Fresh

There are a number of fine documentaries on this topic, such as : Food Inc., Inhabit, King Corn and Nourish. Fresh is the one I use in class. It provides a great mix of exploring the problems of our food system and providing examples of people working to correct those problems. It does not demonize farmers and displays positive examples from both rural and urban settings.

Click here for a link to their website where you can purchase a copy of the film.

Food and Faith - Norman Wirzba

Norma Wirzba is the leading theological voice today on the theme of food—production, eating, table fellowship. You can listen to him explore these themes biblically and theologically in the sermon posted here and in this interview. His book Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating is a revelation. 

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals By Michael Pollan

In The Omnivore’s Dilemma Michael Pollan presents the history of four meals from their source to his plate. He follows the path corn takes from Iowa to his fast-food meal; he compares the journey of two organic meals, one purchased at Whole Foods and the other from a single farm; and he describes the hunting, gathering and growing he did to produce the fourth meal. Technique is a dominant theme in the book. Often it is explicitly on the surface. 

Click here to for the rest of this book review on our blog.

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan

Pollan explores the origins and ill effects of what he calls the “age of nutritionism” and “the Western diet” and proposes guidelines for escaping those ill effects. For a shorter version read this New York Times Magazine article, “Unhappy Meals” Pollan has a new documentary that covers similar material.

The "Lunatic Farmer"

Joel Salatin, a farmer in Virginia, is featured in Food Inc. Fresh, and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. He provides a model of an alternative approach contrasting with what is critiqued in those same works. He overflows with passion, humor, strong opinions and concrete examples. In this lecture at Duke Divinity School, hear him integrate biblical and theological thinking into his advocacy for changing our agricultural paradigm.

Table Fellowship

What do you feel as you watch this commercial? What does it call you to? How might you do something similar?

Table Fellowship as Central to Church and to Outreach

Watch this brief video (3 minutes) where Matt Vincent describes how, and why, table fellowship is central in their church gatherings and outreach. In this longer video Matt interviews another pastor whose church also includes table fellowship as part of their weekly gathering. Their conversation includes rich stories and helpful insights—including talking about how the church continued eating together even as they grew from 20 to 200.

Videos on Table Fellowship – Best Practices

Keith Miller, a recent graduate of the MA MLC program at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary is a church planter in Newark, Delaware. Table fellowship is intentional in their church—not only intentional in its centrality also intentional in how they do it. Keith has made short lighthearted videos on communal table fellowship—how to develop a culture of identity, welcome, participation, authenticity, and reconciliation. Each video includes tips of what to do, what not to do, and dialogue questions.