Creation Care and Public Health - Same thing, different terms?

Over 200 scientists identifying as evangelical Christians signed a letter that was released today calling on Congress to pass meaningful legislation to address climate change. This is remarkable evidence that science and religion should be seen as complementary. As Dr. John Roe and others have pointed out, "many see science itself as an integral part of God's plan for the world." The evangelical climate change letter is part of Sojourners' creation care campaign, which calls on our moral obligation to care for God's creation.

I've been thinking more and more about the term "creation care" since I attended the National Mobilizing Circle training at Sojourners last summer where we had invigorating discussions about climate change and environmental justice. More recently, I've started thinking about creation care from a Franciscan perspective. Through the eyes of St. Francis of Assisi, the divine is found in all of creation, and we all exist in interdependence with the rest of creation.  Using this rationale, human beings not above or below the other parts of creation - the land, the oceans, the plants, and the animals.  And as Lisa Sharon Harper has pointed out, the Hebrew words of Genesis 1 tell us that it is the ties between things that are "forcefully good." If we live in right relationship with the rest of creation, there is justice and peace in the world.  But when we don't live in right relationship with the world, injustices abound, and the health of people and the earth suffers.

If you're not yet completely sold on the idea of our absolute interdependence with the rest of creation, perhaps some discussion would help.  Through the leadership of 200 evangelical scientists, we've established the scientific underpinnings of climate change are real and this constitutes a moral imperative to care for creation.  And the industrial food system is intricately connected with climate change, as I've demonstrated here.  The industrial food system is also connected to such injustices as hunger and health issues, with a billion hungry and a billion overweight people in the world.  Most of these people suffer because they can't afford healthy food to nourish their bodies.  This results from economic injustices such as a failure to pay workers living wages which would allow them to afford the food they need to live a healthy lifestyle. Plus, many of the world's hungry are actually the farmers who grow our food; because of corrupt governments and corporate agreements, land is pulled out from under people all the time through land grabs, thereby exacerbating food security issues. And when people can't afford food and don't have access to the land and water needed to grow food, turmoil and war often results, leading to more unnecessary casualties.  On the flipside, people who only have access to nutrient-poor, calorie-dense foods tend to develop diet-related diseases which wind up costing us billions of dollars in healthcare - unnecessary costs which drain our wallets and exhaust our economy.

So when it comes down to it, when we don't care for the earth and each other and nourish ourselves with the exquisite bounty that our Creator has provided for us, we destroy our health and the earth's health, and it leads to a mess of social injustices which exacerbate the health issues.  But when we learn to see ourselves as part of creation that needs to be cared for and create the conditions and supportive environments in which people can lead healthy lives, we can impact the social determinants of health and improve the health of all of creation.

Franciscan Earth Corps Fundraiser July 30

Franciscan Care for Creation:

Action Love for Our Sister, Mother Earth

Br. Keith Warner OFM
Co-Author of Care for Creation: A Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth
with response from Ibrahim Abdul-Matin
Author of Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet

Tuesday, July 30

6-8:30pm

San Damiano Hall at St. Francis of Assisi Friary

127 W. 31^st Street

New York, NY 10001

Hors d’oeuvres from NYC urban gardens and Long Island Wine will be served.

Suggested Donation: $35

All proceeds benefit the Franciscan Earth Corps, a national network of young adults taking action on behalf of creation.  

For registration, please email: events (at) franciscanaction.org

For more information, please contact:

Rhett Engelking, OFS: engelking (at) franciscanaction.org, 202-527-7563

This event is being offered by Franciscan Action Network (FAN), a collective Franciscan voice transforming public policy in light of the Gospel of Jesus.

www.franciscanaction.org/earthcorps

If you would like to support the Earth Corps financially but cannot make it to the event, you may donate online here: https://franciscanaction.org/earthcorps/appeal

Want a PDF version of the flyer?  Download it here: tinyurl.com/careforcreation 

Act Now to Protect Nutrition in the Farm Bill!

The Senate is scheduled to have a debate on the Farm Bill on Monday, May 20th. Below is a message adopted from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Action Center; please send to your Senators now to help protect nutrition programs for all Americans!  If you don't know who your Congressional representatives are or their contact information, you can find it here. 

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Please protect nutrition programs (Title IV) and nutrition research (Title VII) in the Farm Bill. Your support of a Farm Bill, focused on strong nutrition programs and research, that supports healthy people as well as the health of the earth, will improve the health of Americans and stimulate local economies. 

