Global food price crisis

We can hardly ignore the news about hungry people today. The print and on-air media are filled with stories of famine, especially in the Horn of Africa. Many of us are feeling a sense of "didn't this happen before?" Because it certainly has.

Unfortunately, information about causes and effects of the crisis are more difficult to come by.

This interactive map from Oxfam helps explain.

Oxfam is a 15-member organization of NGOs founded in 1995 and working in 90 countries. Oxfam United States is one of the members.

Look, interact, and learn.

Grace and "grace"

By Vernita Kennen, co-chair of the Saint Paul Area Synod Hunger Work Group

Do you and your family begin your meals by "saying grace?" Many of us do and most of us learned to do so in our families as we grew up. Perhaps you learned some new ways to thank God before meals while you were at a church camp. Or maybe you learned that there are additional verses to "Come Lord Jesus" when you used an ELCA World Hunger resource.

I have been wondering about the term "saying grace." It seems sort of an unusual way to describe what is most often thought of as giving thanks to God for the food before us and sometimes for those involved in growing, processing, distributing, and preparing it for us. The definition I learned in confirmation for grace is "unmerited love." How do you understand that thoroughly Lutheran concept?

"Saying grace" has had new meaning for me when I began considering why I should deserve the food on the table before me when others around the world are hungry? No, I don’t deserve or merit the food; it is total gift from God. It’s all grace, isn’t it? And then what does that gift compel me to do about those others who are hungry?

Budgets—and sheep and goats?

By Vernita Kennen, co-chair of the synod's Hunger Work Group

How are scripture, hunger issues, and budgets related? I recently received a copy of the Northeastern Minnesota Women of the ELCA newsletter that speaks to how we read scripture, hunger issues, and budgets. The writer, Judy, made a good connection for me. With her permission, I’d like to share some ideas from the article.

Re-read, carefully, Matthew 25: 31-40 (see below).

Pay attention to these aspects of the passage:

1. It is the nations that are gathered, and then the peoples are separated by some criteria;
2. The criteria are not based on biblical knowledge or theology;
3. The only criteria listed have to do with relating to people in need; and
4. Those deemed “righteous” have acted in accordance with the criteria, but don’t seem to realize that.

She wonders (as do I and perhaps you, too) if people would be more generous donors to the ELCA World Hunger program if we truly believed that feeding the hungry or housing the stranger or clothing those in need is giving to Jesus?

Our Saint Paul Area Synod giving to the ELCA World Hunger program was only $1.47 per baptized member during 2010. Who of us could manage on that amount for one day much less for an entire year? How generous are we really being today?

Judy reminds us that we, in a democracy, include programs in the budgets of our state and nation that focus help to those who are homeless, hungry, thirsty, sick, and in prison. If those programs are deeply cut, for whatever reasons, will we find ourselves not meeting the criteria for helping “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine?” In today’s world and economy, what does being a follower of Jesus demand of us who profess to be Christian and bear his name?

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

‘I met a farmer today!’

Field trippers from Incarnation Lutheran, Shoreview

By Vernita Kennen, co-chair of the Saint Paul Area Synod Hunger Work Group

The end of the school year always seems to bring field trips for classes. Our hunger group at Incarnation Lutheran Church in Shoreview is no exception. We visit sites that have something to do with hunger, poverty, development, and/or sustainability. We also invite others in the congregation to join us in learning more about those things which matter deeply to us—and to God’s world.

This year our group ventured to Cedar Summit Dairy near New Prague to learn from the farmers themselves about their farming methods, their personal lifestyle, and their commitment to good food, sustainability, and community. Dave and Florence Minar were gracious hosts, showing and explaining to us their animals, milking parlor operation, grass and organic feed and pastures, and sales showroom. We learned about agriculture, about health concerns and inspections, and about dealing with county requirements for their operation. We also learned how they, too, act as advocates for themselves and others in agriculture in a semi-suburban/rural area. (This is the extended family who celebrates Thanksgiving with a self-sufficient, do-it-yourself meal, purchasing nothing! Search the Pioneer Press archives for the article from November 24, 2010).

