Intersection of Faith and Food
Religious leaders headline sustainability discussion
Photos by Layla Garms
Imam Khalid Griggs, Rabbi Mark Strauss-Cohn and Bishop Todd Fulton speak.
Tamica Patterson (left) with her pastor, Apostle
Brenda McCloud of Greater Tabernacle.
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONtCI F
Faith leaders and stake
holders in the food sustain
ability movement
addressed a crowd of 100
attendees at The Enterprise
Conference and Banquet
Center on Thursday, Nov. 7
during "Prayin' Truckin'
Servin'," a half-day gather
ing to probe the role faith
communities can play in
helping to create redemp
tive food systems in the
local community and alle
viate hunger as a result.
"What we're thinking
about here is not just hand
outs - it's not just filling
bellies," said Fred
Bahnson, director of the
Wake Forest School of
Divinity's Food, Faith, and
Religious Leadership
Initiative, which convened
the conference along with
the NC Council of
Churches' Partners in
Health and Wholeness.
"We're looking at ways that
faith communities can
empower people in their
neighborhoods to provide,
not only fill bellies but to
produce food that nourish
es, fresh fruit and vegeta
bles, and making those
available to everyone."
Imam Khalid Griggs of
Community Mosque of
Winston-Salem. Bishop
Todd Fulton, pastor of Mt.
Moriah Outreach Center in
Kemersville and Rabbi
Mark Strauss-Cohn of
Temple Emanuel in
Winston-Salem explained
the traditions their faiths
adhere to with respect to
food, and speculated on
how their respective beliefs
tie into the food sustain
ability movement during
the first component of the
daylong conference.
Griggs, who has led the
mosque for nearly three
decades, said eating is a
sacred act in the Muslim
tradition.
"Everything that we eat
should be an act of wor
ship, as provision from
God," he stated. "Even the
fanners have to recognize
that this all comes from
God."
A proper Muslim meal
should be one-third food
and one-third fluid, Griggs
said. One-third of the meal
should go "unstuffed," as
an act of discipline and sol
idarity with those who are
forced to go without.
because Muslims
have a "divine
responsibilty" to
provide for others,
he explained.
"The person
who goes to sleep
with a full belly,
knowing that your
neighbor has not
had enough to eat,
knowing that your
neighbor is hun
gry, is not worthy
of calling themselves a
believer - the prophet of
Islam, Muhammad, made
that very clear," declared
Griggs, whose mosque
combats food insecurity by
regularly serving hot,
healthy meals to those in
the surrounding communi
ty. "...There's the self
preservation that we all
have to have, but there's
also this higher calling that
we must adhere to. That's
what we believe."
Fulton said the world
needs to "go back to Eden,"
embracing the abundant
natural provisions that have
sustained the world's popu
lation since the beginning
of time.
"The first job ever to be
created was farming, but
somehow we've gotten
away from farming - we've
oecome so ais
connected
from the soil,
from the
earth," noted
Fulton, whose
congregation
operates a
community
garden and is
working with
N C
Cooperative
Extension
Services to teach members
how to can, dry and pre
serve fresh produce. "...
We've got to get back to
Eden. Eden is the begin
ning. Once we learn to go
back to where we came
from, we can begin to grow
our own food."
Strauss-Cohn said the
Jewish faith also com
mands its believers to care
for their fellow man. Like
Islam, the Jewish tradition
has many rules about what
and how to eat, many of
which help to protect con
sumers, he said. In the
Torah, farmers are instruct
ed to leave the comers of
their field unharvested, so
that gleaners, widows and
the poor can find provision
without having to ask for
help.
"That's what we have to
do: we have to open our
hand and work with one
another," he declared. "It's
about equity and fairness."
Tamica Patterson, man
ager and co-owner of
Rebecca's Store on Attucks
Street, participated in the
"Truckin"' portion of the
program, which focused on
increasing access to
healthy food in food
deserts. As a participant in
the NC Division of Public
Health's Healthy Comer
Store Initiative, Patterson
works with local communi
ty gardens and other farm
ers to stock fresh produce
in her store.
"My slogan is 'Being a
part of the solution,'" said
Patterson, who shares own
ership of the two year-old
store with her husband
Wayne. "It's a problem, we
know it's an issue and by
everybody collaborating,
we can really begin to pull
that area up and offer
(improved food) access."
Patterson, who is a
nurse by trade, said she
attended the Food, Faith
and Justice conference in
February and was so
inspired that she enrolled in
the WFU School of
Divinity, where she is pur
suing a master's degree
with a concentration in
Food and Faith.
"It's a great feeling,"
Patterson said of having a
role in building a redemp
tive local food system.
"I've been a nurse for 20
years, so I guess it's a call
to educate and see people
healthy - shalom - have
peace, and happiness and
health. That's a part of what
you do, as a minister and as
a nurse."
The last session,
"Servin'," focused on how
participants could put what
they'd learned into action,
by increasing healthy food
options in their respective
places of worship. Bahnson
said he was hopeful that
"Pray in' True kin' Servin'"
would spark a movement
that could truly bring
redemptive food systems to
the forefront in the local
sector and foster relation
ships that could promote
healing and harmony
across the board.
"It's one thing to
acknowledge the problem,
but what we're doing here
today is coming together
across racial lines, across
religious lines, to say,
'How can people of faith
work together to do some
thing about this?"'
Bahnson said. "I think the
key is building relation
ships, and that's what we're
doing here today. We have
all these 'gardens' - faith
communities doing these
different food projects -
this conference is a way of
building one big garden."
For more information
about the WFU Food and
Faith Initiative, visit divini
ty.wfu .edu/food-and-faithJ.
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