Tomorrow is World Food Sunday
Tomorrow is World Food Sunday on the Canadian Church calendar. This year World Food Sunday marks the 71st anniversary of the formalization of the constitution of the UN World Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Quebec City on October 16th, 1945. Today the FAO represents 194 member nations. World Food Sunday, the Sunday closest to October 16th, is a moment for Churches to draw attention to issues surrounding food security and food availability both locally and globally.
In a recent FAO presentation The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 – Meeting the 2015 international hunger targets: taking stock of uneven progress http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4646e.pdf the FAO reports that progress continues to be made in the fight against hunger, even though an unacceptably large number of people still lack the food they need for an active and healthy life. The latest available estimates from the FAO indicate that about 795 million people in the world – just over one in nine – were undernourished in 2014–16 (Table1) [p.8]. Also interesting to note is the fact that more than ninety percent of the 570 million farms worldwide are managed by an individual or a family, relying predominately on family labour. Interestingly these farms produce more than eighty percent of the world’s food, in terms of value. Globally, eighty-four percent of family farms are smaller than two hectares and manage only twelve percent of all agricultural land. Public policies recognizing the diversity and complexity of the challenges faced by family farms throughout the value chain are necessary for ensuring food security [p.31].
Creation Time, the celebration of Thanksgiving, and World Food Sunday all draw attention to our responsibility for the future well-being of our planet. Creation Time acknowledges a sense of wonder and profound respect for the natural world running deep in many cultures and religions. Remember the well-known proverb that says: We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children? Creation Time also reminds us that through our over-consumption we are taking the future health of Earth away from our children. Thanksgiving asks the question: ‘What does it mean to be thankful?’ Over-consumption does not exemplify thankfulness?’ World Food Sunday encourages people to be working together to address food insecurity while also drawing our attention to the continuing challenges. Climate change is one of the significant contributing factors to food insecurity.
Religious communities in all Faith traditions bear a critical responsibility for keeping conversations about climate change happening in their local context. Recently, the Province of New Brunswick delivered a presentation at the Crown Plaza called Climate Change and the Effects on Health Care. I was shocked to learn that we are still right on track to experience significant ecosystem breakdown by 2050 – as predicted some time ago by MIT researchers. That’s if we don’t make additional significant changes to the way we are living and consuming. 2050 is not very far off. Because religious communities convene regularly, I believe it’s our calling to keep having important conversations about the present and future health of our planet and its various life forms. Here are a couple of helpful resources for responding to this call. Check out Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, On Care for our Common Home. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html
My good friend, the Rev Gayle MacDonald, also suggested the Environmental Justice Program of the United Church of Christ, USA as a helpful tool kit for congregations: http://www.ucc.org/how_it_works_becoming_a_creation_justice_church