Hungering and Thirsting After Righteousness

This is a special post in my continuing series on a Christian ethic of eating. In light of the beginning of Lent tomorrow on Ash Wednesday, I wanted to take the opportunity to explore the theme “What Do We Hunger and Thirst For?” that Christine Sine of Mustard Seed Associates is contemplating this year.

When Christ tells us to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” or to pray that God “give us our daily bread” our full, first world bellies automatically think in spiritual terms. Most of us know nothing of hunger accept when we choose hunger for spiritual reasons, like fasting during Lent.

For better or worse, we are intertwined in an agriculture system that has distorted our relationship with food. We live divorced from food. Our food comes to us in saran wrap and cans, comfortably packaged so that we have as little mess, fuss or contact with the dirty world of food and food preparation.

We do not know where the tuna in a can or the burger on a bed of foam comes from, and we are happy with that. It is what our mothers and grandmothers worked so hard to obtain after the Great Depression. Time spent doing such laborious and revolting chores like baking and cooking have been minimized or gotten rid of altogether, and we can live in a wonderful world of pre-packaged, ready-to-eat meals, fast food and take out. We have conquered the evil specter of reliance on the seasons and freshness. We have taught ourselves to believe that we have conquered rotting and death.

We have, in a way, but that has come at a great cost of justice. When we are hungry or thirsty, we now live in a world where our hunger and thirst are actual ethical choices. When we hunger and thirst after righteousness it is more than spiritual, it is literal. It is the choice between fair trade coffee or coffee grown at great cost to the land and to workers. It is a choice between organic vegetables or the heavy use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers that pollute and destroy the earth and our own bodies. It is a choice between buying food from a local farmer and supporting a local economy or by buying from large, multi-national businesses that seek to destroy local farmers through lawsuits and business practices that are unfair and unethical. It is a choice to eat meat that is from ethically treated animals or to buy meat that comes from animals that have been treated in horrendous, inhumane ways that are not right for any person to participate in, directly or not.

We cannot accept the lie from marketers, advertisers and politicians that food can be compartmentalized and treated like a sterile science. Food is the fruit of an intricate web of cycles in creation that affect every aspect of our daily lives and touches every aspect of creation. We are all in this together. Our food choices are ethical choices. We can no longer afford to interpret hunger and thirst for righteousness as a spiritual choice. That is to buy into our society’s lie that we can divorce body and soul. Our spirituality is embodied. We live in the light of Christ’s physical resurrection, and our remembrance of his death and resurrection during Lent is a constant reminder that food is a means of grace and righteousness in our world. Christ’s presence is there whenever we break bread.

So, when we hunger and thirst for the bread and the cup, let us in the same way hunger and thirst for a great breakfast of coffee, toast, eggs and bacon that are products of integrity, righteousness and justice, and not the empty food of a world focused on greed, ill-treatment and consumption.

Bacon, Idol Worship and the Kingdom

This is the seventh post on the subject of Animal Care, one of the five spheres of a Christian ethic of eating. We discussed before what ethical treatment of animals means, how it is accomplished and why it is so important. Now we will turn our attention to meat eating in the New Testament, particularly the area of sacrifice. After this discussion we will move into a discussion of a “rule” to eat ethically.

There are three main passages that detail the eating of food, particularly meat, in the New Testament. The first one is in Acts 10, when the apostle Peter has a vision from God that tells him all animals are now clean and acceptable to eat. This Christian is most thankful for this vision, because without it I would be living in a world without bacon, and that’s not the kind of world I want to live in.

The next two passages are in 1 Corinthians. Paul makes two major statements about food sacrificed to idols (this was almost always animal sacrifice). Once Gentiles became Christians they were confronted with a problem that did not affect Jewish converts: what to do about non-kosher food, particular food that was part of idol worship. Throughout the Greco-Roman world the butcher’s work was integrally tied into temple worship: the food sold at the market by the butcher was from animal sacrifices. The early Christians, understandably, became wary of eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Paul offers his advice on the subject in 1 Corinthians 8:

Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

He picks up the discussion again in 1 Corinthians 10:

Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

The messages in these three passages are united around one common point: meat can be part of the diet for a Christian, even meat considered unclean by the Jewish faith.  1 Corinthians 8 & 10 seem to conflict on the food that is dedicated to idols. When it comes to spiritual knowledge in 1 Corinthians 8, Paul is advising that people not get so wound up in a proper theological justification for eating meat that is sacrificed to idols that they cause former idol-worshipers to stumble. The conversation seems to allow for the fact that food sacrificed to idols is not tainted in any way by the sacrifice, since idols aren’t real. Paul turns the whole argument upside down in 1 Corinthians 10 though, as he makes a case concerning food sacrificed to idols not in terms of knowledge but in terms of worship. Reading between the lines, what Paul seems to be saying is that while we may know that eating food sacrificed to idols does not taint the meat or make it unclean in anyway, the fact that it was sacrificed to idols means that the person who consumes it is participating in the sacrificial act. It is interesting that the conversation would turn this way, but what I think Paul is doing is making a point about allegiance to the new covenant of Christ’s kingdom. Animal sacrifice is a sign of a covenant relationship with a god. So, if we follow this logic, the Christian sign of the covenant relationship is the Lord’s Supper. Paul is arguing that eating food sacrificed to idols is to capitulate to the Roman culture. To abstain from food sacrificed to idols is then a sign of allegiance, a counter-cultural act that designates the Christian as a citizen of Christ’s kingdom and not a citizen of Rome.

