One Solution for a Broken Food System (Part 1)
So far, no one has been able to agree on a single solution that addresses all aspects of the food system. 🌾 But there is one. And it's simpler and more elegant than we imagine.
Our food system is broken.
No part of the path from farm to plate is without its problems. Waste, corruption, exploitation, overconsumption and environmental degradation run rampant, turning what should be a system based on stewardship and health into a destructive machine fueled (largely) by the desire for profit.
Photo by Dominik Sostmann on Unsplash
Many intelligent and passionate people are working on solutions to these problems. While some argue over which approach is best, others advocate for a multi-faceted strategy that incorporates as many viable options as possible. Personally, I'm advocating for a trajectory that will shift us from the current status quo to a system that operates in support of human health and planetary stewardship.
So far, no one has been able to agree on a single solution that addresses all aspects of the food system.
But there is one.
And we don't have to create anything new or dismantle what we have to apply it.
It's the same solution that can address every problem humanity faces.
The solution the Bible points us toward throughout the Old Testament and reveals fully in the New Testament.
The very solution that explains why Jesus Himself came into this world.
Our food system needs the Gospel.
This post is part 1 in a series of 6 posts on fixing the food system. Sign up below to get every post delivered to your inbox. 👇🏻👇🏻
Love God, Love Your Neighbor
To understand this, we need to look at how Jesus summarized Old Testament Law.
The Ten Commandments are the most well-known part of the Old Testament. These edicts encompass the main points of the Law God gave to His people and summarize how God expects us to interact with Him and to each other.
The writings of the prophets—which make up 17 of the Old Testament's 39 books—bring to light more about God's character and His dealings with humanity. Together, the Law and the prophets contain all that God told humanity about Himself up until the time He showed His fullness in the person of Jesus (Colossians 2:9).
The Jews of that time had an intimate familiarity with both the Law and the prophets. Keeping the Law was of the utmost importance; it set the Jews apart as God's people and displayed God's character, power and holiness to the surrounding nations. The religious leaders of the day lived by and taught strict regulations—some of which were based in God's Law, but many of which were adopted from the belief in an additional "oral law" passed down throughout Jewish history. (Jesus later decried these additions as "traditions of men" in Mark 7:8.)
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
But, in the New Testament, Matthew records one particular incident that reveals what God truly requires of mankind. After Jesus had spoken several parables, a well-versed teacher of the law asked Him what He judged to be the greatest commandment of all.
Christ gave an answer that was—and still is—both eye-opening and convicting:
...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37b-40, KJV)
Rather than moral works, Jesus said, God calls for a wholesale change of heart.
Commentator Matthew Henry emphasizes this point, observing that God's law isn't something to be followed to the letter like an instruction manual for holiness; rather, God desires hearts that are devoted to Him first. When we focus our hearts on God and love Him with all we have, we begin to see other people as He does: made in His image and loved by Him.
The apostle Paul shows the natural outcome of this heart devotion when he echos Jesus' words in his letter to the Romans:
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8-10, KJV)
Seeing people the way God does precludes the mistreatment of others that's forbidden in the Ten Commandments. The very first commandment—thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3)—orients us by eliminating idols that lead to the greed and selfishness from which stealing, killing, lying and coveting stem.
The importance of loving God and loving others is repeated throughout the Old and New Testaments, including Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:37-39, Mark 12:30-31, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8 and 1 John 4:19-21. This emphatic refrain indicates just how important these concepts are to living life as God intends. Through it, He reveals that true obedience flows from a deep heart love for Him, which in turn empowers us to properly love others.
Examining the Food System
How does this relate to the food system?
Those advocating for reform point to what they call a "sustainable food system" as ideal for solving the health, environmental and human rights problems endemic to the status quo. Such a system is "built on principles that further the ecological, social and economic values of" the areas in which it operates.
The USDA agrees, stating that "the sustainability of a food system is judged by its success in meeting multiple objectives related to the three pillars of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental." Its vision of sustainability includes universal access to "nutritious food," fair incomes for all workers in the system and conservative use of natural resources.
Achieving this, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute's definition of "food system," requires changes in how we:
Produce crops and agricultural commodities
Raise livestock and fish
Transport and process food
Sell at retail and wholesale levels
Prepare food served in restaurants and foodservice environments
Dispose of unused or inedible food
Create and implement food policies
Talk, think about and interact with food
In other words, every part of our current system needs to change in some way to become economically, environmentally, socially and morally "sustainable."
The only way for that to happen is for us, as a society, to reorient our moral compass so that we behave as God intended.
Next week, we'll look at how large-scale animal and crop farming are affecting health and environment and touch on several proposed solutions to these problems.
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Thanks to Foster members Tom White and Shubham Khoje for their help bringing this piece together.