As a constituent, I urge you to:

Protect funding for –

•             The SNAP-Nutrition Education (SNAP-Ed) Program. In order to make healthy food choices on a limited budget, people need to be empowered with knowledge. SNAP-Ed educates families and has proven to lead to healthier eating habits. SNAP-Ed is a necessary benefit of the larger Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) package. SNAP-Ed is also in every state, including yours!

•             The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides eligible, low-income families monthly benefits to purchase much needed food.  SNAP also stimulates the economy by increasing participants’ purchasing power.  For every $5 in new SNAP benefits, as much as $9.20 is generated in local economic activity.

•             The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) supplies low-income families, many of which are seniors, USDA commodity foods. The CSFP food package provides good sources of the nutrients typically lacking in the diet of this population.

•             The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) provides nutritious foods that supplement the diets of low-income needy persons. This program utilizes organizations like food banks to reach this population. 

•             A strong Research and Extension title. Evidenced-based food and agriculture research will ensure a safe and healthy food supply for years to come.  Investing in food, nutrition and agriculture research is vital to guide sound decisions. Much of this research is conducted at each state’s land grant university.

Protect the program integrity of -

•             The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) provides school children access to fresh fruits and vegetables. This program has been shown, in a robust 2013 evaluation, to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption by 15%, without increasing their overall calorie intake. This means children are eating fresh fruits and vegetables instead of other, potentially less healthy foods. FFVP also helps creates the foundation for healthy life-long habits.

•             The Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program benefits seniors and local farmers. This well established and well received program provides seniors access to seasonal produce while supporting local farmers and economies.

These important programs: 1.Contribute to healthy life-long habits; 2. Allow recipients to maintain their health and well-being during temporary times of economic hardship; and 3. May decrease the risk of developing costly and debilitating chronic diseases which strain our healthcare system.

Please protect these extremely valuable programs as the Farm Bill is debated on the Senate floor.

Food justice in 2012

It's been an busy, exciting past couple of months in the world of nutrition, food justice, and food system advocacy. The Hunger & Environmental Nutrition (HEN) Dietetic Practice Group of the newly re-named Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) finalized a new set of Corporate Sponsorship Guidelines to guide the sponsorship activities not only of HEN, but also to serve as an example of what many Academy members, Registered Dietitians, and other nutritionists would like to see as the guidelines adopted by the Academy at large.

The Environmental Working Group launched the "Good Food on a Tight Budget" shopping guide, and HEN held a webinar to give an overview.  (Info from this webinar, as well as other HEN webinars on GMOs and "Healthy Institutions: Strategies for Farm to Tray," are on the HEN website).

The HEN delegation at the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics 2012 FNCE conference held in Philadelphia, organized several exciting events, including a Spotlight session entitled "Systems Approach to Ending Hunger: Exposing the Origin, Uncovering Solutions," which included a talk by Dr. Hans Herren, co-chair of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) study, the world's premiere study of agriculture in relation to hunger, poverty, nutrition, human health, and environmental and social sustainability (here's a similar talk to the one he gave at FNCE).

In honor of CSPI's second annual Food Day, Anna Lappe launched "Food Mythbusters" ("Do we really need industrial agriculture to feed the world?"):

Oxfam continued spreading awareness about its GROW Food Justice Campaign "to build a better food system: one that sustainably feeds a growing population (estimated to reach nine billion by 2050) and empowers poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive." To do this, they launched this video (also embedded below), launched the Future of Agriculture video and had an online discussion, and spearheaded the consumer-friendly "GROW Method" of eating in such a way that promotes environmental sustainability, supports small-scale farmers, reduces hunger and food waste, and promotes health. They even launched a Facebook app and have tons of GROW Method-friendly recipes on Pinterest.  Here's a nice infographic from Oxfam about what's wrong with our food system.

Another great video, along the same lines of describing the global food crisis & how to fix it, is "Feeding Nine Billion":

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy shared their Draft Principles of Food Justice, created after the Food + Justice = Democracy conference in September.

Ellen Gustafson and Danielle Nierenberg are launching "Food Tank: The Food Think Tank" in early 2013, which with their combined experience in navigating the food system should be an exciting initiative. Here's an article by Danielle in the Huffington Post, "13 Resolutions to Change the Food System in 2013."

Christina Schiavoni, food sovereignty advocate and moderator of Oxfam Action Corps NYC's International Women's Day event in March, moved on from her position at WHY Hunger to focus more intensively on food sovereignty from abroad, but not before imparting the wisdom about the film "Growing Change" about food sovereignty in Venezuela, which I am hoping we can organize a screening of in the coming year.

