Food x Faith - Calvin College | Grand Rapids, Michigan Contents/2014... · Food x Faith Consumptive Choices Could Solve TWO ... (Jared Diamond, Collapse) ... More (Calorie Rich) Food

Food x FaithConsumptive Choices Could Solve TWO

Big Global Problems AND Save Money

AND Save Money?

• Ever see a coupon you didn’t like?

• Can you go out to eat without an

inducement?

Two Big Global Problems

1. Environmental degradation

2. Global food security

Food x Faith

• Premises

– Environmental impacts of food are huge

– Christians strive to live faithfully

– All Christians make food choices, which

confer environment & health implications

• Reformed perspective, “every square inch”

– [Genesis 1 & Revelation 21]

– Genesis 2:15 “to serve and protect”

– Genesis 3 “the fall”

Thesis Statement

Reformed Christians, in the practice of

our faith, should adopt a ‘whole food

plants-based diet’ to better serve,

protect and restore Nature at global

scale, including our own bodies as

temples, all the creatures now and

those to be.

Environmental

DegradationThe first ‘big’ problem.

Psalm 8:3 “When I consider your heavens, the work

of your fingers”

Psalm 19:1b “the skies proclaim his handiwork”

Deut. 10:14 “To the LORD your God belong the

heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and

everything in it.”

Creation Care

Problem - Creation Care …

• Doesn’t appear to “sell” well

• Strengths

– Plaster Creek stewards

– Sustainability buzz

• Weaknesses

– It’s all about jobs, economy

– ~half U.S. GCC skeptical

– Oblivion on ‘where food comes from’

– Faith community? ‘Celebrates Creation’

Grand River @ Grand Haven:

Sediment Load

Science, Sustainability, and the

Human Prospect (Raven, Science - 2001)

• 3M MT of pesticide active ingredients annually

• More nitrogen ‘fixed’ with fossil fuel than natural

• 66% of fisheries harvested faster than renewed

• 20% of topsoil, 1/3 forests lost in last 50 years

• Extinction rate 100 - 1000X geological baseline

• 1.2% of agricultural land base “developed” annually (like … ~35-40% of U.S. land base)

• 45% of net primary productivity used by humans

Ecological Report Card(Worldwatch Institute, 2001)

• Agroecosystems (17% of

terrestrial surface)

– Food production capacity is

GOOD

– All agroecosystem services

are currently FAIR-POOR

– Future … agroecosystem

goods and services to

decline …

• “Other” ecosystems

heavily impacted by food

production practice

Global Food SecurityThe second ‘big’ problem.

Gen. 1:22, 1:28 “multiply and fill the earth”

The World Food ProblemB.D. Singh (India, visiting Texas A&M; ASA, Nov 3 2013)

1. Growing population

2. Emerging climate change

3. Stagnant productivity gains for 20 years

4. Environmental pollution, low soil fertility

5. Increased pesticide and fertilizer use

6. Lack of new arable land

Thomas Malthus’ Two Postulata, 1798http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/malthus/malthus.0.html

• First, that food is necessary to the

existence of man.

• Secondly, that the passion between

the sexes is necessary and will

remain nearly in its present state.

• … Interpretation?

Powerful Predictions

(“Assuming …my postulata …, I say, that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistencefor man.) “

• Population, when unchecked, increases in a exponential ratio.

• Subsistence increases only in an arithmeticalratio.

(“A slight acquaintance with numbers will show the immensity of the first power in comparison of the second.”)

Growing Human Population

Yield Increases <1%/yr & Declining

When More People, Less

Grain/Person

Emerging Climate Change (NOAA)

For every 1C increase in air temperature, crop productivity declines 10%.

Metaphorical Easter Island? (Jared Diamond, Collapse)

• ‘Discovered’ 900 AD

• Isolated: 2300 mi from Chile

• Statues: ahu & moai imply advanced civilization

• Population crashed from 30K to 111

• Lost capacity for agriculture, fishing, forestry

• Causes of collapse: deforestation, overpopulation, erosion, out of touch elite

“Forget quaint notions of sustainability” “History

predicts we won’t survive” (Jared Diamond, ASA Meeting)

• Of the 12 problems that plagued past

civilizations, 10 are central to agronomy, top 5 -

– Deforestation

– Soil erosion

– Climate change

– Access to energy

– Human population

• Understanding the problem is one thing, how

we respond is quite another …

Two Proposed

Approaches2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the

land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a

sabbath to the LORD. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six

years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the

seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a

sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your

vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the

grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of

rest. (Lev. 25:2-5 … and Lev. 23:39, Lev. 26:34-35)

