggers and foodies thrive on the foods that are “hot.” It is a prosperous business, isn’t it? Why can’t we regain perspective? I mean, God’s perspective? Thank you for your patience.
It’s certainly something I’ve thought of, many times. My response:
What we also must keep in mind is that some of this stuff we’re actually fighting against – like GMOs and mistreating the land by demineralizing the soil with chemicals – is that really how God intended us to steward our resources?
No.
He gives quite a few “agricultural” lessons in the Old Testament, like allowing the fields to go fallow every 7 years, for example. That was to keep the soil and the people healthy. In the countries you’re serving (God bless your sacrifice!), you likely don’t have GMOs or chemical pesticides available either, so you have far less to worry about with the quality of your food.
And the surprising reply:
And yes, our produce and grains are sprayed and affected by GMOs as well. And there are NO regulations, no parameters, no limits. We see the rapidly declining health of those among whom we minister. It is scary.
It is maddening, really. We are certainly responsible for how we feed our families, how we care for our health, and how we manage our lives. I totally agree…but my point, rather, is to put things in their right perspective.
It’s a complicated problem everywhere.
The Pope’s Solution – Conversion
Matters of morality – which I believe food unequivocally IS – require the person of Jesus Christ to lead us in the right direction.
The Holy Father agrees, speaking of those with little concern for the environment and their role in stewardship:
How this looks practically:
A person who could afford to spend and consume more but regularly uses less heating and wears warmer clothes, shows the kind of convictions and attitudes which help to protect the environment. There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle.
Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us, such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices.
All of these reflect a generous and worthy creativity which brings out the best in human beings. Reusing something instead of immediately discarding it, when done for the right reasons, can be an act of love which expresses our own dignity. (211)
I’m so proud that the mission of Kitchen Stewardship® has ALWAYS been to teach people how to practically care for the environment and their bodies, as good stewards of God’s gifts of creation.
So we flip to the positive – yes, making food choices can be ethical or unethical, can even lead one to sin. BUT doing small acts of service for the environment can also be an act of love, a gift from us to God, a prayer from our hearts to Heaven.
Pope Francis also has recommendations for macro level change:
And his practical solution to the harm of conventional agriculture:
I hope and pray that more people in positions of power will both acknowledge the state of our earth as a crisis and offer practical solutions – which they are also willing to put into action.
Let us pray for our nation’s leadership, the decisions they make that affect the global society and environment, and for our own little homes and families, that we may take as many baby steps as we can to eating morally, to living out our faith in each purchasing decision, to remaining cognizant of the impact of our day-to-day lives on others around the world.
Let us be examples for our children by keeping the earth our grandchildren will inherit in mind with every action.
Let us eat mindfully, but not obstinately – choosing our food with our interconnectivity with the earth and its people in mind but also balancing our own mental health and the communities in which we live and play.
Let us make global change by changing our own homes, one good decision at a time.
Is Eating a Moral Act?
After this, I would say yes, most definitely, it is.
Is it a black and white issue of good and evil?
Not since the Garden of Eden, to which we all yearn to return.
Other KS posts on food and faith
- Just Food…because it’s not just food…you know?
- Trust in the Promise of your Meal Blessing
- Soul First, Body Second
- More than Calories…Slow Meals to Feed your Family’s Soul
- Sharing Food When You’re a Real Foodie
- Does Being Too Strict on Food Take the Joy out of Family Life?
- The Ultimate Traditional Real Food
If you’d like a few more choice nuggets from Laudato Si, here are some that didn’t make it in the post but are excellent nonetheless:
Here, I would like to offer Christians a few suggestions for an ecological spirituality grounded in the convictions of our faith, since the teachings of the Gospel have direct consequences for our way of thinking, feeling and living. More than in ideas or concepts as such, I am interested in how such a spirituality can motivate us to a more passionate concern for the protection of our world. A commitment this lofty cannot be sustained by doctrine alone, without a spirituality capable of inspiring us, without an “interior impulse which encourages, motivates, nourishes and gives meaning to our individual and communal activity”. (216)
Hi Katie,
I too have thought of these topics a lot!! I look at America and see two extremes – obesity and processed foods- and then on the opposite pendulum I see the “real foodies” and some of the extreme measures they take…
Is there a balance?
Is our “god” our stomach? (Phillipians 3:19)
And all the other evils that come with consuming – (that you mentioned ).. Where is the balance?
