The answer you will get to the question: “Is there enough food in the world to feed all the people of the globe?” depends on whom you ask, where you ask, and when you ask.
If you ask someone like the theologian Sally McFague you might hear: There is enough for abundant life for all – we need only share the resources more equitably.
Elizabeth Johnson’s, David Korten’s and Carol Zinn’s responses would be similar, as would Jesus’ response.
If you ask someone in a refugee camp in Darfur, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Columbia, Lebanon, Dominican Republic or Kenya you will get instead a response about the number of refugees dying daily from hunger.
If you ask a CSJ community member, a family member, an associate: “Is there enough food for you each day?” you might get very different responses. And there would, for certain, be a different answer if you asked groups of financially secure Canadians, new Canadians and Aboriginal persons.
The CSJ Green Window perspective is that there are enough resources to feed all; however, there is a global food crisis that is very real – humanly constructed – but real. It is due much more to the inequities that our global financial systems and social systems create than it is to the failure of the earth to provide sufficient foodstuffs. It is due to our skewed priorities as individuals and nations, and to the priorities of some of our global political organizations. It is due to our lack of consciousness of the interdependence of all life communities, including the global human community in all its diversity.
Sister Sue Wilson, (London) at S.A.I.L. 2009, spoke about the kind of transformation of consciousness to which we CSJs are called. She named the emerging consciousness “symbiotic consciousness.” Such consciousness brings both personal and communal transformation. In the dialogue with Sue and Joan Atkinson (London), S.A.I.L. participants gained additional insights. Sister Helen Smaggus, (Pembroke) a counsellor/therapist, reminded us that symbiosis facilitates the development of bonds of intimacy necessary for interpersonal relationships. Sister Mary Sheridan (Sault Ste. Marie), from her knowledge and experience as a biology teacher, reminded us that symbiosis is the life process by which one organism attaches itself to another in a mutually life-enhancing and interdependent relationship in which both benefit and both live. Sister Sue’s message was that symbiotic consciousness facilitates a deeper, ever-expanding awareness of how we need and depend upon God, and how God depends upon us to bring about personal and interpersonal transformation. According to Sue, symbiotic consciousness is how we relate to God. It describes the quality of that relationship.
In CSJ spirituality – a truly incarnational spirituality- symbiotic awareness also means developing and maintaining mutually life-enhancing relationships with the dear neighbour: relationships as basic as sharing food and ensuring enough for all.
What could that look like?
What if we chose, even institutionally, to buy locally whenever and wherever possible. For example, the London Sisters at 485 Windemere Road have decided to refrain from buying some items when they are not in season. What if our Congregations, or small groups of Sisters, or some individuals tried to match more closely our food expenses to those of lower income people? What if we chose to pair up with refugee families, Aboriginal families, Ontario Works families, or families on disability pensions in Canada to try to create a more equitable food supply among us? Would it cause each of us to be inclined to spend less money on food, even as each of us makes sure our diet is healthy and sufficient?
There are two divergent ways of looking at having equitable global food supplies. Both approaches address hunger. One, “Food Security,” focuses on “the amount of food available and people’s access to it.” (www.devp.org) It functions within the current market economy of supply and demand. Donor governments seek to alleviate hunger through shipping food supplies around the globe. The other, “Food Sovereignty,” is a concept developed by Via Campesina in 2007. This international group of peasant farmers and civil society activists define Food Sovereignty as follows:
“Food Sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agricultural systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food policies rather than markets and corporations.” (Declaration of Nyeleni, Mali 2007, in Backgrounder 1 at: www.devp.org) Via Campesina has made a difference.
What difference can we make? What influence can we have on the global markets? What impacts do my attitude, purchases and use of food have?
Such questions may feel disempowering, but they can help us discern how we can use our voices and our actions to help make the changes needed to ensure food for all. These choices can be empowering! There are rich resources to help us respond.
Useful websites:
Development and Peace: http://www.devp.org
International Planning Committee on Food Sovereignty: http://foodsovereignty.org
The Hunger Project www.thp.org
Bread and Faith www.bread.org