Intensify Industrial Agriculture

• Sustainable agriculture integrates three

main goals: environmental stewardship, farm

profitability, and prosperous farming

communities. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_agriculture)

• Essentially, SA is the industrialized approach

with attempts to reduce systemic problems of

monocultures:

– Reduce pesticide use

– Reduce soil erosion

– Increase soil organic matter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_environment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewardship

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_(accounting)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farming

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_agriculture

Use Fertilizer More Efficiently

• Quantity

• Timing

• Placement

(NUE ~40%)

Protect Soils with No-Till

• Yield

implications

• Weed control

implies

pesticide use

• GMO –

Roundup

Ready

technology

• Agroecology: Defined as the application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems (Gleissman, 1998)

• Used imprecisely as a

– Collection of practices: polyculture, organic

– Theoretical movement toward an alternative food system

• Emergent qualities of ecosystems: energy flow, nutrient cycling, population regulation/biodiversity

Build a New Food System Model

Nutrition TransitionDo you not know that your bodies are temples

of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you

have received from God? You are not your

own; you were bought at a price. Therefore

honor God with your bodies. (I Cor. 6:19-20)

Global Nutrition Transition: As people get wealthier they eat more …

U.S. Consumption Choices (Δ 1970 => 2000)

• Calorie intake +24.5%

– Refined grains +9.5 pct pts (45%

increase)

– Fats and oils +9.0 (66% increase)

– Sugars +4.7

– Fruits and veggies +1

– Dairy and eggs -1.5

• +57 lb meat, -33% eggs

• Eating out – 32% of food consumed

• From 46% overweight in 1980 to

62% in 2000

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults

BRFSS, 1985(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person)

No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%

(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person)

No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%


BRFSS, 2002



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%



No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%

More (Calorie Rich) Food

[not the same as nutrient rich!]

M. Nestle, “Eating

Made Simple” (Sci Am)

Healthcare Efficacy“2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a

mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the

man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” (Matt 9:2)

“Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also

drove out many demons” (Mark 1:34)

World-class, Expensive …

• Miss directed? Should we treat …

– Symptoms

– Causes

• Two types of disease (just like acute and chronic hunger)

– Infectious – virus, bacterial, protozoan

– Chronic• CHD

• Hypertension

• Many cancers (colon, breast, prostate, …)

• Diabetes II

Epidemiological Transition is a CONSEQUENCE

of Nutrition Transition (Infectious to Chronic)

Developed Country

• Infectious disease deaths are negligible

• Predominant diseases– Coronary heart

disease

– High blood pressure

– Diabetes II

– Cancer

Developing Country

• ~50% deaths due to infectious disease

• Predominant diseases– Respiratory/parasites

(16M)

– Tuberculosis (3M)

– Malaria (2M)

– STD’s (AIDS, 1.5M)

– Hepatitis B (1M)

– Dengue, Ebola (0.5)

Disease Incidence

Cause Developed Developing

1990 2020 1990 2020

Infectious 7.8 4.3 48.7 22.2

Cardiovascular

disease

20.4 22 8.3 13.8

Coronary heart

disease

9.9 11.2 2.5 5.2

Stroke 5.9 6.2 2.4 4.2

Diabetes 1.9 1.5 0.7 0.7

Cancer 13.7 16.8 4 9

Neuropsychiatric

disorders

22 21.8 9 13.7

Injuries 14.5 13 15.2 21.1http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Health Spend History: % GDP

NY Times,

Economix, 2009

Executive Office of the PresidentCouncil of Economic Advisers, June 2009

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/CEA_Health_Care_Report.pdf

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/CEA_Health_Care_Report.pdf

U.S. Healthcare Spend:2013 Per Capita and GDP %

U.S. Healthcare Cost-Benefit

http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/spend.php

What could (should?)

a sustainable food

system look like?14 if my people, who are called by my name, will

humble themselves and pray and seek my

face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will

hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and

will heal their land. (II Chron. 7:14)

“Let food be thy

medicine”Hippocrates

Few Nurses Lived “Healthy” (3.1%)

Healthy Living Reduced Coronary Events 82%

Animal Fat Consumption is Correlated

with Breast and Prostate Cancer

Carroll, K. K. (1975) Experimental evidence

of dietary factors and hormone-dependent

cancers. Cancer Res 35:3374-3383.

