Care of Creation

Lenten Series:

Focus on Food Loss and Waste

Week 2 - March 4

Blessed are the educators, for they plant seeds of awareness in the hearts of many.

This week, watch Rutgers’ educational video “Food System Resources and Outputs” and read the meditation below. Afterward, take a moment to think about the questions below and pick a practice to try this week.

More Program Information from the 24-25 Bishop’s Challenge:

Back to Main Lenten Series Page
Back to Main Bishop's Challenge Page
Watch the video

Beatitude 2: Blessed are the educators, for they plant seeds of awareness in the hearts of many.

They teach that waste is not inevitable, that change begins in the kitchen, and that small acts ripple outward into great transformations. Teachers play such a crucial role in shaping the future of our world. Jesus was primarily a teacher, and showed us that the influence of a good teacher can extend far beyond the original group that he or she was privileged to teach. Teachers encourage, lead, guide, and inspire. They plant seeds of awareness that produce much fruit sometimes generations or even millennia from the time that they walked this earth.

And in your congregation, you might be the primary environmental educator, the one who can make a difference, not just now but in the future. Think about all the people with whom you can share your insights about conserving, shopping, cooking, composting, and sharing. Think about all of them, but maybe just choose one. Maybe it’s a friend, a grandchild, or a Sunday School student. Each one teach one. Choose your one and then keep them in your prayers for a few days. Think about them. Visualize them as you pray. And then slowly, gently, partly by what you say, but mostly by what you do, teach them. Help to raise up a new champion for God and for the earth.

— Pastor Jeff Elliott for the Care of Creation Justice Group

Questions to think about this week:

Assess how much waste your lunch at work - or child’s lunch at school - generates. Think chip bag wrappers, individually wrapped cookie or bar wrappers, juice boxes, water bottles - plus any food that is wasted (parts of sandwiches, dregs in a thermos). What swaps can you make to have each meal produce less waste?

Are there ways you can share some food with someone else - offer that half sandwich to a friend or coworker! Can you encourage your child to use the “share table” at the cafeteria - or can you and your child advocate for one?

Practices to try:

Pack a zero-waste lunch for your school-age children - or for yourself at work - using re-useable containers and wraps, durable utensils you can wash and re-use, and a re-useable water bottle.

Check out a library title such as:

  • Zero waste cooking for dummies

  • No-waste save-the-planet vegan cookbook, 

  • PlantYou : scrappy cooking : 140+ plant-based zero-waste recipes that are good for you, your wallet, and the planet, or 

  • Perfectly good food : a totally achievable zero waste approach to home cooking.

This week’s recipe and prayer:

Pierre’s Split-Pea Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

1 16 oz bag split peas

4-5 potatoes, peeled and diced

2-3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 onions, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 slices vegetarian bacon (optional)

1 cube vegetarian bouillon (may use 2-3 cubes as

substitute for additional salt)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Soak split peas in warm water overnight or for 8

hours.

2. Saute onions, garlic, and vegetarian bacon in

2-3 tablespoons of olive or canola oil. Add garlic

powder and vegetarian bouillon cube and stir.

3. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

4. Cook on high for 8 hours. Season to taste. Enjoy!

Creating God, you have given us every good gift. Forgive us for the damage we have done to what you have given us, and especially for what we have done to harm our fellow creatures. Help us to see your face in the natural world around us and to treat it with the respect and love we feel for you. Inspire us to new actions, help us to communicate effectively, and sustain us when we are weary or discouraged. For the sake of the world you love and in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Prayer and Recipe from Karen Le Morvan