When Hurricane Sandy hit, Occupy Faith NYC made the connections between those hardest hit in Rockaway and Cuba:  climate change inevitably has a greater impact on the poor.

Locally:  The NYC Nutrition Education Network held a "Sustainability in the Food System" event in March (here's a resource list from the event).  Bronx Health REACH held a Bronx School Health & Wellness Conference in May, and published a newsletter documenting this and much of our other nutrition and fitness work.  The "Just in the Bronx: Our Voice, Our Choice" Summit was in September, where Professor Mark Naison from Fordham University gave the keynote address (which you can read on the Bronx Health REACH blog).  At the Summit, there was a Call to Action for both community members and elected officials, in regards to how we can improve the health of the Bronx.  Bronx Health REACH also became the borough-lead for the Community Transformation Grant in NYC - focused on improving healthy eating, active living, and reducing alcohol and tobacco - which is being overseen by the Partnership for a Healthier NYC.

I learned about the Ironwill Foundation, a great organization that does nutrition education classes for parents at the Mercy Center in the Bronx, and numerous middle schools throughout NYC and Newark, NJ with the Ironwill Kids PowerUp! curriculum. (video!).  I also got to see the premiere of the film "Soul Food Junkies" at Lincoln Center, which will be broadcast nationally on PBS on January 14, 2013 at 10pm.

Since seeing the film Forks Over Knives over a year ago (which does a good job promoting a plant-based diet), I heard some critiques about its subjectivity and even had doubts about a few things myself. Then I read some of this critique of The China Study, which delves deep into the scientific literature and should keep any scientist, doctor, or dietitian busy for a while.  Suffice it to say, I still believe the Oxfam GROW Method is the ideal way to eat to support health and environmental sustainability.

If you learn nothing else from reading this post, you should know that the food system is broken.  There are many contributing factors to this, but a considerable portion can be traced back to the actions of a few multinational food conglomerates and governments which support these corporations.  This happened with NAFTA, which favors the US in trade agreements and basically dumps overly subsidized grain products onto other countries, driving the price of these commodities down so low that many farmers in the developing countries receiving the grains can't make a living farming anymore, thereby becoming economic refugees, fleeing to the US (how ironic) as immigrants, trying to make a new life for themselves. This is what The Other Side of Immigration looks like and is the irony of the Harvest of Empire.  The impact of corporations and their ability to undermine communities (and even governments) has the potential to become exponentially worse if we don't pay attention to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a new free trade agreement that has been questioned — if not outright opposed — by environmental, consumer, indigenous, family  farm, labor and other social justice groups on four continents.  We must plead that governments don't blindly sign on to this, especially without the text being made public.

As food justice advocates, we can spread the messages about the food system and those working to change it for the better (documented here and on the Food for Thought and Action Facebook page!).  We can choose food that's healthier and better for the environment, abiding by Oxfam's GROW Method. We can teach kids about nutrition, growing food, and environmental sustainability - which Leave It Better does quite well. We can demand that companies uphold the principles of promoting health and sustainability, as outlined in HEN's Guidelines. We can also organize together with faith communities, such as the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies Jeremiah Leadership Council / NY Faith & Justice's Food Justice Working Group in NYC, to make changes personally and organizationally, and advocate for changes to the food system at large.  (twitter: @foodfaithhealth)

It would not be possible to make this post completely comprehensive of all the great work of food justice advocates or even all of the initiatives I've learned about this year, but hopefully this provides you with some good food for thought and action :)  And just for kicks, here's some more good info not mentioned above.  Happy 2013!

• Melinda Hemmelgarn's Food Sleuth Radio podcasts 
• Fracking: 
• "What You Need to Know about Natural Gas Production" video by Theo Colburn, PhD 
• Fracking and the Food System (Food & Water Watch)  
• New Yorkers Against Fracking 
• Trans-Pacific Partnership
• http://www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/trade-policies/tpp-potential-trade-policy-problems/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiIaPhvHa-w 
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-fletcher/leak-cracks-open-transpac_b_1594675.html
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/trans-pacific-partnership-agreement_b_1871710.html
• 350.org - "Do the Math"