The China Study“Western” v. Traditional Chinese Diet

Study Metrics

• >50 diseases

• 65 counties

• 130 villages

• 50 adults per village

• Blood, urine, food, histories

• 1983-1984

• 367 correlations

Campbell et al., 1998 “Diet, Lifestyle, and the Etiology of Coronary Artery

Disease: The Cornell China Study” (Am. J. Cardiology)

Diet Alone Can Reverse CHD

• 18 individuals, 49 infarctions

• Aggressive plant-based diet

• 12 year duration

• Reduced cholesterol

• No recurrent coronary events, 75% with regression

• Angiogram: 44 yr. old cardiologist

– 32 mos.

– No cholesterol drugs

– From 156 (97 LDL) mg/dL cholesterol to 89 mg/dL (38 LDL)

(Esselstyn. 2001. “Resolving the Coronary Artery disease Epidemic Through Plant-Based Nutrition” Preventive Cardiology 171-177)

Diet + Statins

“Nutritional, population, and interventional studies support the effectiveness of a plant-based diet and aggressive lipid-lowering to arrest, prevent, and selectively reverse heart disease.”

Challenge the

MessengersInfluencer motives: Food processors, Dairy/grain

producers associations, Pharmaceutical companies

II Timothy 4:3

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound

doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather

around them a great number of teachers to say what

their itching ears want to hear.”

Marketing Ethics v. Buyer BewareAre ED drugs (e.g., Viagra) ethical?

http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf

1. “Forks over Knives” – “whole foods

plant-based diet”

2. “King Corn” – farm subsidies,

processed food and “cheap” meat

3. Michael Pollan

– Eat Food

– Mostly Plants

– Not Too Much

Other Messengers

Better (Best) Messenger?

• The church on Nature (Creation)

• Biblical truths speak to glory of Nature, its

brokenness, our responsibility, and what will be!

– Genesis

– Leviticus

– Job

– Psalms

– I Corinthians

– II Timothy

– Revelation

Food x Faith: Consumptive Choices Could Solve

TWO Big Global Problems AND Save Money

• If

– We ate a WFPBD with less processed foods and meat

– We reward efficiencies other than calories/hour of labor

• Then

– We can reduce grains used for meat production

– We can reduce monocultures in favor of polycultures

• And

– Our health will improve, reducing healthcare cost

– Yields will increase, providing theoretical food security

for a growing global population and 40% of current

agricultural land for restoration

If Less Meat, Improved Global

Food Security• J.D. Singh (India) – global food requirement! (from a

vegetarian Hindu)– Individual diet: 2600 cal/day/person ~ 1000

kg/year/person• Cereals: 2400 cal/day/person

• Pulses and oilseeds: 200 cal/day/person

– Global today: 7.2 B MT/year

– Global 2050: 9.5 B MT/year, 26% increase, or 0.7% increase in productivity per year

• Each step up in trophic level results in food energy inefficiency (assuming CAFO efficiency)– 1 calorie of beef => 8 calories feed (corn, soy)

– 1 calorie of pork => 4 calories

– 1 calorie of poultry/fish => 2 calories

If Polycultures, More Quality Calories/m2 &

Improved Environmental Health

• Food production capacity (U.S.) could ~2X

– Tilman et al., +238% (16 spp. grass, legumes,

forbs)

– Shaeffer et al., +28% (8 spp.)

– Picasso et al., +73% (2-6 spp.)

• Reduce many environmental problems by

improving efficiencies: N, fossil fuel, …

• Problem …. Labor!!! (anyone need a job?)

If Less Meat and Processed Food,

Improved Env. & Human Health

• Food, Livestock Production, Energy,

Climate Change and Health (Lancet 370:1253-

1263, 2007)

– Food production - 35% GHG emissions

– Meat production, esp. beef, >50% of food

emissions

– Recommend “contraction and convergence

policy” for meat consumption … 90 g/p/day

• Save $

And Save Money

• $2.8T spent in U.S. during 2012 on

healthcare (https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-

Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-

Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/downloads/highlights.pdf )

• 75% of healthcare costs due to chronic

disease (http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/chronic.htm )

• Or, up to $2.1T is at play … annually! …

delayed return, … but seriously?

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/downloads/highlights.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/chronic.htm

Conclusion

Reformed Christians should be self

motivated to live within God’s will by

adopting a WFPBD plants-based diet to

treat our body as the Spirit’s temple,

thereby enhancing future global food

security, improving environmental

health, and modeling a more

appropriate life style with the global

community. (and save $)

Food x Faith - Calvin College | Grand Rapids, Michigan Contents/2014... · Food x Faith Consumptive Choices Could Solve TWO ... (Jared Diamond, Collapse) ... More (Calorie Rich) Food

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