There is nothing to eat,
seek it where you will,
but of the body of the Lord.
The blessed plants and the sea, yield it
to the imagination intact.

William Carlos Williams

I just finished reading Wendell Berry's The Art Of The Commonplace. It was a great read and the second book in a row that I have read of Berry. I am impressed by his wisdom, his eloquence, and his outlook concerning the stewardship that we are called to give to the Earth.

There are a number of points he made that struck me as being very true and are points that very few other Christians are making right now. For example, As Christians we are called to plow in hope, both literally and figuratively. Well, what does he mean by that...? To plow in hope figuratively means that we are to be involved in culture. Have you ever noticed that it is the folks Christians usually scoff at that are running the eclectic coffee shops, the edgy, good art galleries, and truly making a concerted effort to be stewards over our resources? At best, we tend to look at these folks as liberal Christians, at worst, just plain old liberal humanists. To plow in hope culturally requires that we, the Church, involve ourselves in culture. Open the neighborhood Pubs, support local artists, write great music. Additionally, plowing in hope literally means just that. Steward the Earth in great anticipation of the wonderful day when the wedding supper of the Lamb has been consummated and we are finally worshipping as we were created to worship!

Well, ok. So to the nitty gritty. What do we do when the kids have runny noses, we are stuck in the suburbs and are barely able to afford the $3.25/gallon fuel ticket? Well, I would start with simply trying to love your family, love your neighbors, love your community. Treat people as if they matter, and let it it go from there. As far as the figurative plowing goes however, I think you will find that Mr. Berry's following advise is quite sage.

1. Participate in food production to the extent that you can. If you have a yard or even just a porch box or a pot in a sunny window, grow something to eat in it. Make a little compost of your kitchen scraps and use it for fertilizer. Only by growing food for yourself will you know all about it and appreciate it fully, having known it all of its life.

2. Prepare your own food. This means reviving in your own mind and life the arts of kitchen and household.

3. Learn the origins of the food you buy, and buy the food that is produced closest to your home. The locally produced food supply is the most secure, the freshest, and the easiest for local consumers to know about and influence.

4. Whenever possible, deal directly with a local farmer, gardener, or orchardist. By such dealing you eliminate the whole pack of merchants, transporters, processors, packagers, and advertisers who thrive at the expense of both products and consumers.

5. Learn, in self defense, as much as you can of the economy and technology of industrial food production. What is added to food that is not food, and what do you pay for these additions?

6. Learn what is involved in the best farming and gardening.

7. Learn as much as you can, by direct observation and experience if possible, of the life histories of the food species.