Well-meaning Gestures vs. Well-analyzed Actions
How much time would you spend to effectively help end world hunger and poverty? How much time do you think we as Christians are called by God to commit? How much educational time do you think it even takes before...
The Disappearance of Garbage
Never mind “City of the big shoulders.” Chicago is the City of the Big Garbage Cans. Behind my old four-occupant, two-unit apartment building stood four 96-gallon supercart containers: two black ones for garbage, and two blue ones for recycling. Together,...
Corn and Caring
How often do you think about where your food comes from? When you are sitting down for a meal, do you imagine the farms where your food grew and the farmers who planted and harvested what sits on your plate?...
Planet Earth — megastore or garden?
I have been thinking a lot about the food production and distribution systems in the United States, and was so happy to read Anne’s recent post on our national food culture here. It’s always comforting to know that others are...
Act to end HIV/AIDS this month
Are you old enough to remember when AIDS was “discovered?” How did it affect you at the time? What were you thinking about it in those early years when contracting HIV/AIDS was a guaranteed death sentence? Or are you young enough that AIDS has always...
Walking the Talk
Ever since my junior year in high school, I’ve always wanted to be a runner. Now over 30 years later and as the half-century birthday approaches, I still have not accomplished the goal. There is nothing better than fun runs and community...
New intern’s first thoughts
Hello! My name is Karen and I will be a 2011 summer intern for ELCA World Hunger. That statement is written with both feelings of excitement and anxiety. I hail from a small town in the coal-region of Pennsylvania called...
Home again, home again, to our national food culture
“Make half your plate fruits and vegetables,” says the USDA, which recently introduced “My Plate,” a new nutritional icon. Not a problem for garden-tenders with productive backyards and back fields, or people who live near farmer’s markets and produce stands. ...
Not just nets…
In the global movement to fight malaria, we often hear the phrase “nothing but nets.” It’s catchy and alliterative and makes the containment of malaria sound oh-so simple; really it’s everything a catchphrase ought to be. And mosquito nets, especially...
Animal-less meat?
Would you eat a hamburger that was never part of walking, breathing cow? Apparently we’re not too far from that as an option. Stem cell research is allowing scientists to take two cow stem cells, put them in a petri dish, and...