During my last trip to Europe I really started thinking about the food, exercise and time usage differences between Americans and Western Europeans (in general). I don’t claim to be a nutritionist, sociologist or expert in really any field, just a regular person with an interest in healthy lifestyles. Based on food, exercise and time, here is what I have observed…

Food

• Healthy Food versus Nutritious Food

I have noticed that in US grocery stores we have lots of food that says “low fat”, “low calorie”, “no sugar”, etc. and we buy it because we think that it’s healthy. What I have found is that when I look at the ingredients in these foods I often put them back on the shelf and grab the normal ones. What I noticed in Europe was that it is so much more common to grab the normal one. Not only that, in the dairy section, American cheese singles are nearly impossible to find, instead you’re surrounded by real cheeses – the kind that I always grew up thinking were fancy, buy my boyfriend eats them for breakfast. This made me think about my time in Sweden and all the Europeans in my International House.  What I remember is real food and real meals…

• Meals versus Microwaves

Sure I saw microwaves in Europe and absolutely people use them, but what I found fascinating was the level of food quality that my fellow twenty-somethings were preparing. I lived in a dorm with about five kitchens and 100 people. As you might imagine, meal times were crazy! As one of two Americans in the house, my fellow American friend and I expected macaroni and lots of pizza. We were so surprised when we saw the beautiful and wonderful smelling meals that came out of the oven and off of the stove at every meal. I had friends who grocery shopped every day so that they could have fresh vegetables. We Americans had to step up our cooking – we emailed our moms for our favorite recipes from home.

• What is Fast Food?

In Belgium I had this realization: it’s not that people don’t eat fast food, I saw a busy McDonald’s whenever I went into town, what is more common however, is a different type of fast food. Bread shops which whip up cheese and meat baguette sandwiches in a minute, fry shops (well, those can’t be good for you) and kebabs on every corner. What’s different? No drive-thru windows. Imagine if we walked to McDonald’s whenever we ate it? And even more, if we decided to go to the scrumptious bread shop instead.

Exercise

• What is different about our daily 30 minutes of exercise?

After living in the Los Angeles suburbs for four years and Chicago for a summer, I have gotten used to lots of gyms all around. I had this realization during my last trip abroad…where are all the gyms? I know that people go to them, I had friends in Sweden who went daily, but the air around the idea was different. Instead of going to the gym for your daily dose of exercise, the gym was the place you went for that bit of extra. Toning, lifting, etc. because your daily exercise was riding your bike to class or walking to a friend’s apartment, it was walking to the town centre or playing soccer at the park with your buddies. Exercise had a whole different mentality around it – it was simply part of everyday life. And the interesting thing was how much difference that daily portion did make.

Time

• Vacations and Work

While every country is different, there are a couple of things that I noticed abroad. Swedes take the end of the work day seriously. They work really hard during the day and then go home and tune into their families. Their work/family line is quite clear.  Also, even the hardest working Europeans take time to go on vacation, and this reminds me that God built vacation into the world, the Sabbath.

• That Little Unknown…Le Je Ne Sais Quoi

The other thing that I continually notice is that when I return to American soil I feel stress right away. (Not because I just came back from vacation – the majority of my time abroad has been study experiences or I have been working remotely.) The US is a fast-paced and intense culture, and that’s okay. I just remember to walk places when I can, eat real food, and give myself a Sabbath.

The point of this blog is not to make one way better than another, but simply to put out there some observations that I have made during my journeys. As a young woman I have realized that simple changes make big differences. Things like bicycling instead of driving, eating foods with real ingredients, and taking time for myself make me feel so different. Every time I am in a new culture I try to pick out things to learn (even within the US!) and these are my findings. I hope that you will find them interesting too, and that they will help you to think about experiences that you have had, and ways to make your life healthier, happier and more wholistic.

Cheers,

Lana

“You’re going to have to buy a car.”