Faith-Rooted Organizing with Sojourners

I first came to know about Sojourners because of NY Faith & Justice. NY Faith & Justice (which worked with Bronx Health REACH back in 2010-2011) was born out of an inspiring conversation that Lisa Sharon Harper, Rev. Dr. Peter Heltzel, and others had during a Sojourners conference, after a deep faith-rooted visit in Congressman Rangel’s office in Washington, D.C. back in 2006.  NY Faith & Justice was formed to unite the church & speak out for social justice in NYC.  Other Faith & Justice networks were formed in other cities, such as Boston, Ohio, and Portland.  The faith leaders who formed these justice networks all remained connected to Sojourners.  They have also formed partnerships with many other organizations such as college campus groups like InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and national associations of various Christian groups. One notable partnership has been with CLUE (Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice) in Los Angeles, CA.  CLUE, and Alexia Salvatierra in particular, has developed a model of organizing and working with elected officials that is rooted in the core of our faith called Faith-Rooted Organizing.  CLUE staff travels around the country and the world conducting these trainings that leave participants feeling empowered and hopeful. 

In spring 2011, NY Faith & Justice organized one of these faith-rooted organizing trainings in NYC at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan.  This was a one-day training where faith leaders from all over NYC were able to attend and learn the nuts and bolts of faith-rooted organizing.  Then, in fall 2011, NYFJ organized another faith-rooted organizing training, this time at Walker Memorial Baptist Church in the Bronx, which was an entire weekend-long training, including Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday afternoon, culminating in an “action” on Monday morning.  Since then, Lisa Sharon Harper has left NY Faith & Justice to work full-time for Sojourners in Washington, D.C., as the Director of Mobilizing.  Now, in summer 2012, I recently had the opportunity to attend a faith-rooted organizing training at the Sojourners national office – the “Organize2Mobilize” training. 

For those of us who have no formal community organizing training, the faith-rooted model is quite refreshing.  As a group, we define faith-rooted organizing and how it differs from secular organizing.  We answer questions such as, What are the ways that faith can contribute to the larger movement for justice in our world? and, What are the gifts of faith that we can bring to the table?  Through scripture study, analysis and reflection of stories of others in the Bible who organized and spoke prophetically about justice, we learn how to apply those same approaches to the social realities we experience today.  We learn to identify our own faith-rooted motivation, to tap into the power of faith and story-telling that is abundant in marginalized communities; to minister to people with power and to see recruitment through God’s eyes. But first we learn to identify the core “lie” that society is blindly feeding us about a particular issue, the Biblical antidote to the lie, and the clearest manifestation of the lie. 

While these ideas have been codified by Alexia Salvatierra, Lisa Sharon Harper and their colleagues at CLUE and Sojourners, they are not new. They’ve been around for years… and have been the method by which some of history’s most renowned justice seekers have approached their work.  Gandhi saw an injustice in his country as the British colonialists outlawed cloth spinning so they could take the techniques they learned in India back to Britain, and sell it back to India at an inflated price.  Taking this skill and trade away from the natives was the clearest manifestation of the “lie” (that colonization was “good”).  Gandhi took the nonviolent resistance approach (a Biblical antidote, as we see in Jesus’ teaching to “turn the other cheek” or “walk the extra mile” (Matthew 5:38-41)) and told people to spin their own cloth, despite what the English said to do.

In a similar way we see Rosa Parks’ effort as a faith-rooted approach.  The lie, that it was okay to segregate people of color, was most clearly manifested in segregation on the bus, because blacks were only allowed to sit in the back of the bus.  The spiritual antidote is that all people are created equal.  Hers was also one of nonviolent resistance.  

The Occupy movement clearly identified the lie that accumulation of wealth does no harm, pointing out that corporations are (and should not be) treated as people, and that the public sphere is owned by private corporations.

Antonio Torres from Bronx Health REACH and Christ the King Catholic Church pointed out the core lie that the church is believing today, that it’s not the place of the pastor to cross the line into discussing social issues. Another similarly connected lie is that money is the only force that can create substantive policy change, while the spiritual truth is that people power can be an effective counterweight to money’s loud voice. 