This leads me to a very provocative point, and one I have thought long and hard about. I truly believe that these passages still speak to us today. When we view these passages in light of our modern day agricultural practices, I believe that idolatry is alive and well today. The way the majority of animals are treated in the industrial food system is influenced by the idols of money, violence and consumerism.

Ask yourself: could that bacon cheeseburger you just ate be food sacrificed to an idol?

Bottom line: it should be a matter of conscience that the meat in our supermarkets and restaurants is meat sacrificed to the idols of money and violence. To eat meat that is not sacrificed to idols, we should look to farmers and businesses that raise animals humanely and sell meat that is butchered in a humane manner. Jesus told us that we could not serve both God and money. Even though stone and wood idols have fallen out of the norm, Paul reminds us that our allegiance is to Christ’s kingdom. We renew the new covenant every time we eat the body and blood of Christ during communion. With food being so central to the practice of Christ’s kingdom, we can in turn do our part to build Christ’s kingdom in this world by renouncing food that is sacrificed to the idols of money, violence and consumerism.

Why Is Ethical Treatment So Important?

This is the sixth post on the subject of Animal Care, one of the five spheres of a Christian ethic of eating. This post is a bridge between thinking about eating meat to dealing with the thorny issue of sacrifice, which will take several posts to unpack. After a discussion of sacrifice we will move into a discussion of a “rule” to eat ethically.

Now that we’ve defined ethical treatment and discussed how ethical treatment is accomplished, we can turn to the question of why?

Why would you go through all of this extra work and thought when you can just go to the supermarket and buy cleanly packaged and wrapped meat for cheap?

The reason, in a nutshell, is that our faith should call us to a higher standard than the culture we are surrounded by, the one that is only concerned with consuming (whether it is shoes or steaks). Christians are called to care about creation, and animals make up an integral part of creation. We must treat animals ethically, otherwise we aren’t living up to our mandate to be stewards of God’s creation.

We often praise God for how awesome his creation is, but then we forget that our actions can mar and damage creation. Treating animals with dignity and respect not only impacts the animal’s welfare, but also your personal health and the welfare of creation itself.

Just a couple of examples:

Grass-fed beef is better for the environment – when you eat grass-fed beef, instead of beef from an animal that is trapped in a feed lot being stuffed with food it doesn’t naturally eat, you are helping to build richer soil, curb deforestation and create less greenhouse gases (source: “How Eating Grass-Fed Beef Could Help Fight Climate Change“).

You’re healthier: grass-fed beef is healthier for you than industrial beef. Grass-fed beef has double the omega 3 fatty acids as industrial beef (Source: “The Truth About Grass-Fed Beef“). And if you are eating meat that is raised without antibiotics or hormones, you are keeping yourself from ingesting those chemicals when you eat (and allowing the animals to have normal lives, not medically controlled lives).

Ethical Treatment of Animals stops the cycle of chemicals in creation – animals don’t exist in a vacuum. They are an integral part of creation. So when you choose to eat ethical meat you are making a choice that impacts all of creation. If an animal is raised ethically the following chain reaction occurs in creation:

-the grains and grass used to feed ethically treated animals are not treated with industrial or toxic pesticides and herbicides.

-less pesticides and herbicides in the environment help to reduce contamination of the soil, our water and ourselves. There are diseases today like Parkinson’s that appear to be linked to the plethora of toxic chemicals we lace our food with (Source: “Pesticide Exposure Found to Increase Link Of Parkinson’s Disease“).

-less use of corn and soybeans for animal consumption means a more diverse culture of crops. The more crops that are planted, the better that we can protect our economy from spikes in food prices and shortages of food (this has happened during the past few years: “How to End the Global Food Shortage“).

The important thing is that we think about more than just the animals and more than just ourselves. There is a whole world that is affected by our food choices, and the more ethical our choices are, the better the world will be.

The Simplest Way to Raise an Animal Ethically

This is the fifth post on the subject of Animal Care, one of the five spheres of a Christian ethic of eating. This post is a bridge between thinking about eating meat to dealing with the thorny issue of sacrifice, which will take several posts to unpack. After a discussion of sacrifice we will move into a discussion of a “rule” to eat ethically.

In the ever burgeoning world of farm-to-table food, there is a growing desire for ethically treated meat. This, as discussed before, can mean different things to different people. The important thing about the ethical treatment of animals is not as much the meaning of “ethical treatment” but recognizing the choice we all have to eat ethically every day. When we cultivate an ethical conscious it begins to shape our food choices in profound ways.