That’s what everyone told me when they heard I was returning to the west coast. Sure, they said–it’s easy to live without a car in Chicago, surrounded by trains, buses, taxis, and car-sharing companies. But how can you do it out west?

To compensate for the embarrassing carbon footprint I stamped by moving 2300 miles in a low-mileage UHaul, I’ve gotten around Seattle and Portland, from Seattle to the town of Mt. Vernon 60 miles away, and from Mt. Vernon all the way to Sacramento on a combination of city and county buses, streetcars, light rail, and Amtrak. Figuring out routes and prices took a lot of research and asking questions, which, as a traveler, I was happy to do. But for people who drive every day, public transportation is like a second language. Convincing someone to learn it is work!

We’re glad to do it in Europe or New York City, consulting guidebooks and websites that translate the mysteries into vocabulary and gestures we comprehend. In our own hometowns, we’re more suspicious: Where do buses go? Who rides them? Are they safe? Don’t they take longer?

Tom Hampson of Church World Service answered these questions in Modesto, California. Twice a week, he gets to his office by bus, only five minutes later than he would in his car. The two buses I took between Seattle and Mt. Vernon were crowded with commuters who had done the legwork required to leave their cars at home. In Portland, the mayor wants 25 percent of commuters to use bicycles and buses; the one-two punch of Portland’s fine public transportation system and enlightened populace will help him succeed.

Learning the language and practice of public transportation could narrow the gap between the carbon dioxide humans emit every year (7 billion tons) and the CO2 that the earth’s natural processes can absorb (about 4 billion tons). Roughly 1.5 billion tons come from transportation; changes in our behavior can be significant.

In Everything Belongs, Father Richard Rohr says “We do not think ourselves into new ways of living; we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.” Take the bus, and see what happens!

Anne Basye

“Sustaining Simplicity: A Journal”

The staff at Crossways Camping Ministries in Wisconsin spent a lot of time this summer helping kids deepen their understanding of hunger and it’s causes. Below is a follow-up to their original post. It is written by Ben Koehler.

Every week we talked with campers about how to help solve hunger problems. In these discussions staff members were encouraged by how responsive the campers can be.  The catch is that most leave and quickly forget what they have discovered. We were awestruck in hearing about two campers who went home to their congregation and asked for the loose offering to go to the Crossways Mission Project, which in turn goes to Hunger Relief and Disaster Response in Zimbabwe. Of all of the voices calling their attention inside and outside of camp, the lessons of hunger stuck.

Some of our highlights this summer were…

Fresh Veggies from the Garden

Working in the Garden

Weighing Food Waste After Meals

 Teaming up on Hunger Issues

 And, of course, learning as much as we could.

Changes at Crossway’s Waypost on Mission Lake are making for a more environmentally friendly and sustainable camp community. To learn more, check out this video:

http://www.godsworkourhands.org/v/445,summer-of-hope-crossways-waypost-camp.html

Joyfully,

Ben Koehler

Last Tuesday’s Facebook TueSpot generated some great replies. What about? Songs that make a statement for CHANGE. As a blog reader, I’d like to share these clips of musical inspiration with you too! From 1980’s favorites that will never die to current European indie/pop stars and our favorite pew-side hymns, it seems that we can find a little inspiration wherever we look. As we head into the holiday season, a time where change is all around and love abounds, it seems that a bit of cheer is in order. Here’s a list of our ELCA World Hunger Facebook Cause members’ favorite notes that inspire change.

(listen @ www.YouTube.com)

1. On The Turning Away by Pink Floyd

2. Do They Know It’s Christmas by Band Aid

3. Praise and Thanksgiving by Albert F. Bayly (hymn #689 ELW or #409 LBW)

4. Yell Fire by Michael Franti

5. Have a Little Faith by Michael Franti

6. Womanizer Cover by Timid Tiger

7. …Add your favorite song that makes a statement for change in the comment section below!

