Welcome to the sixth edition of our Lent Challenge newsletter!
It has been ten years since the publication of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical on climate change, where we were invited to listen to the “cry of the poor and the cry of the earth”. Pope Francis sought to highlight the close link between social and ecological challenges.
Throughout Lent we have been reflecting on how fasting in the Christian tradition is closely linked to being attentive and sensitive to the signals of our bodies, the outside world, the fragility of our society and the ecosystem that sustains us.
So as we approach the end of Lent, what is the role of our food choices on our health, in our environmental and socio-economic system? It is not just a question of not consuming certain products, or of consuming less of them, but of asking ourselves what motivates our choices and the costs of these choices on our communities.
Source: Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Focusing on the connection between socio-economic and ecological systems has encouraged a movement of scholars and activists to radically rethink the value system on which the global economy is based, away from GDP growth and towards the principles of Doughnut Economics, in order to solve many environmental problems.
Food systems contribute to biodiversity loss, yet this same system so often fails to provide food security, especially in rural areas around the world. Farmers constitute some of the poorest workers globally, and much of this labour is lost to the huge amount of wasted food which is created. Our current global economy values productivity at the expense of the health of our soils and the health of all living things whilst promoting mass production and marketing of food as a commodity rather than a common good.
In this context, how can we do our part to answer Laudato Si’s call to listen to the “cry of the poor and the cry of the earth”?
Many communities are already trying to change the economic and social patterns on which our food systems are based. Starting with those visionary farmers passionate about organic farming who wish to share their resources and knowledge, as in the case of bio-districts. Some producers and researchers are contributing to the innovation of new agricultural production systems which conserve limited resources, such as water and soil, through precision agriculture projects as well as exploiting synergies between humans and nature to minimise the human footprint on biodiversity through permaculture. On the consumer side, there are also many product exchange communities and solidarity purchasing groups that seek to support local producers economically, as well as groups that collect and process leftover food to repurpose it or redistribute it to those in need.
These examples of groups moving to protect creation and reduce injustice in food systems can act as an invitation for each of us during this Lent. Let us pay attention and try to understand the complexity of food systems. Individually, we can pay more attention to the origin and seasonality of the food we eat, to how it was produced, to avoid waste. Together, by building networks and participating in the work of groups and movements, we can do more to promote collective, effective and lasting action.
Federica Ammaturo, Agriculture & Justice Village – Economy of Francesco
What is Doughnut Economics?
Can Healthy Food Save the Planet?
