Faith and Health Summit 2022 Mindful Together
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

  • Voices
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Covenant Partners
    • Issue Statements
    • Governing Board
    • Careers
  • Programs
    • NC Interfaith Power & Light
      • NCIPL Overview
      • Faith in Action NCIPL
      • NCIPL Articles
      • NCIPL Resources
      • Upcoming Events for NCIPL
      • Contact NCIPL
    • Partners in Health & Wholeness
      • PHW Staff
      • Mini-Grants
      • PHW Collaborative Pledge
      • Faith and Health Summit 2022 Mindful Together
      • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
      • Mental Health Advocacy
      • BIPOC Mental Health Grant
      • Growing Communities of Inclusion: A Faithful Response to HIV
      • Healthy Aging
      • Citizen Science
      • PHW Articles
      • FAQs
  • Priorities
    • Racial Justice
    • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
    • Gun Violence Prevention
    • Criminal Justice
    • Immigrant Rights
    • Public Education
    • Farmworkers
    • Legislative Advocacy
    • Christian Unity
    • Peace
  • Events
  • Resources
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Publications & Reports
    • Raleigh Report
    • Lectionary
    • Sermons
  • Donate
  • Council Store
  • Show Search

Search NC Council of Churches

Hide Search

PHW Bookclub Discussion: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Chapter Six

Shannon Axtell Martin, PHW Regional Coordinator · November 7, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Thank you for joining the Partners in Health and Wholeness Book Club. You can officially sign-up here. Through it, we hope to engage people of faith in discussions over why our health matters. Our current choice of reading is “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life,” by Barbara Kingsolver. We are posting updates through the PHW Facebook page, but our PHW blog page has the discussion posts in full with responses from staff. Just look for the apple on top of the book picture among the blog post pictures and you will find past Book Club entries.

Boxes full of chicks and bees arrive by mail in this chapter. Lilly, Kingsolver’s youngest girl, was late to school the day they arrived. The secretary needed an excuse. Lilly said, quite proudly, “I had to start my own chicken business this morning.” The secretary replied without hesitation, “Oh, okay, farming”  And put down the code which stood for, “Excused. Agriculture.” I laughed when I read this. In today’s world there are fewer and fewer rural areas that are populated, especially with the lessening of small family farms. So this excuse is quintessentially priceless and quite beautiful in and of itself.

The intimacy of a third grader coming in late to school after waiting for her flock of chicks to arrive (which she’d spent months planning and waiting for) stands in stark contrast to Concentrated Animal Factory Operations (CAFO’s), which are also introduced to us in this chapter. We realize that compassion, clean water and public health are all at risk if we continue to support these types of operations. Our heritage and the variety of farm animals we once consumed are all at stake. As many as 98% of chickens we buy in grocery stores are raised in CAFO’s. As Kingsolver challenges us, “You can leave the killing to others and pretend it never happened, or you can look it in the eye and know it. I would never presume to make that call for anyone else, but for ourselves we’d settled on a strategy of giving our food a good life until it was good on the table.”

Questions:

1)   I experienced frustration, confusion, and disbelief while reading this chapter. Did you experience any similar emotions? How willing are you to “vote with your fork?”

2)   If each of us had a “Meatless Monday” (where we had a vegetarian dish) on Monday nights, we can improve our health, reduce our carbon footprint and lead the world in the race to reduce climate change. How many of you are already doing this? Who wants to commit to give it a go for next Monday?  Visit http://www.meatlessmonday.com/ for recipes and more articles on this topic.

–Amelia Brady, PHW Regional Assistant

Partners in Health and Wholeness is an initiative of the North Carolina Council of Churches. PHW aims to connect health as a faith issue. Please visit our website to sign your personal pledge to be healthier, and to find out about grant opportunities for places of worship in NC.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Come to the Table, Environment, Food, Hunger, Rural Life

About Shannon Axtell Martin, PHW Regional Coordinator

I get so excited about the many aspects of the faith and health, particularly the food and faith, movement. I am honored to be a part of it through the work of PHW. I love travelling, cooking, eating, writing and preaching. I am an aspiring gardener, artist, and half-marathoner. My deepest joys in life involve my 8th and 9th grade girls small group, wonderful family, dear friends, husband Robert and puppy Benny, and the amazing blessing of figuring out this journey of life together.
Learn more about PHW and our efforts to improve the health of God’s people: healthandwholeness.org

Reader Interactions

More Like This

Bolstering Local Economies & Food Access: Faith Communities & Farmers of Color
Concord UMC: Planting Seeds and Watching Hearts Grow
Supporting a Sustainable Race Workshop