Three thoughts I have come up with as I have struggled with these issues
1.does it conflict with loving my neighbor – (I think this is the gist of what your pope is getting at…)
– how do my actions affect those around me now- across the globe, and in the future? (Is loving my neighbor the primary goal when I purchase, or is it seeking after my own welfare?)
Here is an interesting proverb brought to mind, Proverbs 22:16,
“He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich – both come to poverty.
Does some of our consumer habits oppress the poor ? Yikes – if the answer is yes…
2. Does it promote the Kingdom of God? This is more concerning your hospitality point… (Remember in the early church how they were worried about eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols .. And what did Paul say – it isn’t a big deal to eat but if it causes your brother to stumble then don’t do it (I am completely paraphrasing here-
But that is the basic meaning….)
Wouldn’t you think that would apply here
I think you demonstrated this once when your son(? I think?) had a birthday and you guys passed out processes food to kids..(not sure if this is the right story – but i thought I read that here…)
You promoted the kingdom of God – through that simple act… Wasn’t helping the “greater good” as opposed to doing nothing at all?
So I guess what I am trying to say is yes, go eat with the “sinners” or processed food people ;)- but do it is an act of love for the kingdom 😉
3. Honoring God – like you – I too believe in this amazing God who has created humanity for a purpose…
Does our actions being glory to Him when we consume..
Just wanted to mention…My husband is a cattle man(or cowboy – we live on a ranch in Wyoming..), my dad was, and my brothers are farmers- all are good stewards of what God has intrusted in their care – all some of the hardest workers I know because a clock doesn’t dictate their hours – the sun, the animals and weather does … (sometimes it feels as though people in agriculture get a bad rap by people looking “over the fence” at what they do… Unfortunately) (not saying you do this – but sometimes it is generalized..)
We are not all greedy and uncaring
– in fact it takes a lot of care to do this job… Not saying this against anything in your post(I know that greed and corruption are in even agricultural work…but just wanting to represent the honest, hard working ag person-who is a steward of what they are given..)
I enjoy your posts Katie, there is always a lot of thought, research and good insight into them – thank you for all your efforts ;)!!
Tara,
I just love all of this…adds such worth to this post, truly. Your paraphrasing came through perfectly. 😉 Nothing is black and white, but everything can be done for the glory of God in our best intentions (yes, that was us who made lunches of processed food for kids, we still do it a few times a summer for their birthdays!). Thanks so much for commenting, and tell your husband, dad and brothers that we city folk much appreciate what they do!! I’m much more comfortable with a keyboard than a combine! 🙂 Katie
Great post, Katie! I’m pinning it.
I think there’s definitely a lot to consider in our food choices, and when possible we should vote with our wallets in the right direction, keeping in mind both the people we are supporting and the future of our planet that our children will inherit. But honestly, the first time I read this post, I felt very burdened by it all. So much of our economy and food system has been messed up, both through the past hundred years or so, and really, all the way back to Adam. Should we bear the burden of their sins? Yes, we should care about what we are doing to this planet and how we use the resources God has gifted to us. But isn’t it Pharisaical to heap up “Do this” and “Don’t do this”, “Eat this” and “Don’t eat this” when Paul tells us that the only rule we should have about food and drink in I Corinthians 10 is “to do it all to the glory of God”, thanking Him for whatever He has blessed us with. And that will look a little different for each individual and family. It was the Pharisees who were so focused on the minutia of food, tithing the mint and the cumin, who were rebuked by Jesus for neglecting the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy and faithfulness. I do agree with you in part, but it can be overwhelming to think about such huge-scale problems, and it can keep us from focusing where we ought to be focusing, on loving our neighbor… who at least initially ought to be the person with a need right next to us.
Jen,
Thanks for your honest and thoughtful comments. It is so hard to find the balance here – how much to focus on our stewardship and our eating and how much to just let go and focus on the neighbor in need. So I hear you..I don’t think there will be an easy answer this side of Heaven, sadly…but we can keep praying about it! 🙂 Katie
Honestly I think Christians eat the most unhealthy foods I have ever seen. So that portion of Christians making it an idol are dead wrong in my neck of the woods. I refuse to feed my family that crap. We bring our own food to those events. If people get offended so be it. But my families health is above someone getting their panties in a wad! I wish the Christian community would step up and stop hurting their bodies with junk food. I am not even talking about whole foods that are conventional. It is so processed and I guess really not even food.
I have always had one rule regarding food: If God didn’t make it or if you can’t make it yourself in your own home from something that God provided, then it isn’t food and shouldn’t go into your body.
