Ethical Eating
Delivered by
Deborah Wheeler
At the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, New Bern, NC
Unitarian Universalists
are committed to Social Action and Environmental Justice.
There is a UU Service
Committee that addresses national and international issues. Today we will
focus on Ethical Eating.
The very mention of this
topic can make people nervous.
A case in point was
lunch yesterday after a bike training ride.
Nancy Wisneski jokingly
said she wanted a hamburger but was going to order a salad instead, since
she knew I was going to talk about ethical eating today.
You can relax, at least
a little.
Nancy
enjoyed her salad and I do not intend to tell you what to eat or not eat.
But please don’t relax
too much, because what I will ask you to do is harder than following a
list of food do’s and don’ts.
I want you to think
about what you do eat, and how those choices impact other things in your
life and the lives of others.
I am sure that many of
you already do this.
We all know that food is
important.
In order to live one
must eat.
Social life,
celebrations, family bonds, ethnic and national origins are all tied to
eating, both in terms of food choices and food rituals.
“Dinner at the Home
Sick Restaurant”, a novel by Ann Tyler, has a main character that wants
to feed people the foods that let them know who they are.
‘Bringing home the
bacon’, ‘putting food on the table’, ‘everyone has to
eat’—these are all examples of descriptive phrases used to explain the
necessity of work, even in cultures where only a small percentage of
income goes toward food.
In Material World, A global Family
Portrait, Peter Menzel provides pictures of individual families and their belongings.
The percentage of income
spent on food by a particular family was sometimes given.
As you would predict,
there was a large range.
The
US
family spent 9% while a Haitian family spent 80% of its income on food.
Food often represents
both comfort and love and sometimes is given as a gesture of esteem.
Barbara Oien and Peggy
Reynolds have been fed royally by are Karen friends.
The food was served to
them while an audience of children and adults watched them eat.
The importance of food
in human life is reason enough to consider the ethics of eating.
Food choices affect all
aspects of life,
All living things are
caught in a system where life itself is the result of participating in a
food chain.
Humans are at the top of
that chain, and have reasoning ability.
Humans can consider
their role in that chain and think through the consequences of choices
made.
The food choices humans
make determine how other species live, how they are treated during life
and how they are slaughtered to become food.
Human food choices
affect many other aspects of life, as well:
The environment
Labor practices
The health of the eater
Hunger and malnutrition
The health of the food producer
The way transportation is used
A low cost to the
consumer for a particular food often means a greater cost in one of the
areas above.
Take strawberries as a
hypothetical example.
—a low price may mean
an inadequate wage for the picker,
--or
damage to the environment from chemical use
--or
pollution from long-distance shipping.
The consumer pays a
lower price for the berries, because these other costs are not in the
equation of that transaction.
In effect, a subsidy is
occurring to keep consumer food cost low.
The damage to the farm
laborer or the environment does not show up in the cost of the berries.
Please keep in mind this
is a hypothetical example.
The Unitarian
Universalist Association of Congregations has selected Ethical Eating as a
Congregational Study /Action Issue.
The selection was made
through a careful process with input from many congregations and UU
leaders. Rev. Bob Murphy has played a leadership role in the initiation of
this issue.
Bob ministered to our
New Bern
congregation in earlier days, a sort of circuit rider that stopped between
trips to two other UU churches.
Rev. Murphy considers
this an important issue and has encouraged congregations to become
involved.
A comprehensive study
guide about Ethical Eating is available for congregational use.
The CSAI process
continues over a period of four years with individual congregations
choosing their methods of involvement.
I’d like to share some
of the text of the Ethical Eating document with you.
… Religious
organizations throughout the world have discussed the production,
distribution, and use of food. Some people enjoy many food choices while
others remain hungry. The food industry produces wealth, but small farmers
and farm workers are often poor. Food production and transportation
contribute to many environmental problems.
… Congregations can
develop effective strategies to address two of the world's biggest
problems: social inequality and environmental destruction.
…Hunger is both a
community problem and an international problem that can be approached in a
variety of ways.
… There is a need also
for involvement with service programs that deliver food to individuals and
families - for example, Meals on Wheels programs.
…Unitarian
Universalists have a vision of environmental justice. One of our
principles acknowledges "the interdependent web." Others affirm
the importance of human rights. Together our principles form one holistic
statement that helps to define liberal religion.
UUFNB has done some
study and action on this issue already.
Also, some efforts were
already in place such as monthly service at the RCS Soup Kitchen.
The Sunday Adult
Discussion group devoted considerable time to Ethical Eating.
Relevant articles were
chosen by the group and discussed each week.
Topics included the
environment, food production practices, vegetarianism, gardening and
hunting.
A highlight was a
session led by Carol and Alan Ritter.
Carol was a vegetarian
and Alan was hunter when the two met and feel in love.
They talked with the
discussion group about the compromises each made to create their
relationship.
They both learned a lot
about the importance of the ethics of eating in that process and were both
changed by it.
Because of the
discussion group, some participants tried new practices and changed their
approach to eating based on things learned.
UUFNB is looking at
things done in the life of the fellowship related to food and hospitality
and is considering the ethics of these practices.
For instance, a
commitment has been made to use Fair Trade coffee for our coffee hour; the
coffee grounds are often composted.
The monthly pot luck
group is inching its way from the use of disposable products. This process
proves the adage that change is not easy, but progress is being made.
In spite of its
importance, or perhaps because of it, ethical eating is a difficult
subject to talk about.
Those of you concerned
about individualism may think someone is going to try and dictate what may
and or may not be eaten.
More moderate
individuals may think the problem is too big too handle and that it is
important to sick with more manageable issues.
The most radical
congregation members may think there is too much talk and not enough
action and that crises-mode is needed to deal with current world
situation.
The most important step
for our fellowship may be find ways to approach this subject in a
compassionate manner; greater skills in that area would be valuable to us
in all aspects of fellowship life.
Then there may be cynics
among us.
“What is there to
discuss? You get hungry. You eat. End of story”.
This view sounds
seductively easy doesn’t it?
But we all know that it
is only partially true.
Some people are hungry
with no food to eat.
Others struggle with
eating too much in a culture where food is overly abundant and physical
labor is not required to get food.
Both situations warrant
compassionate understanding.
The recent Supreme Court
Confirmation hearings may have led to the idea that empathy is a vice, but
Unitarians still consider empathy a virture.
The End of Overeating by
David Kessler, looks at the underlying processes that lead to overeating.
It provides a
compassionate view of the struggle people have with too much readily
available food.
Offering a workshop in
Compassionate Communication may be a step toward developing important
skills within our group.
There are small steps
individuals may take in everyday practices.
1. Eat lower on
the food chain.
According to 26,400 gallons of water are used to raise two
pounds of beef compared to 235 gallons for wheat according to a
Cornell
University
article.
2. Use
available opportunities to purchase local products.
3. Support
small farmers when possible.
4. Check out
the corporations whose products you use in terms of
-labor practices
-environmental impact
-responsible use of communication
5. Compost your
food scraps when feasible.
6. Decrease
your use of disposables whenever possible.
7. Look for
opportunities for political action that impacts these issues.
Bigger steps to
practice.
1 Find a way to
address the realty of hunger and the lack of water for
some in a world where others live in abundance.
2. Be
courageous in looking at the conditions of the world and the
impact of your everyday choices.
3. Perhaps most
important of all, let your compassionate nature guide your choices and
actions.
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