Cheers,

Lana

p.s. Help us win $500 – $50,000 for hunger and poverty relief through America’s Giving Challenge by donating to ELCA World Hunger between now and November 6^th – donations only count toward the Challenge when processed at www.causes.com/elcaworldhunger.  Even more, donate this Friday, October 16^th and be a part of our 1-day Call to Action – ELCA World Hunger could win $1000 in one day! The Cause which receives the most individual donations wins – it’s about lots of people, not lots of money.

I recently discovered an intriguing BBC report on Iceland. The report is about how the financial crisis has affected the food that Icelanders eat, but instead of turning to cheap fast food or low-cost-low-quality grocery shelves, they have turned back in time. This story provides a fascinating look into our relationship with food.

As an island, food imports are quite expensive, so Iceland has turned to home-grown goods, much of which means dishes that adults remember from their grandparents, dishes from Iceland’s history. In the report they talk about how the nutrition of the food is high (and it sure sounds hearty), and how buying “Icelandic” has become trendy. The report also highlights some of the cons of what returning to tradition means as it addresses international whaling concerns, and finally highlights the harnessing of the island’s natural resources to grow fruits and vegetables in greenhouses.

Personally, as the great-granddaughter of Nordic immigrants, I began to think of the food that I ate growing up, including recipes passed down from generations. Meat and potatoes are still a staple at my parents house, and with farms a few miles down the road offering organic beef and local potatoes, the cost of transport and sale is much lower – making me think about how simple, hearty, traditional dishes can be both better for the environment and cheaper to consume at the same time. When I think about other recipes of tradition, particularly scrumptious baked goods, I also realize how simple their ingredients can be. Perhaps Iceland’s return to traditional foods could serve as a little wake up call for the rest of us.

What fruits, vegetables, meats or grains are local to you? What are traditional dishes in your part of the country? As we begin to come out of this financial crisis, let us not forget its lessons…even if we learn them from half a world away.

~Lana

Listen to the  BBC report here.

When I decided to sell my home last winter, my stuff stopped being the pleasant backdrop to daily life and started demanding my attention. Beloved possessions became objects to sort, discard, bequeath, measure, and pack. Adding up self-storage fees, UHaul truck rental, and 8 miles per gallon of gas for 2300 miles, it cost quite a lot to move the five pieces of furniture and 67 boxes that survived this process of discernment from a dark self-storage unit in Chicago to a dark farm shed in Washington State.

From my extreme downsizing, I’ve learned exactly how much I have, and what it costs me. It’s left me with a sense that most of us North Americans have too much, and spend too much energy acquiring, caring for, and storing those things.

The doilies and antimacassars that cluttered our grandmothers’ homes have given way to gadgets, home electronics, and more contemporary gewgaws we think we can’t live without. Our garages are so stuffed with furniture, toys, sports equipment, and yard tools that cars can’t live in them anymore. We hold yard sales, but they don’t make a dent in our belongings because we fill our spaces with new bargains.

We do need tools for living, like the butter churn in the South Dakota sod house I visited on my road trip, or the laptop I’m typing on. And we cherish heirlooms that embody our family stories. But are there other, more creative and beneficial ways we could spend our energy than buying, selling, and tending stuff?

As a culture, we could produce less. According to the American Society of Interior Designers, 90 percent of everything manufactured in the U.S. ends up in a landfill in a year. No wonder Jared Diamond says much of American consumption is wasteful and contributes little or nothing to the quality of life.

As citizens and Christians (not consumers!), we could purchase more selectively, and free up space in our homes for hospitality to others or rest for ourselves.

We could have less individually, and share more things in common—a skill learned by young participants in the Lutheran Volunteer Corps and similar service projects.

And we could invest more energy in partnering with people in places that don’t have enough, so that together we can create a world in which we don’t suffer from too much and others don’t suffer from too little.

I’m looking forward to spending my energy on something besides my stuff. With everything in the shed, it’s just me and my suitcase. What will I learn next?