I do the best I can at home and don’t worry about the rest. Kids are sometimes going to eat junk food at their friends’ houses and the “once in awhile” occurrence of eating lower quality foodstuffs at church potlucks is not going to cause permanent damage. All we can do is the best we can do and trust God for the rest.
Without trying to be contentious, the bible NEVER says that Adam and Eve at an apple. All through scripture it is merely called a fruit and the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:15). Over the centuries man has made it an apple.
Second, God does tell us we are to be good stewards of the land. He never tells us we cannot use those resources, but that we are to be good stewards. There is absolutely nowhere in scripture where it calls it a sin to use or misuse resources. By inference, one could state this, but neither Jesus, his disciples, nor any of the prophets in the OT talk about earth stewardship as being sinful. I think it is quite the stretch for the pope to call this a sin when there is no clear understanding of this being a sin anywhere in the bible. I do believe it is irresponsible to not be a good steward, but we must be careful we do not turn this into a religion (such as how paganism does). Fossil fuels are a renewable resource. Scientists have shown they can make coal within hours, not the supposed million of years. Oil has been shown to be able to be made without it taking millions of years.
God gave us times when man could only eat plants (in Genesis), and then he allowed us to eat animals. Therefore, we can eat both without qualms. This is real food as God made it.
In Acts 10:9-16, God showed Peter that we can eat any foods as long as we ask blessing over it as God makes it clean. In this instance God was taking away the dietary laws he had in the old covenant with the Jews. Jesus came as a lasting and final covenant that God has with himself and man.
In 1 Timothy 4:1-4, it says: The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.
Also, in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20: it says: Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
We are to keep our bodies pure and not sin with our bodies (immorality as in any sex outside of marriage, mutilation, harmful substances). Therefore, I can see where we should eat good nourishing foods in order to feed the house of the Holy Spirit in order to keep ourselves healthy. It discusses our bodies, not the environment or nature, and neither does it call getting anything from these a sin.
So there is nothing that would give the pope or anyone else the right to say we should or should not eat certain foods because of the impact on the earth or its resources. We must be careful to read God’s Holy Word (scripture) and to pray and ask God to speak to us in order to understand His Word, and not to listen to others in ways that could seem innocuous, but in reality turns us from the Truth.
The pope did not give a bad message, but it was incomplete as the great majority of the world is fed using GMO food, and this has nothing in common in ‘respecting’ our environment or world. He did not come down hard on the use of GMO’s or the danger they can inflict on one’s health. Which is a pity.
Lori,
I appreciate your comment and particularly want to thank you for the Acts 10 reference, because it’s often a sticky point to explain that Christ did away with some of the rules of the OT, dietary included.
As for the pope having the right to call something a sin: Matthew 16:19 – “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'” The authority given to Peter by Christ has been passed down for 2 millennia to our current pope. Also remember that even in Scripture, it says that the Bible doesn’t contain everything we need (the end of John’s Gospel). We can’t all pray by ourselves and come up with the same (correct) interpretation of the Bible in all its complexity. We need a shepherd to guide us, and for me, that is the Church, led by the pope. Not everything the pope says is infallible – in fact, there are very few times that a pope makes an infallible statement from the chair of Peter that “counts” – but he certainly has a good deal of authority to teach the flock about right and wrong. I’m not sure where the Church will fall on GMOs, but it sounds like the jury is still out for now.
And I’m ok with the “apple” being any fruit at all – I guess that doesn’t make a difference in the story – amazing how people add to what the Bible really says and it’s ingrained so easily in our collective consciousness! 🙂 Katie
Thanks for this post. There is some really wonderful insight and fodder for more thought here. Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, has been called “The Green Patriarch” since the 1990s, so I was also glad to see him quoted in your post. (You can find out more here if you are interested: https://www.patriarchate.org/the-green-patriarch.)
Thanks for drawing attention to these issues. I’ve also often felt like the Church’s periods of fasting and feasting have really helped our family strike a balance with how we view food in our home.
Thank you! What an extremely insightful, exciting and enticing read! Everything that God has been showing me, especially over the last year. Looking at our food and our food system. This is something I am truly passionate about but I am now thinking about food idolatry as I have never done before, so thank you! I love reading what the Pope has said and knowing Gods view! On hospitality, I believe there are too many food choices. If we focus on living simply, less food but better quality. People just need to be educated so they know how to change, which is happening because if wonderfully exiting articles like this one.
