SUSTAINABLE AND ORGANIC FOOD

DROP SITE PROGRAM AT FUMC

Be a part of making a difference for creation!

Order food to be delivered and picked up at the church from the Whole Farm Coop by going to their website www.wholefarmcoop.com and follow their instructions.

Order deadline is the third Wednesday of every month.

Delivery is the fourth Wednesday of every month (pick up at church Wednesday through Sunday).

Food, freezer and refrigerator are located in the stairway, west end of Wesley Hall.

FUMC Drop Site for Sustainable & Organic Foods

Throughout my adult life (and before) protecting God’s creation has seemed to me to be a matter of determining the correct course of action rather than a debate about the merit of taking action.  On August 18, I attended a presentation at St. Cloud State University entitled “Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development” by noted sustainability expert Dr. Robert Costanza of the University of Vermont.  Dr. Costanza spoke to an audience of a couple hundred that appeared to be comprised mostly of professors.  His message appeared to resonate with the attendees, from the philosophy department  to the business department, and provided scientific data measuring Gross Domestic Product as it currently is measured (the market value of goods and services,) and measuring it when factoring in the total   economic value of our planet including quality human interaction with our planet  and each other.  The conclusion I came away with is that there is a strong sustainability movement developing in academia that is based in recognizing that measuring the quality of life for a society should take into consideration the physical well being of the natural environment and the quality of human interaction; not just measure the   exchange of goods and services.  The other message that Dr. Costanza delivered is one we could have, and should have, heeded long ago.  Humans and the planet can only survive when there is diversity.  There is a “tipping point” in everything, where the checks and balances of the natural order are disrupted to the point that they become ineffective.  Life cannot continue when the tipping point occurs.

This past winter the Adult Education Team at FUMC sponsored a series of forums we called “Food For Thought” which addressed the issue of how food production and consumption impacts environmental health, human health, social justice, and economic health.  The five part series was inspired in part by the 2005 – 2008 edition of “The   Social Principles of the United Methodist Church.”  Numerous references are made to the ethics of food choices in this book of social principles, and it is very clear that the United Methodist Church is taking a strong stand in support of sustainable farming in the debate between sustainable and organic farming (food production without dangerous pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers) and the now widely used model of conventional industrial agriculture.  On page 7 under “Food Safety” we read: “We call for policies that encourage and support a gradual transition to sustainable and organic agriculture.”  On page 21 under “Sustainable Agriculture” we read: “We support a sustainable agriculture system that will maintain and support natural fertility of agriculture soil, promote the diversity of flora and fauna, and adapt to regional conditions and structures – a system where agricultural animals are treated humanely and where their living conditions are as close to natural systems as possible.”

So how do we as consumers influence the agricultural model of food production and with it our natural environment?  We do it by our consumption choices.  Very simply, we vote for either a sustainable agriculture model of production or an industrial agricultural model of production every time we purchase food.  That is why the Adult Education Team voted in favor of establishing a “drop site” at FUMC where members can purchase directly from sustainable farmers and have their purchases delivered directly to our church.  Every day of our lives we vote for one food production model or the other, by what we chose to eat. 

FUMC has made arrangements with the Whole Farm Coop of Todd County to be the first group of sustainable farmers to deliver to our drop site.  Whole Farm Coop “WFC” has a warehouse in Long Prairie from which hundreds of organic, sustainable, and “Fair Trade” products can be ordered to be delivered to FUMC on the 4^th Wednesday of every month.  The most common way of purchasing from WFC is to go to their website www.wholefarmcoop.com and follow the ordering instructions.  If you are not online, WFC will mail a price list to you monthly and you can order by phone.  Val and Phil Rogosheske are the “site coordinators” at FUMC for this mission and are available to answer your logistical questions at pvrogo@gmail.com. I will gladly assist you also, and am available at 320-492-9415.  If you will give Val or Phil your email address, they will arrange for you to be notified by WFC of all pertinent customer information.  This is an urgent mission and we are praying that it will be very successful.

Rick Miller