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Contact

NC Council of Churches
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

Facebook

Partners in Health and Wholeness

Featured

PHW Bookclub Discussion: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Chapter Six

Latest Tweets

Join us for our @healthandfaith Faith and Health Summit! Our theme for this year’s summit is Mindful Together. We want to acknowledge the need for mindful moments that hold our minds, bodies, & spirits. Join us and a well-rounded list of expert speakers: ncchurches.ourpowerb… pic.twitter.com/WSnA…

About 14 hours ago

RT @NCCADP We have so much planned to mark the anniversary of NC's last execution. Read all about it on our blog and make a plan to join us as we say: Never again! #deathpenalty bit.ly/3C0lZkf

About 3 days ago

With the growing threat of the climate crisis, NC is looking toward new ways to get to zero carbon emissions. Last week, @NCIPL staff members Susannah Tuttle & Ren Martin attended a public hearing in Charlotte. wfae.org/energy-envi…

About 4 days ago

RT @MomsRising Moms of color don't have adequate break time or private space to pump. Urge lawmakers to support breastfeeding & working mothers! moms.ly/3Qi3gnN _ Las mamás de color no tienen un tiempo de descanso adecuado o un espacio privado para bombear. #NBM22 #IPumpedHere #PUMPAct pic.twitter.com/V3Yw…

About 5 days ago

Welcome our newest staff member, Ren Martin, NCIPL & Eco-Justice Connection Program Coordinator! Ren aims to uplift and empower people to create a more sustainable future for us all. We are excited Ren has joined our team! pic.twitter.com/3VLZ…

About 2 weeks ago

Follow @ncchurches

Latest Tweets

RT @ncchurches Join us for our @healthandfaith Faith and Health Summit! Our theme for this year’s summit is Mindful Together. We want to acknowledge the need for mindful moments that hold our minds, bodies, & spirits. Join us and a well-rounded list of expert speakers: ncchurches.ourpowerb… pic.twitter.com/WSnA…

About 11 hours ago

Do you know what grant is right for your faith community? Check out the graphic below to learn about the differences between grants. Click here to learn more informationhttps://www.ncchurches.org/programs/phw/phw-mini-grants/ pic.twitter.com/umXb…

Last week

RT @FaithCompassWFU If we look at the HIV epidemic as an opportunity to bring healing, justice, and equity to those who have been marginalized and impacted by the health industry and society at large, we can generate more good in our communities. #breakthestigma #faithcompassWFU pic.twitter.com/FPIB…

About 2 weeks ago

RT @ncchurches This month we are excited to announce our @healthandfaith Interim Co-Directors: Jessica Stokes & Nicole Johnson. Jessica & Nicole have dedicated their hard work to supporting faith communities across NC. They will continue to do this work while overseeing the PHW program. pic.twitter.com/SU8Q…

About 2 weeks ago

RT @ncchurches This July, during BIPOC Mental Health Month, we invite faith communities of color to think about programs, initiatives, and ideas that will lift up BIPOC Mental Health and use the grant money @healthandfaith will offer to make that idea come to light! ncchurches.org/bipoc… pic.twitter.com/DMwT…

About 2 weeks ago

Follow @healthandfaith

Latest Tweets

RT @interfaithpower 🧵1/The Senate voted to pass the single biggest climate & clean energy investment in our nation’s history! Read statements on the passage from the IPL network: interfaithpowerandli… #Faiths4Climate #GetClimateDone

About 12 hours ago

RT @interfaithpower Join us tomorrow for a discussion about encouraging our #faith communities to #vote by offering sermons, divrei Torah, and khutbahs on the importance of #voting. Register at ow.ly/W6so50K5kqI #FaithClimateJusticeVoter #Vote2022 #VoteReady #Faiths4Climate #interfaith pic.twitter.com/6Ecw…

About 12 hours ago

Press Conference happening now #CLT #NCCarbonPlan #FossilFreeNC pic.twitter.com/Rizq…

About 2 weeks ago

RT @ClimateNexus Faith-based organizations, including @CreationJustice and @NCIPL, are hosting an evening of discussions and workshops on building climate resilience on August 18 from 5 pm to 8 pm ET. Register here: bit.ly/resiliencesum… pic.twitter.com/fuz8…

About 2 weeks ago

RT @averydavislamb Preachers and pastors! This weekend when you pray for and preach on the heat waves, wildfires, and other disasters, try mentioning that these are intensified by climate change. Here's what I've been praying...

About 3 weeks ago

Follow @ncipl

Latest Tweets

Copyright © 2022 NC Council of Churches · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design · Hosted by WP Engine