wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Hunger Program serves up 'Just Eating' curriculum

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8717 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05216
April 20, 2005

Hunger program serves up 'Just Eating' curriculum

Seven-week program examines links between faith and food 

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - The Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP), in collaboration with two
other organizations, has developed a seven-week curriculum for congregations
exploring the relationship between the way we eat and the way we live.

	Just Eating? Practicing Our Faith at the Table aims to bring into
dialogue daily eating habits, the Christian faith and the "needs of the
broader world" through readings, action steps and healthy eating tips. 

	"Never before has the Presbyterian Church produced a full curriculum
on eating," said Andrew Kang Bartlett, a PHP staffer who oversaw the
project's completion. "The 2002 PC(USA) General Assembly report, 'We Are What
We Eat' provides Presbyterians with great analysis and a picture of many
emerging alternatives, and Just Eating?  gives people, including high
schoolers, tools that help us ponder the wider impact of what we eat."

	Scripture, prayer and stories from the local and global community are
used to explore four key aspects of Christians' relationship with food:

the health of our bodies

the health of the earth that provides our food

the ways we use food to extend hospitality and enrich relationships

the challenge of hunger

Other objectives of the Just Eating? curriculum include exploring faith
practices that encourage healthful eating and supporting each other in taking
personal and congregational action that reaches beyond the curriculum. 

	"The title of course has a double meaning," Kang Bartlett said. "We
can just eat as a mundane activity done without mindfulness, or we can eat
justly and explore the relationship between our food and justice. Eating can
be a vehicle for practicing our faith."

	Written by Jennifer Halteman Schrock, a freelance writer and active
lay member
of the Mennonite Church U.S.A., the curriculum takes participants on a
journey from the "table of the Lord to the table of the world that will
challenge, encourage and enrich all who participate," Kang Bartlett said.

	Advocate Health Care, a faith-based health system serving
metropolitan Chicago, and Church World Service, an international hunger and
development agency, worked with PHP on the project. 

	The development of the curriculum was funded by grants from the
Valparaiso Practice Grants Program, the Genesis Fund of the United Church of
Christ, the Presbytery of Chicago Hunger Mission Team, and the Presbyterian
Hunger Program.  

	PHP was established in 1969 as a vehicle for Presbyterians to be
engaged in the fight against hunger in the United States and around the
world.

	To order the new curriculum, call the Presbyterian Distribution
Service at (800) 524-2612 or visit www.pcusa.org/marketplace. It is also
available for download at no cost at
http://www.pcusa.org/hunger/food/justeating.htm.

	When ordering, use PDS# 74365-05-361 for participant guide. The price
is $4 (one to nine copies) or $3 (10 or more). The leader's guide,
PDS#74365-05-362, is priced at $5.50.

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