The how-to of ethically treating animals is fundamentally simple. The simplest way to raise an animal ethically is to follow the golden rule: treat the animal the way you would want to be treated if you were in the same position. Now there is some divergence here, for this is the point where vegans (people who have decided to not eat any food that comes from an animal, including dairy) would say “you don’t want to be killed, do you? So why would you eat animals at all?” It’s a valid question, and one I will discuss in a later post (have to keep you reading, don’t I?”), but suffice it to say that my stance on the issue is that humans and farm animals have entered into a symbiotic relationship, like the one Michael Pollan illustrates happens with plants in The Botany of Desire. Domesticated animals, like domesticated plants, enter into a contract with us for mutual preservation: we keep the animals alive, provide a consistent food supply for them, let them reproduce and enjoy a happy life, and then at the end of their life we eat them.

The way to raise animals ethically then, is simply to use common sense for the most part. Chickens naturally want to be outside and peck. It would be ethical then to allow them to do this. Pigs want to wallow in mud and eat slop. It would be ethical then to allow them to do this. Cows want to walk around a pasture or barn. It would be ethical then to allow them to do this.

What becomes unethical is to treat an animal like it is a commodity. Most big farmers, the ones who shove pigs into crates, cram chickens into cages and jam cows into confined rows, are thinking about animals as part of an industrial production unit. This line of thinking sees animals as not part of a farm but as part of a factory, churning out animal products like computers by any means necessary, which does undue harm to the animals, our environment and ourselves. Large commercial farms lose sight of animals as sentient beings, which allows them to treat animals like parts in an assembly line instead of living, breathing things. It’s human nature to numb ourselves to the plight of a person or thing if it makes us money. Modern day slavery, sweat shops, suicides in technology manufacturing, and animal cruelty are all rooted in the same darkness.

To treat an animal ethically is to allow it to live a life that is both natural and humane. It is to choose a symbiotic relationship with the animals on the farm and to honor an animal for their intrinsic value as a fellow creature and, eventually, a source of food.

In the next post we will discuss why the ethical treatment of animals is so important for Christians.

What Does Ethically Treated Actually Mean?

This is the fourth post on the subject of Animal Care, one of the five spheres of a Christian ethic of eating. This post is a bridge between thinking about eating meat to dealing with the thorny issue of sacrifice, which will take several posts to unpack. After a discussion of sacrifice we will move into a discussion of a “rule” to eat ethically.

It seems to happen more and more often.

I’ll be sitting to eat with some co-workers or friends, and they notice I don’t eat any meat. They’ll ask, “are you vegetarian?” And I inevitably reply, “it’s complicated” (see my previous post “How Was Your Thanksgiving Turkey Treated?” for the full story).

Lately, people have been more than willing to hear about my values: what “ethically treated” actually means, how this is accomplished, and why it is so important.

So before digging further into the Christian basis for ethical treatment of animals, I wanted to share a bit about the basics of ethical treatment.

What does “ethically treated” actually mean?

The short answer is “depends on who you ask.” There is no uniform definition of ethical treatment of animals, and people have different perspectives on the minimum. It can be a very personal and emotional decision. My wife and I have chosen as our minimum definition of ethical treatment that an animal has the ability to actually live like an animal and not a prisoner. This is what Joel Salatin has described as “the pig-ness of a pig or the chicken-ness of a chicken.” What my wife want is an opportunity for an animal to have a normal life and not be confined in a small cage and injected with hormones and antibiotics like it is a lab rat. There are others who take a more radical approach. I know someone who is a vegan but will eat meat when it is hunted, because she does not like the way animals are slaughtered and butchered, but respects the necessity of people feeding themselves by providing for themselves by hunting. I know others who will only eat meat if it is certified organic or humane. There are tons of certifications out there though, and it only serves to muddy the picture, not define it better. Because of this, my wife and I are okay buying something that is not certified as long as we know how the farmer has treated the animals and are comfortable with that. So don’t be shy, go talk to your local farmer or butcher about how the animal was treated.

The point is, whether we can ever agree on a definition or not, the fact that you begin to actually think about the life and welfare of an animal is vitally important. We can’t just be idle consumers who eat whatever is put in front of us. Caring about the meat we eat is to enter into the conversation about “ethical treatment.”

The next post in this series will be on how ethical treatment is actually accomplished.

Writing Update: Whole Foods is Cheaper…

I have an essay published in The Curator which tries to dispel the myth that Whole Foods means Whole Paycheck. I said in front of my College Writing class a few weeks ago that fast food is not necessarily cheaper than Whole Foods, and the aghast looks I was met with prompted me to do some research and come up with some cold, hard facts. My essay “Whole Foods is Cheaper than Fast Food?” fits right into the ethos of my Ethical Eating series, which looks at how Christians should eat.

An excerpt:

…while I may be able to prove to my class that Whole Foods is cheaper than fast food, the value placed on instant gratification, ready-made food and the on-the-go lifestyle is what keeps more people from visiting farmers markets or buying healthy, sustainable food. Eating is often divorced from cooking, or worse, cooking is considered a privilege that not everyone can afford. So the cooking, for better or worse, gets outsourced.

You can read the rest of my essay here.