Anne Basye

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (fao.org) is planning a few key events this fall:

• World Food Day: October 16
• The State of Food Insecurity in the World report (October)
• World Summit on Food Security: Rome, Nov. 16–18

We recognize World Food Day on October 16, an event “designed to increase awareness, understanding, and informed year-around action to alleviate hunger.” (worldfooddayusa.org).  This event is observed on this date in recognition of the founding of the FAO in 1945.  It is an opportunity to bring hunger to the forefront as we learn and educate others about hunger in the context of today’s world and economy.

Also this month the FAO is to publish an updated “The State of Food Insecurity in the World” report based on its June predictions that the number of people who are hungry in the world has risen by 105 million in 2009, bringing the total to 1.02 billion malnourished people in the world.

Finally, in Rome, Nov. 16–18, FAO will host the World Summit on Food Security to determine a strategy to address the increased state of global food insecurity.  FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf proposed the summit, noting “The silent hunger crisis—affecting one sixth of all of humanity—poses a serious risk for world peace and security.  We urgently need to forge a broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger in the world.”

-Aaron Cooper is Writer-Editor for ELCA World Hunger

As I sit next to a window in Gent, Belgium, looking outside at the swaying trees and bicycle-filled back patios, I am thinking about languages. Last night I went to a dinner party where I was the only native English speaker. The party, filled with lovely people who were very kind, still only seemed half accessible to me. This, however, got me thinking about universal languages.

In music classes growing up I learned Latin, Italian and French terms without thinking. “Forte” and “fermata” could just as easily have been English in my mind, but they aren’t. Music, however, is universal and what is beautiful about that is the idea that musicians from around the world can come and sit together in a symphony, and without any words at all, they can speak to the audience. Through tones, phrases and beats they can communicate incredible joy, deep sorrow and expressions of greatest hope. That is the power of a universal language, the language of music. Some other universal languages that occur to me include art and nature.

But then there is another, a language so powerful that it brings nations together and pulls at our heartstrings. It is a language so global that we cannot keep ourselves from its imminence. It is the grumble of a stomach – the language of hunger. We have all felt hunger, that pang in our middle when we forget to eat lunch amidst our busy schedule, or the urge in our insides to refill the calories that we burned at soccer practice. Some of us, however, feel this hunger every day, and some of us may not even know what it is like to feel full. I believe that it is this universal language of hunger that keeps us working for a new day – it keeps donors writing checks and you reading this blog. It keeps staff members tuned into their projects and partner organizations in communication. It reminds us in a very real and physical way what it means to support the ELCA World Hunger program, what it feels like to be hungry, and encourages us to begin spreading a new universal language – the full stomach.

Spread a new language today.
Donate. Educate. Advocate.

-Lana Lile

There are so many ways your home impacts your life – and your food security. Consider the following questions about your home:

Is your home structurally sound? What is it made of? How large is it? How many people live in that space? Where is it located? Do you have adequate garbage and sewage removal? How much power does it take for your home to operate? What impact does that energy use have on you personally (is it available to you? it is reliable? can you afford it?)? What impact does your home’s energy use have on the climate and the environment (where does your electricity come from? where does your natural gas come from? how does it get to you?). Where is your home in relation to important businesses and services like grocery stores, schools, health clinics, and potential employers? What does you home’s proximity to these businesses mean in relation to how you live and your hopes for the future? Is your community growing or shrinking? What impact does its changing size have? Is the municipality where you live planning appropriately for the change? Is there a municipality? How many of these things do you have to think about regularly?

