What we know about food.

I recently read this article on NPR.com The article is about the FDA and their pending approval of salmon that has been genetically engineered to grow faster than regular salmon. The quote that struck me was when a supporter of this company said, “People eat chicken. It’s all farmed. People don’t think twice about it. A switch of the mindset has to happen for the consumer for seafood, for fish.”

I actually agree with this man, but I think the switch of mindset needs to be more complete. We need to start thinking twice about where our food comes from. The recent salmonella outbreak in eggs is just one example, but there are countless others. According to this site, Salmonella kills 583 people in the US every year and costs us $3 billion a year. Yet, we are still trying to produce the cheapest meat and vegetables possible instead of looking at the total cost, including the cost to health.

I recently started growing a garden in my back yard. I hope that I will be able to harvest some vegetables out of it this year and start to eat my own produce. We need to think about where our food comes from and not just eat whatever is put in front of us.

I do need to make a disclaimer here. Although I write this and feel this, I have not yet had the gumption to put it into practice. I still eat all meats and vegetables. Perhaps I will change my ways, but I find other factors, besides farming practices, influence my decision about what to eat and where. However, I think that I should have the right to decide.

One more point about the genetically modified Salmon. If the FDA does approve it, they will approve it without any caveat that it must be labeled as genetically modified. In essence the FDA will be taking away our right to choose whether or not we eat this farmed fish that has modified genes. Even if I have not interest in changing my eating habits I still should have the right to know what I'm eating.

thoughts on Church

I went to Church this morning. I actually tried out a different Church and I went to their Young Adults Sunday School. (I think they call it Wisdom Ways).

The whole thing was very intriguing as we wrestled with Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. We looked at the passage where he talks about the Lord's Supper. Before Constantine "popularized" Christianity in the 4th century the Lord's Supper was an actual supper. It was a meal that the Christians shared. It became ritualized into the Eucharist as the Church grew during the 3rd and 4th centuries. This letter was probably written in the 1st century. Therefore the letter is talking about how to share a real meal, but it is also talking about how to share the Lord's Supper. Paul is exhorting the young Christians to share and think about others before they consume all the food to satiate their hunger. Greed, which this clearly could be about, was never a topic. Instead we discussed the idea of hospitality. How do we demonstrate radical hospitality? How do think and plan so that we have food to share with people that are hungry?

I also volunteer at this Church, which serves a meal to the homeless six days a week. Talking about eating without class division was something that hit very close to home. Although I serve breakfast once a week there, I NEVER eat breakfast with the ladies I serve. I don't do this because I have the means to provide breakfast for myself, so if I ate their food I would feel guilty. However, this separation is just that, a separation. Am I being generous and giving by not eating with these ladies? Or am I being snobby because I am choosing to eat better quality food on my own time and dime?

Paul says we are to eliminate divisions when we eat the Lord's Supper. Is he talking about all meals shared among Christians? Or is he talking about the Eucharist? What would that look like in our own lives? In our own Churches?

I originally intended to write about one quote from my class this morning, so I'll leave that as a closing thought, although it's unrelated.

"Church was not created for God, but for us."

Final Preparations

We have this big meeting tomorrow with Donors. I am slightly nervous about it, although I am assured it is a normal process. I have never met with donors like this before, so I am nervous. I have spent my time preparing, surprise, surprise, our communications with the Donors. (I am the Communications Intern, after all). I worked on our most recent Federation News. I also worked on our 2008 Annual Report. I will be printing the final copies of that tomorrow morning! How exciting to have that in hand. I cannot wait. I also worked on our Power Point presentation. It looks pretty good - we are just finishing that up tonight. Everything is coming together.

Today we met with some Princeton Seminary Students. (Actually, we met them at Taize and then through that connection they got a tour of the Ecumenical Centre, the WCC and the LWF) It was nice to see them again. I think we are going out for drinks after work - which will also be nice. It is a little strange to be around other US citizens. I am just not used to having people that share my nationality around me. I am used to bridging that cultural gap - I am also used to representing the US. I guess I just like being unique ;) It was nice to be able to share some about WSCF with the Princeton students. I am hoping that they can take what they learned here, at Taize and with their meeting with the LWF and with the WCC back to Princeton. Perhaps something can can come of it.

I am also getting over my cold. I am not completely well, but I am much better than I was yesterday. I am grateful for my health that I have. I am also grateful for real food. After spending even four days at Taize I have realized just how much I like good food.

Ecumenical General Assembly

Yesterday I attended my very first General Assembly of an Ecumenical Organization: Ecumenical News International. This was a most interesting meeting. I have never been to any other General Assemblies, so I have no idea if this was a "normal" assembly or not. However, I feel that I have a better understanding for how Ecumenical organizations work.

