My African Adventure in Food & Nutrition - Part 1: My Sustainer

It has been a very long time since I last blogged. The past 2 months have been a whirlwind, getting ready for our summer and diving into it. We (James and I) spent 2 weeks in Israel visiting family and now have been in South Sudan for almost 2 weeks.

Over the course of the next 2 months I will focus my blog on what I am learning and experiencing in Africa around the subject of Food & Nutrition. The posts will be less frequent as internet access is a difficult thing to come by!

My Sustainer

Coming here to South Sudan was a difficult decision for me, someone who loves nutrition, because I knew that I wouldn’t have a lot of control or choice over my diet—and that it would be less nutritious than what I eat at home.

Our typical diet here is porridge (made out of maize flour and water) and white bread for breakfast; white rice or maize with beans for lunch; and a repeat for dinner. Sometimes there are cooked leafy greens or some peanut butter added to the beans. To supplement the diet we are fed at the orphanage we occasionally eat some cucumber or plain lettuce from the garden, buy bananas and peanuts at the market and get a mango down off the tree. So basically, I am eating a lot of refined carbs, and limited fruits and vegetables – quite the opposite from my diet at home.

Knowing in advance our diet would be lacking, we packed some vitamins and supplements for us to take each day, but this definitely isn’t a replacement.

I learned a very important lesson this week in a very real way—that God is my Sustainer. In Canada, it is easy to trust myself as sustainer, because I could eat the foods I know are good for me and take the supplements or medications I need. However, here in South Sudan, I don’t have so many options so I cannot rely on myself for sustenance—I need to rely on God.

Although supplements are helpful and I should use what God provides (knowledge, resources) to care for my body, ultimately I must rely on God to sustain my body, to keep it going and keep me healthy. By this, I am not saying that I will remain in great health necessarily, beacause God can use sickness in our lives as well. In Philippians 4:12b – 13, Paul says, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

My prayer is that I can learn this contentment that Paul had and trust in God to give my body strength – and continue trusting him in this way even when I return to Canada.

Living off the Land--Are we Pushing the Limits?

In recent years, North Americans are starting to become more aware of how much of the world’s precious resources we are consuming—but we have a long way to go. WorldWatch Institute states that, “the planet has available 1.9 hectares of biologically productive land per person to supply resources and absorb wastes—yet the average person on Earth already uses 2.3 hectares worth. These “ecological footprints” range from the 9.7 hectares claimed by the average American to the 0.47 hectares used by the average Mozambican.” (http://www.worldwatch.org/node/810)

The idea of the respecting the earth’s limited resources is no new phenomenon. In the Bible, in Genesis 13:6 it tells the story of Abram and Lot separating. “But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great.” This happens again two generations later with Jacob and Esau. Genesis 36:7b stays, “Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock.” As the second verse points out clearly, a person’s amount of livestock was usually how one’s wealth was measured during this time. The solution to the problem at this time (roughly 2000 B.C.) was fairly simple, just move away so you can occupy more land. However we are beyond maxing-out our resources—we can’t move away because someone is already living there.

So what does this all have to do with food? This verse from the Bible shows that just like us, animals are consumers of the land, and the land can only support so much (it has limits!) Modern farming has pushed these limits by factoring farming and feeding animals unnatural diets instead of allowing them to graze on pasture or be free-run. Pushing these limits has had a big impact on the environment and our health.

Abram and Lot as well as Jacob and Esau respected the limits of the land and we need to follow suit. We should only have as much livestock as can live naturally off the land and that, in turn, limits our diets as well. Keep in mind you can feed more people off plant foods than animal foods, so reducing our animal product consumption helps reduce our use of the earth’s resources.

Another aspect to this idea of respecting the limits of the land is to eat local food. The cost of our food on the earth’s resources grows exponentially when we use oil to ship it half way around the world. But I won’t get into the details of local eating here…that deserves at least a post of it’s own! What I will say in the time being, is to find local food sources and buy what you can from them. Even if you can get 50% of your food locally, that’s good progress!

This post just scratches the surface of way to apply this verse, because they are so many ways in which we need to make changes so we are living sustainably. Please feel free to leave any ideas or comments about sustainability, it would be great o get a discussion going.

Is It Right To Eat Meat?

The question of vegetarian vs. meat-eating is a big question for many. There are many reasons people may choose to refrain from eating meat: health, environmental, economical and ethical.

What does the Bible have to say about eating meat? Interestingly, God didn’t give Adam and Eve meat in their diets. In Genesis 1:29, God says, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” He makes no mention of eating meat for food.

However, after the fall and the flood, God gives meat to Noah and his descendants for food. Genesis 9:2-3 says, “The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”

Now it is also important to know that food was not the first purpose animals were killed for. They were required first for clothing (Gen 3:21). After Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit they covered themselves with leaves but their covering was inadequate by God’s standards so God made suitable clothing for them out of skin. This could be interpreted as a foreshadowing of how blood of a lamb and ultimately the Lamb of God (Jesus) atones for sin.

So, the Bible does not forbid meat-eating, but it has more to say on the topic. For example, is it right for us to eat factory-farmed animals (which fill the shelves of our grocery stores) or only for traditionally raised animals? There is more to the ethic of meat eating than a simple yes or no.

Does God care what I eat?

In my study of food in the Bible, I came across something intriguing right from the start. In Genesis 3, we have a record of the first sin or wrongdoing: in short, Eve ate a piece of fruit and then gave some to Adam. So what? God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of that particular tree. I find it interesting that the first wrong doing on earth was about eating and now most of us think that God doesn’t concern himself with what we eat.
In Genesis 3:13, Eve is quoted saying, “The serpent [Satan] deceived me and I ate”. Many men and women (including me) are still saying this. Satan deceives us saying, “If you eat _______, or eat more of ______ then you’ll feel better, you’ll be comforted by the food.” But really it leaves our stomachs aching and our hearts and souls still empty. I believe that only Jesus can fill the emptiness we feel, and that I can go to him for true comfort.
For Adam and Eve it was black and white – they could eat any seed-bearing plant except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16-17). For us there are more shades of grey. Perhaps a question to ask yourself is, “Why am I eating this?” Am I using the food to nourish my bodies or to satiate a void in my soul?