During this particular training I found the outlining of the Thresholds of Recruitment to be one of the most thought-provoking and useful exercises to go through.  Lisa started off this session by telling her own narration of some of the key turning points in her life which brought her to Christ.  But politicians are people too, and we can be part of their journey of transformation by using the moral authority that our faith provides us, to help expand their ideas of what it means to have courage to give a preferential option for the poor. In the best cases this will not just influence the way the politicians vote on bills, but also the way they talk to other legislators. People of faith have the power to move legislators to speak prophetically about the importance of treating all people with equality. By returning to the Commandment to treat your neighbor as yourself, to be your brother’s keeper – we can remind legislators what it means to make sure that we take care of kids even if they are not our own.  To take care of people living in areas that might be disproportionately affected by a potential new industrial site that emits excessive pollution; that are disproportionately affected by climate disruption (the US has 4% of the world’s people but emits 25% of the world’s greenhouse gases); or that cannot properly benefit from programs that were set up to supposedly help lift people out of poverty, because of unaddressed barriers and red tape keeping people from utilizing these resources most effectively.  To make sure that our agricultural policies are not set up in such a way that undermines the economies of other countries, destroys the naturally renewable resources God has provided for us, and promotes diet-related diseases disproportionately among the poor because subsidies make unhealthy products much more affordable than healthy foods.  If we can get Congressmen/women and other legislators to see the human and on-the-ground realities of what their policies look like in communities, this will bring them closer to understanding specifically what they need to advocate for when they are developing and voting on policies.

During the training we heard from several cutting edge social justice thinkers of this country, one of which was Tom Perriello, former US Congressman from Virginia, who advocates use of moral authority and believes in people-powered politics (he didn’t take lobby money as a Congressman).  He’s worked on and taught justice-based security strategies, and has helped lead a resurgence of moderate and progressive faith leaders advocating on issues of poverty, economic fairness, tolerance, and environmental stewardship. He helped launch Faith in Public Life, FaithfulAmerica.org, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and Catholics United.  Perriello currently serves as the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress (CAP) Action Fund and Counselor for Policy at CAP.  CAP is a nonpartisan political think tank and advocacy organization that works to raise the level of policy debates through commonsense communication, such as its coverage of the Nuns on the Bus Tour and criticism of the Ryan budget.

Perriello’s words of wisdom for working with legislators include helping them realize what will be good for people while also making the legislators look good; using facts and moral authority; and asking legislators why they came into public office.

We also heard from Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, President of the Skinner Leadership Institute who has served as the Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus as well as many other boards, including the Christian Community Development Association.  Dr. Williams-Skinner is an advocate of going in to visit elected officials with prayer, as the spirit of compassion helps to humanize the legislators one is addressing.  She suggests adopting Jesus’ indignation about how poor/low-income people are being treated, and speaking with a posture of “I don’t agree with your position, but help me to understand it.”  Many times legislators want the best for their constituents but often times their facts are missing or wrong.  We can work to correct this misinformation by telling our own stories and providing factual information.

Sharing a panel discussion with Dr. Williams-Skinner was Larisa Friesen Hall, Director of Major Gifts at Sojourners.  Larisa stressed the importance of identifying what posture we address people with – we should try to understand where the rich politicians are coming from (75% of people in Congress are millionaires) such as by watching Fox.  We must emphasize that budgets are moral documents and that it’s righteous to be concerned about people.  While there is a lot of dirty money in Congress, the act of redemption is possible, if politicians decide to take money from something bad and turn it into something good.  Resources she suggested to look into further include Bolder Giving and The Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen. 

Tim King, Chief Communications Officer for Sojourners, and Eric Sapp from the Eleison Group led a session on “Messaging to Move Legislators.”  The Eleison Group leads educational campaigns to align what’s right with what works politically and economically, and empowers progressive activists to connect authentically with the faith and values of vet voters.  They’re proponents of approaching faith in the public square from a place of humility. The Eleison Group specializes in media messaging – targeting messaging for specific audiences (not the “general public”), getting to the root of what people’s values are. For example, in Texas, anti-corruption is the message, not anti-corporation.  At the end of the day there are ways to reach the same policy goals, but just using different messaging tactics.  

Sapp advocates for making sure values are integrated into our messaging, and that people can answer the question, Why do you believe what you believe?  People make decisions with their hearts, not with their heads.  He noted Obama’s moving campaign speech in 2007 (which spoke to people’s hearts) when he was a Senator vs. his transactional, verbiage-heavy approach used when he became President (which spoke to people’s heads).  While the “what” of policy can be complicated, the “why” (message) should be simple.  Messages should be communicated in terms of right and wrong, keeping the end goal (telos) in mind. When communicating with legislators, we need to stay humble and honest, and keep our messaging memorable and simple.  It was suggested that environmental advocates reframe the message being used in advocacy, because the current messaging isn’t working.  Some politicians will shut us out if we mention the words “climate change” (which raises disputes about scientific validity) whereas “creation care” hits at the same issue but touches on the moral imperative to be stewards of the Earth.  Our messaging should also include a way to make the leader look good.  It’s important to point out that the poor pay the greatest price for our actions relating to the environment; however, what will appeal to many electeds is to let them know that America is losing out on an economic future (as China takes over the solar panel industry, for example).*

Tim King added that public figures that make public statements should be held publicly accountable.  We should critique people we often agree with to keep pushing them forward.  (“People are too nice to Obama.”)  As Tim says, it would be nice if Obama gave a heartfelt faith-based account for the poor. 