WOW!!!! Thank you for getting my brain and heart engaged together and reminding me of perspective. It is too easy to be a Brenda-Better-Than -You, (a term I just learned), because I feel like I am making the “right ” choices, when perhaps I am hurting another by my attitudes and/or decisions. I will also be thinking about how much of my diet has become an idol (I had never thought of this before, but it is SO possible). I will be much more thoughtful as I make my shopping list and figure out how/where to buy. Thanks again!
Beautiful post today. Goves e much to think about. I went through a phase when I was young and broke when I only ate from one can or box of food a day to stretch my dollars as far as possible. I toldyself then that I would never let anything stop me from eating when I wanted after that experience. I now very overweight due to gluttonous choices becoming habits. I know I need to change and this post brings it all back to its roots so to speak! Thank you for taking the time to write this. I know have solid reasons to connect to God and and myself in my own kitchen.
This is a very interesting topic and is worth looking into. A very good resource that opens up the scriptures in an entirely new light is “To eat or not to eat”. You can find it on youtube. I think that you would find it very interesting ‘food for thought’:) Thank you for all your research and for this wonderful article.
This was so good! Thank you.
It would be an interesting study to see the difference in the ecological impact of cows treated as gifts, vs cows treated as possessions. So much of Laudato Si can be read through a Theology of the Body lense of wonder and gift.
The quagmire surrounding the idolatry of perfect diet/health is difficult to navigate. I have to have constant internal discussions about gratitude, impact, health and priorities.
I think you hit the nail on the head in your opening sentiments about simplicity. Simple and easy are not the same. The easier things seem to get, the far less simple they truly are. And harder to keep perspective on true work.
You have brought up so many issues…I can see why it took awhile to get this post completed….my head is quietly exploding over here. I have tried to take the issues one by one and do my best to understand and then put best eating practices into play. But here is the thing…back in the 70’s when I had a young family, I stopped feeding my family whole eggs and butter because they were “bad.” (this is just one example of my now-revealed-misguided efforts.) Years of margarine and egg whites make me wary of the science and morality of food production and consumption. I won’t give up and thankfully, people such as yourself will continue to educate us and hopefully we will eventually have a world of healthily filled, responsible people. Keep up the good work.
There are good reasons to question our use of the resources available to us on this planet and our greed and abuses and self-important attitudes as the dominant species, you’re not wrong at all about these things.
However, I do need to question relying on a Bronze age mythological deity who has, by its own alleged words, shown immorality in murder, rape, enslavement, human sacrifice, and not to mention allegedly creating a disgusting and disturbing system of live creatures that can feel pain, being reliant on consuming one another to death. That is something I, had I that kind on ability, would be too moral to do. And since humans all use their own moral compass to pick and choose from holy books what they want to believe and how they wish to interpret each passage to suit their own personal belief systems, I’m going to just say ditch the holy works altogether and acknowledge the grown up act of taking responsibility for our own morals like we all do anyway.
Jamie,
I understand that you’ve gotten some poor impressions of God and the Catholic Church, and I’m sorry about that. God does not, and has not ever, asked or commanded His followers to kill or make human sacrifice. No worries about that one! As far as feeling pain, I love the Catholic theology that resurrects pain and suffering into something joyful and helpful. At least you agree with the Holy Father when he speaks about human responsibility. Thanks for commenting mostly respectfully, Katie
God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22. God then changed his mind–he was only testing Abraham’s obedience–but he did in fact command it.
In many places in the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to attack some other tribe and kill them all.
I believe in God. I’m not sure how to explain some of the things that happened in the Old Testament–that almost seems to be a different God than the one we know now! But I think we have to admit that that is what the book says.
I thought of Isaac and didn’t want to get complicated since it wasn’t a “real” command Becca. 🙂
I think there are some layers to the OT God that we might not fully understand because of context. Some judgments that only He could make, perhaps? But you’re right – I tend to think only of the Crusades with this kind of issue, but the Old Testament is a tangled web….
Jamie,
If we all take responsibility for our own morals, and everyone’s morals are different, how can that work? For example, is killing another person wrong or not? You’d hopefully say no. What about killing an unborn child? Sadly (and shockingly), many say that’s okay. 🙁 There are too many areas where people can pick and choose their own morality, that’s why I appreciate having the Church as a solid guide. That’s not to say that the Church is perfect all the time, that’s not possible where people are involved, but as Katie explains well in a comment further below, “We need a shepherd to guide us, and for me, that is the Church, led by the pope.”
Kelly