As the world population increases and cities grow larger, urban planning becomes more and more important to ensuring people have adequate shelter and services, and that we don’t trash the environment in the process. To draw attention to these issues, the United Nations holds World Habitat Day on the first Monday of October each year. From their website:

The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

This year’s theme is “Planning Our Urban Future.” There are events scheduled around the world in observance of World Habitat Day; to see a list of them, visit www.unhabitat.org. Even if there’s nothing going on near you, you can help by talking about the issues of housing and urban planning with you friends and family. Many of us are privileged enough that we don’t have to think about these things as much as we should, so drawing attention is important. If you’d like to learn more, you can start with the video below from World Habitat Day’s Executive Director. There are also additional resources at the UN World Habitat Day web site. Everyone deserves a decent place to live; won’t you lend your voice in making it happen?

-Nancy Michaelis

Last Autumn I had the opportunity to study for a semester in Sweden. Looking to fill some requirements for my International Studies major back home I signed up for the course Global Health. At the time, it slipped my mind that Sweden is known for this kind of study and research. As I sat amongst students from Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia who were studying subjects which ranged from nursing to psychology, I realized that I was in for an eye-opening semester. As you read, please keep in mind that all of the facts are already a year old, but their significance is no less impactful. This blog is a very short snippet of all that I learned in that class; below are the concepts and figures that moved and surprised me the most.

Excerpts from my final paper:

• “I was also struck by a statement which one of the presenters recalled from one of the older Zambian women, ‘When the white men came we saw that we were poor.’ I believe that we have as much to learn from struggling peoples as they have to learn from us, they are rich in other aspects of life.”

• “I also found it fascinating when Mr. Almroth talked about how children need love, and when their parents die they are more likely to get sick as well. It’s amazing how something so simple can have such deep and compounding impact. It’s hard to realize how much that love is taken for granted in developed countries where health is expected and sickness can be treated.”

• “Additionally, the knowledge that female literacy is most directly connected to child mortality, and that fifty percent of all child deaths could be prevented through female literacy surprised me.”

• “Education empowers women, gives children more access to healthcare, encourages micro-loan systems, informs about water sanitation and improves infant survival through breast feeding.”

• “I was finally incredibly relieved to hear Mr. Almroth talk about the fear of over-population. I admit that I was one of those people who are often conflicted by compassion for people in need and scientific numbers of over-population. Hearing that increased child survival has always lead to less pregnancy was all I needed to hear for my fears to be quickly relieved and my compassion to take over!”

• “I was encouraged to think about AIDS as a result of poverty, not necessarily a lack of knowledge. This cuts at the basic human need to survive, and when people see no way to make money, they turn to dangerous practices to survive. When it is knowledge vs. necessity, necessity always wins.”

• “Standing at twice the African regional average, 150 out of 100,000 people in Zambia are infected with tuberculosis. Of those infected, over half are co-infected with HIV/AIDS. Zambia is currently working to improve lab facilities, increase community awareness, expand public-private partnerships (such as support groups who visit patients,) increase printed and circulated materials and conduct training of health workers.”

• “One very cool way of disease education that Zambia has implemented is grounded in schools. Each year on World AIDS Day and World Malaria Day formal debates are held between students in schools to increase awareness of the disease crises.”

• “Every year 7.5 million women and babies die unnecessarily due to pregnancy-related causes, NOT disease. This is 50% more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined! In poor nations around the world poverty causes death in heart-wrenching ways because the cure is both known and attainable. On one side of the problem lies a lack of funding for pregnancy care and neonatal mortality prevention and the shift of educated doctors from rural Africa to lucrative Europe. On the other side of the problem lies hope. The greatest resource that Africa needs to improve the maternal health situation is educated midwives. Additionally, the country of Mozambique is leading the way by training ‘non-physician clinicians’ to perform cesarean sections, obstetric hysterectomies, laparotomies and other life-saving emergency obstetric care. These clinicians also exist in rural Malawi and Tanzania, creating an incredible resource where doctoral care is limited or non-existent…Cures and preventative methods are known, available and common; proper funding, education and trained professionals are what the world is waiting for.”

Thanks to lecturers Almroth, Berggren, Halling and Bergström.