Joan Brown, OSF wrote an inspiring article for U.S. Catholic Magazine on the environment. It discussed the background and focus for her Ecology Ministry, and how love of creation has deep roots in our Catholic spiritual tradition. 
“One night when I was six years old, while walking outdoors before bed, I gazed at the sky and found myself wrapped in the vast mantle of stars, the Milky Way. Standing in awe, my body felt both small and large. In that instant I felt God.”
“The natural world has always taught us about God. Thirteenth-century mystic Meister Eckhardt said, ‘Creation is a revelation of God, a home for God, a temple for God.’ But with the growth of industrialization, technology, materialism, and consumerism, we have been lulled to sleep, forgetting who we are and our place on earth.”
“Our Catholic and Christian spiritual tradition–its saints, sacramentality, and practices–can help us to navigate this new challenge. In fact, the ecological crisis may very well lead us into a deeper relationship with God and help awaken us to the true meaning of life, which is loving all that exists.”
“Passionist Father Thomas Berry, the most influential Catholic eco-theologian, speaks of this time in history as a moment of grace, yet because of the urgency of this crisis, the transformation of our understanding of who we are must take place in a short period. Celebrating the wonders around us is part of our vocation to love and serve God and might very well be the path that can transform our lifestyles from consumerism to sustainability.”
Joan Brown directs efforts with the faith community through her work in Ecology Ministry. She is a Sister of the Rochester, Minnesota Franciscans; President of the Partnership for Earth Spirituality in Albuquerque, New Mexico; serves on the board of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference; Vice President of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light (NMIPL) and chairs the NMIPL’s education committee.
Her work entails organizing, education, outreach, retreats and advocacy around water, climate change and sustainable living. Brown is the co-founder of Tierra Madre, a sustainable and self-help strawbale community for people of low income in Sunland Park, New Mexico.
Joan Brown, OSF is one of those people who makes you feel proud to be Catholic. Hers is a prophetic ministry for this century.
Shortly after New Year, my partner and I changed our whole diet. We went from pre-cooked food to eating mostly fresh vegetables. We both lost a lot of weight, but most importantly, our health and energy levels have improved. We feel better and look better. It all had to do with the food we ate.
Even going from prepared food, our weekly food bill has gone up. It costs a lot of money to eat healthy–and since “organic” may be a marketing strategy as well as a designation, I don’t necessarily buy organic products all the time. Even so, a shopping cart with mostly fresh produce and “green-friendly” items is pretty expensive.
This experience has gotten me started on thinking about food as a social justice issue. Can only the affluent afford to eat well? Is the only option for everyone else starch and fast food?
I did a little searching and found this article, “Organic Justice: Helping Poor People Buy Organic Food Directly from Farmers” on the Organic Consumers Association site.
The article provided other links to Just Food and Local Harvest, which help to direct people to local farms and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) projects. Local Harvest described several ways poor people can purchase fresh produce, including the use of EBTs for payment and working with nonprofits where wealthier CSA members can help subsidize the weekly food baskets of others.
An innovative solution was developed by Crystine Goldberg of Uprising Farm in Washington State.
Goldberg and her partner Brian Campbell founded Uprising Organics Farm with two intentions: saving heirloom and open pollinated seeds, and getting good food to people regardless of income. After three seasons as market farmers, Goldberg and Campbell started a small CSA last year. It exclusively serves low income people, and the members pay with electronic food stamp benefits known as EBT.
Read more here.
The British group Catholic Concern for Animals has enlisted British TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and another celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, to persuade the bishops of England and Wales to promote their dioceses as “free-range” users.
The animals rights group – whose members include Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham – wants all parish, rectory, school, convent and retreat centre dining halls to use only free-range poultry and eggs.
A talented writer, broadcaster and campaigner, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is widely known for his commitment to seasonal, ethically produced food. His books, journalism and television series have earned him a huge popular following. He is also a strong supporter of the rights of local farmers and principals of fair trade.
Determined to start growing and rearing some of his own food, in 1998 Hugh started living in the original River Cottage farm in rural Dorset. His steep learning curve was documented in the Escape to River Cottage series (1999) which won him a big audience.
Originally a collection of mucky cow sheds, the property was transformed into a rustic, welcoming venue with a professional kitchen, thriving vegetable garden and small collection of livestock. It became the location for a range of River Cottage events and courses designed to promote the “grown your own” philosophy and provide an environment where people could dicuss, eat and learn about really good, well-produced food.
Sisters across North America are conducting energy audits of their buildings and renovating them using earth-friendly standards, purchasing recycled paper products and nontoxic cleaning products, chosing hybrid cars for their fleets, sod-busting their land to restore native wetland or prairie, and supporting sustainable agriculture by choosing organic or locally sourced food over standard grocery fare.
“As Al Gore would say, it is a moral issue to reduce our carbon footprint today,” said Sr. Corinne Wright, environmental initatives manager for the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, whose Aston, PA, complex including a 150-year-old motherhouse and Red Hill Farm, runs on clean energy. “It is a choice that is somewhat more expensive. We are sacrificing in other ways so we make less of a footprint..I guess it boils down to conscious living.”