Learning to appreciate dinner

Consider a field trip for your hunger group—or just your hungry family. You will be warmly welcomed by your hosts and learn more about the food on your plate as well as on the plates of others in our world. You don’t have to travel far to find a site; check with local Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) programs, smaller dairy operations like Autumnwood Farm near Forest Lake, or research a bit on the web. Plan for a picnic lunch or dine locally at a small town restaurant as we did. Maybe you will come home wearing an "I met a farmer today" sticker and appreciating your dinner a bit more.

True "Global" Efforts

I have visited congregations which use world globes of some sort to receive the offerings of children during Sunday morning worship. These provide some very important visual clues for young people as well as making them feel that they are returning God’s gifts in a way that is uniquely theirs, not just putting their parents’ offering envelope into the plate as it passes by.

Galilee Lutheran on Rice Street in St. Paul is not a large congregation but one with a good understanding of the big picture of what it means to be a part of God’s world. The congregation uses a real world globe (hole neatly cut into the top) which the children pass by and drop in their coins.

Galilee’s newsletter (February 2011) reported that the 2010 offering total from the globe was $350 shared for malaria nets in Guatemala and via Lutheran World Relief. In 2011 the offering collected in the children’s globe will support God’s Global Barnyard, a program of the ELCA. An animal can make a difference for a family in need. Animals provide food to eat, fertilizer to grow crops, and offspring to sell at the market. “Our globe offering can help a family escape the cycle of poverty and hunger for good.” Then the newsletter, with words and pictures, gave examples of what their donations could provide--$10 for chickens, $30 for a pig, $500 for a cow, etc. 

How might you make visual global efforts for children in your congregation?

Easter People?

By Vernita Kennen, co-chair of the synod's Hunger Work Group

I’ve heard Lutherans referred to as “Easter People,” but what exactly does that mean for us who care passionately for those who are hungry? Have you wondered that yourself?

Here’s my take on it—and only mine, not that of some theologian I might have read or studied. I dare to put my words here because I think we are all theologians; we all read the scriptures again and again, talk with others, and ponder meanings. Sometimes those ponderings help us understand things better but often leave us with more questions. Such is the nature of theology and the workings of the Holy Spirit.

Today I understand “Easter People” to mean that we are followers of the Risen Jesus, the one who conquered sin and death. That Jesus is the one who leads us into new life through his resurrection. We are “Easter People” because we live in that promise and in the Reign (or Kingdom) of God here on earth now and after our own deaths, too. 

Today I understand God as the creator of all, the lover of all, and one who wishes all to be in relationship with God and with each other. New life for me means that the Holy Spirit works through me—and you—to bring to others new life, that new way of living in the reign of God. I dare to think that the work that I do, in both small and larger ways, to help bring an end to hunger in God’s world is part of that way of new life. 

“Easter People” are those who, alone and together, here and now, reflect God’s love by helping to bring healing and wholeness. Yes, I think Lutherans are “Easter People.” How about you? Are you ready to claim and live into that name?

Add the Metro Lutheran to your hunger reading...

Are you a regular reader of the Metro Lutheran? Hopefully you know that this very unique “independent voice for all Lutherans in 20 counties of East-central Minnesota and West-central Wisconsin” is a real gift for us in the Saint Paul Area Synod.

Eva Jensen

The really good news for us in hunger ministry is that there will be a new columnist who will write about hunger and its causes as well as solutions. The Rev. Eva Jensen will be writing from her excellent background in hunger work, most recently as coordinator of the Region 3 Ethics of Eating event. Quickly find the April 2011 edition of Metro Lutheran and read the column titled “A Simple Feast” and watch for it bimonthly from now on. (There is also an article titled “Dirt lovers fight hunger?” that you won’t want to miss in this issue, too.)  

The Metro Lutheran is a source of information for about upcoming events as well as a place to learn about the latest books, school and college news, and real news about ALL the Lutherans in our area. Very likely copies of Metro Lutheran are delivered to your congregation and available for you. Ask at your church office if you do not find it monthly.