Saint Stephen’s and Snow's Bend Farm: Building a relationship with our Food

One of the recurring themes of Scriptures is the image of life blooming from a garden. In Genesis 2, humanity is formed in a garden out of the red soil of the earth.  In Amos 9:14, Amos has a vision of a new kingdom where people plant gardens and eat the fruit.  In Jeremiah 29, God urges people to become rooted by building gardens and consuming the food that is produced. 

God’s creation is teaming with life and potential.  I often wonder if being connected and rooted in life correlates with a relationship to our food, the dirt that gives the food life, and viewing what the earth produces as a response to the care we lend her.  

I think there is something inherently Christian in giving thanks and praise to that which sustains us. If we come from the earth, and that which sustains us comes from the earth and God, then our relationship to our food becomes a theological concern. Even eating can become a beautiful and important practice that connects us with the God in whom we profess our faith.  

Snow Bend Farm

I am delighted to share that we have developed a partnership with Snow’s Bend Farm, a certified organic farm just outside of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Through the commitment of some of our parishioners now, Saint Stephen’s will become a drop site for shares of Snow’s Bend’s CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.  This means that you can subscribe for a portion of the harvest of their farm and pick up your share each week at Saint Stephen’s on Thursday’s between 12pm and 6pm at the main entrance under the Gathering Space.  To sign up for a CSA share to pick up at Saint Stephen’s, click here.

I am confident that we are not all called to grow our own food as our primary vocation.  If that were the case, my family would be perpetually hungry.  However, I do believe that we are called to have a relationship with our food and by developing a relationship with local farms, we deepen our relationship with the Creator, our God.  This means we live more fully into the vision of God’s kingdom as illustrated in the stories and Scripture that are ours.  A huge thanks to Lynn Worley for her work on our Stewardship of Creation Committee to develop this partnership.  

Faithfully,

The Rev. John B. Burruss
Rector