A Return to Hearty Heritage at a Time of Financial Crisis
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...
My final post about stuff (I hope)
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...
FAO to Address Global Food Insecurity
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,...
Universal Languages
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...
Where do you live? World Habitat Day 2009 is coming!
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...
Excerpts from my time in Sweden
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...
From Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministries
The following was written by Rev. Brad Meyer about the Carol Joy Holling Camp in Ashland, Nebraska. Food for the Hungry Garden We were blessed this summer to receive money from the ELCA Hunger Education and Advocacy Grant. With...
Let’s expand the infrastructure for sharing
Last week, inspired by my old sandals’ new soles, I looked at the importance of the second “R” in “reduce, reuse, recycle.” To reuse things, we need to know how to fix them and how to share them. But obstacles...
Thanks for the Summer!
My summer at the ELCA churchwide office has been a wonderful learning experience. The smiles and welcoming attitudes of staff made the office, and cube-life, a lot less intimidating. I really appreciated how I was engaged in the work of...
Does a sliding border matter?
A lot of what I hear about climate change involves catastrophic statements about what will happen. Sea levels will rise, plunging cities and coastlines under water. Desertification will increase, causing human migration and wars over water. Severity and frequency of storms will...