We also had the honor of hearing Jim Wallis (founder of Sojourners) speak.  He spoke about the power that the faith community can hold in Washington, D.C., and gave the example of Sojourners’ role in organizing evangelicals which ultimately led to a change in immigration policy.  At the end of his captivating speech, he said that the difference between events and movements is sacrifice and asks, “Where is your moral courage?” 

Beau Underwood, Campaigns Manager at Sojourners, provided some tips on planning our Capitol Hill visits which would occur the next day.  A few pointers which are useful for any visit with an elected official:  time is limited, so be sure to control the agenda; make a clear ask; and determine follow-up.  In the actual meeting, be sure to introduce yourself & explain why you’re there, have a storyteller speak who can offer a reflection (ideally from personal experience), and lay out the issues and share your faith-informed perspective.  In accordance with the National Mobilizing Circle, we were to ask Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.  Supporting data is valuable and should be presented, but people of faith are not expected to be policy wonks – the strength of people of faith lies in our ability to make moral arguments.  But as for the supporting data: according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, extending tax cuts for those who make between $250,000 and $1 million would cost the US $366 billion over ten years, making programs (i.e. relating to health, environment, social services, foreign aid & other programs for the poor etc) very vulnerable to cuts.  

Wendy Tarr from Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice in L.A. provided some additional tips for faith-rooted advocacy.  It’s important when speaking to our political representatives that we foster relationships with them. Relationships can open doors, change minds, and ensure our voice is heard.  After the visit, note what the member/staff said and any commitments made. Develop a plan for following up and providing any additional information requested by the office.

One tenant of faith-rooted advocacy is using religious symbols in delegations.  The one we used with Senator Gillibrand’s and Schumer’s offices was that of milk and honey (making a just decision) vs. bitter herbs (making a decision which perpetuates injustice).  (While the food analogy from the Old Testament is nice, I took it a step further by saying that policies which promote cheap, unhealthy food in the American diet is more like feeding poor people a bag of Doritos instead of a piece of fruit.) 

Now what?

Organize2Mobilize was a very informative and spiritually nourishing training, and this post only begins to reveal the valuable components of faith-rooted organizing.  Here are a couple of ways to get more involved:

Sojourners will be coming out with a new film in October: October 2^nd will be the livestream premiere of the film “Poverty in America,” which highlights stories of people in poverty across the country.  They suggest using this film as an organizing tool, because nothing is more powerful than stories, and there is no easier way to tell stories than through film.  (Janee Woods Weber from Everyday Democracy added that EvDem has study guides on poverty that could complement the film screening nicely).

Sojourners also seeks for faith leaders and organizations to join their National Mobilizing Circle which calls out the budget as a moral document and implores legislators to treat it as such.  

Another way of recruiting legislators into a relationship and guiding them into becoming champions for justice is to start with inviting them to “Come and See” what’s happening in your own community.  Tell them, “before you vote to cut funds, come and see what exactly you would be cutting.” 

Soon, there will be a faith-rooted organizing training in NYC at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies for organizing around local policy issues.  More details to come! 

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Additional suggested resources include:

(from Eric Sapp): http://mediamattersaction.org/message/, as well as A Guide to Scripture and the Budget and Ayn Rand & the GOP vs. Jesus from the American Values Network

 (from Alycia Ashburn): The World Without Us and Oxfam- Ending Poverty Need Not be at the Expense of the Environment  

*In delving a bit further into messaging for Creation Care with Alycia Ashburn, we concluded that it’s important to talk about creation care in the context of its interconnectedness with other issues: i.e. climate justice is hunger justice.  When people do not have basic necessities such as clean water, wars and spread of infection ensue.  Therefore, environmental issues are linked to national security and are a threat multiplier. In addition, war is costly, and Republicans care about saving money: former Navy Brigadier General Steve Anderson saved the Navy $1 billion by insulating tents.  Another costly budget item is healthcare: we can argue for reducing healthcare costs by investing in clean air, clean water, and healthy food as preventive measures. But whatever we do we must not pit social justice issues against each other!  Many Democrats are guilty of this.  The Department of Defense has plenty of money that can be reallocated to programs which will help protect the poor and the environment.