There are politics at play.

There are things that are not being said in words, but are being heard loud and clear. People hear certain things, which may or may not have been said explicitly. There are things that are said that perhaps have different meaning to the one saying them to the ones hearing them. There was a lot of talk. There was a lot of political maneuvering.

We spent a lot of time yesterday talking about the budget. Budget is such an important part of our work as non-profits. We are always looking for new sources of money; we are always afraid that the sources we have will dry up; we are always trying to save everywhere we can. Talk of the budget and talk of the future and talk of the role of key players took up much of the time. Even as we talked of the future we were really talking about the budget and as we talked about key players we were really talking about the future and as we talked openly about the budget we were really talking about the future and the key players. The discussions were never just surface level. There was always a layer to be had underneath. I understood some of the layers, but I am sure that I did not understand all of the complexities. There was a lot of talk. There were politics at play.

I am glad I spent my day understanding how ecumenical organizations really work. I also got to network with some great people. I also got a chance to have 2 meals with these same great people. I really enjoyed getting to know them over the food and wine. Overall, it was a good day.

I am going tonight to see the musical, Chess. My supervisor has a role in it. I am very excited! I love going to see theater and especially Musical Theater. I think I am going to try out for a show if I find out about one happening here in Geneva soon.

Easter Weekend

As Geneva is a Protestant region in Switzerland we have both Good Friday and Easter Monday of as holidays. I’m not really sure why we get both off because it is a Protestant region, but I have always been told that is the reason. During these four days all I did was eat and go to church – but mainly eat. I ate fondue on Saturday in Gruyere. I ate an amazing Easter dinner on Sunday with colleagues from the Ecumenical Center. I ate quiche in the afternoon on Monday. Then I ate homemade Greek food for dinner. I love food.

I could not have asked for a more perfect weekend. The weather was divine. The food was amazing and it was Easter. Easter is such a wonderful holiday. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We celebrate the life that we have been given. We celebrate each other and our community. We celebrate the Spring. We celebrate. I went to church on Friday afternoon for the Good Friday service.

On Saturday I went and spent time in Gruyere. This is an historic old town in the region of Gruyere. (which is also where the cheese comes from). We ate Fondue. We also wandered around the town and went to the cheese factory. The factory itself was a little disappointing as we missed the process of them actually making cheese. The town, however, was perfect. I am so grateful that I am able to spend time here and see this town. Saturday night I went to an Easter Vigil at the Anglican Church here in town. The service was very small. There were more members of the choir than there were parishioners. We only did the first half of the Easter Vigil. We stopped just before the Eucharist. The service was beautiful. I attended the service with two of my friends who are Greek Orthodox. Their Easter is next weekend. I enjoy the openness and ecumenism of my friends here. I really spent some time that night reflecting on being a part of the communion of God; a part of the celebration that God is bringing to this world in the person of Christ.

On Sunday, I spent my morning sleeping and praying and reading and writing in my journal. The morning was so relaxing. I also found the cutest boulangerie (bakery/cafe) near my home. I will take pictures some day and post them. Then I took the F bus with friends, Emma and Mark, to the town just across the border in France to eat dinner at a colleagues’ house. Being properly British, we ate lamb and mint sauce as the main course. However, we also had three other courses, including cheese and dessert! We also had enough wine for everyone. We sat down to eat about 2 pm. At 6 pm we were still sitting at the table. The conversation was great. The food was great. The people were great. I could not have asked for a more perfect way to spend my Easter afternoon. I am so grateful that I was invited to share in the Easter Celebration with them.

Today, Monday, I took it easy. I spent the day playing poker (Texas Hold ‘em) with Emma and Mark again. I won, of course. Emma made a quiche that was out of this world. Then Katerina, an intern from Greece, invited us to her house to have dinner. So we ate Greek food. Such a perfect way to end this weekend.

Tomorrow I will have to go back to work. I will finish my fundraising letter and start doing more serious work on the different publications of WSCF. This weekend I had the luxury of celebrating. I didn’t have to spend any time worrying or thinking or planning. All I had to do was enjoy myself and spend good time with good friends. I think that this is what the resurrection is like for us. There is work to do in this world – but because of the resurrection we can celebrate. We can take time to enjoy the pleasures of this world. We can spend time working to live into being the Kingdom of God. We can do the hard work that is the nature of living in Jesus’ footsteps. We can also celebrate. We can also enjoy. Easter this weekend was wonderful for me. I experienced Easter more outside of church than in church. Through the food and drink that I shared with friends and strangers I saw the goodness that comes from faith.