*Filing in My Blank is a story. I don’t know where it will end, but you can catch up here on first and second installments.
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It was now nearing the end of the summer. I still hadn’t started The Hole in Our Gospel, but James was haunting me and the Real. Life. Exhibit images were etched in my mind. Something was stirring.
In something that seemed completely unrelated, I got a call from the library that an item I had reserved was now available. I didn’t remember reserving an item, but went to see what it was. It was the documentary Food, Inc. which I realized I had requested more than 6 months ago, but it had not been available until now. A couple college students came over and we fixed a bowl of popcorn. About halfway through we quit eating the popcorn, appetites lost.
Ugh. While I deplore the fact that the producers blatantly ignore our Almighty God and even go so far as to stupidly attribute “design” to evolution, the eye-opening part was the greed and even exploitation that takes place in the food industry, and the impact that has on the poor and on developing nations. Because of our wealth, we can subsidize commodity crops, forcing down prices to such an extent that it is way cheaper for developing nations to buy food from us than to grow it themselves. Once we put all those struggling farmers out of business, they become dependent on us, perpetuating a hand-out mentality. We then genetically modify crops so that they grow bigger and are resistant to pesticides. Then, once a crop is genetically-modified it can be patented, which is the scary part. Then, seeds are owned by corporations. But, because seeds reproduce, it gets crazy and the long and short of it is that through patenting and licensing, genetic-modification enables large corporations to virtually wipe-out small-time farmers, including those in struggling areas and developing nations. It’s crazy.
What on earth does this have to do with God’s heart for the world? For me personally I realized how my attitude toward food, and my grocery budget, was exactly the same as my attitude had always been about giving. With giving, the important thing was just giving, it didn’t matter to whom or that there be any relational component. With my food budget, the important thing was just spending as little as possible, right? It didn’t matter where that money went or what I was supporting. I think in my mind I likened to it to Romans 14—why dispute about non-moral issues like food? Just eat whatever and be thankful to God.
And it is true that what we eat is not a moral issue, the same way that how much we should give is not strictly laid out in scripture. But what if we strove to live in such a way that, as much as was possible, we used all our dollars (not just those we give) to do as much good as possible? And, what if we came up with creative ways to help developing countries with their business ventures? What if we sought to understand the plight of those who live on food stamps ( and who believe that they cannot afford to buy fresh vegetables such as the dear little hispanic family in the film)? What if we put ourselves in their shoes, at least for a little while, and tried to understand the way they feel?
*BTW, our church is doing this this week, a Live Off challenge. The challenge is to go 1, 3, or 5 days eating only rice, beans, flatbread, and water. That’s it. Since we’re on vacation we’re post-poning our Live Off challenge until we get home, but I’m excited to try it. (Well … I can’t say I’m excited about not having coffee or tea, I’m actually dreading that. But I think it’ll be a good experience.)
So, all that to say that even the food issue kept bringing to mind again and again: Using our funds to help the poor, understanding the plight of those who have so much less than we do, supporting responsible farmers who raise good ‘ole crops without tweaking them with viruses and flounder genes.
Could it be that there’s a way to connect it all? Another little seed planted in my heart…