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Touching the Earth - Faithful Food Practices in action!

Brian Frick

I was so excited to read the following email from Lorelei Oelschlager, at Johnsonburg Presbyterian Center in New Jersey!  What a great example of following God's call to care for the earth and to not just preach it, but to preach it by getting our hands dirty alongside children.  They inherit the earth, what a great way to pass on the skills and knowledge to know how to care for in better than we may have!

Lorelei writes:

In 2005 the focus of our curriculum was on faith practices and food.  Our themes had to do with welcoming and food, creation and food, prayer and food, justice and food, body caring and food, and communion and food.  During director training, we took our director team to our local community supported garden to learn a little bit about organic gardening and CSAs in general.  Here at camp, we had a local volunteer with lots of gardening experience who was interested in helping us get our own garden going.  The two of us spent some time planning, but she did the physical work with some preseason volunteers.  We started with 12 squares, about 4 feet by 4 feet each, in an enclosed area.  One of the crops that Ellen planted was radishes, planted weekly preseason so that once our campers came, they could harvest those that were ready and then plant more for campers who were coming later in the summer.  During the summer Ellen would schedule one full day a week at camp to give our units garden tours.  We had wooden boards between the squares so that the kids could walk around the garden as Ellen showed them the various vegetables, herbs, and flowers that were growing there.  She spoke with them about what organic gardening was, why we planted certain plants together, what methods we used rather than employing pesticides, etc.  They also had a chance to taste the herbs and any vegetables that were ready that week.  Each tour took about 1/2 hour.  In addition to providing the campers with a taste of what was growing, our crops were also used on the salad bar at times, and in creating vegetarian options in the kitchen.  Kids were always anxious to know if what they were eating came from our garden.

What was started that summer has continued with crops changing year to year, depending upon our focus.  One year Ellen planted wheat and oats to show kids some of the staples that we eat in our diets that don't typically grow in our backyard gardens.  This past summer, given the current economic situation, she focused more on a production garden to show our campers how gardening could provide fresh vegetables to help us to eat local food at a lesser cost.

We have also collected leftover food in the dining hall for composting.  We do a small amount of composting here, but have to be careful because of our bear population.  Most often our leftover food has been taken weekly to our local CSA for them to compost there.  It's a way we can help each other.

On Friday mornings during the summer season, we have "A Taste of the Garden" for about an hour or so before our noon meal.  I spend about two hours that morning preparing dishes using local fruits and vegetables---from our camp garden and the camp site in general (berries, etc.), from our family's share at our CSA, and from our local farm stand.  I love to cook so it's a joy for me to have this time each week.  Usually we have about three or four things to taste each week.  Our camper units are invited to stop by the front porch of the dining hall to sample just a taste of that day's recipes.  We talk about the ingredients of each recipe, where the food came from, and the benefits of eating local, seasonal food.  When we first started TOG, we had so many requests for recipes, that we now type them up and send them home with our campers on Saturday morning.  Our staff also take home seven weeks worth of recipes at the end of the summer.  The recipes change summer to summer, although I have repeated some favorites, like zucchini brownies!

We've also done some education during family camp.  The kids have one thing to try each day at the end of their Bible study time, and the adults have had some discussions around food.  We've also made a trip to our local CSA for a tour with one of the gardeners.  One of our families has since joined the CSA near camp even though they live an hour away. 

I think one of the things that has been very exciting for me personally is the positive response that we've had to all of this: 

• The kids love the opportunity to learn more about growing (and tasting) food.  Some have started gardens at home for the first time.
• Ellen has made our garden a beautiful place to visit so even our off-season guests will stop by to see it. 
• Taste of the Garden has become one of the things we get asked about when kids return to camp each summer. 
• Many of our staff have taken steps in their own lives to seek out and prepare healthy food.  We have a number of staff who have been married within the last few years, and several have either joined CSAs in their own communities or use local farmers' markets to purchase their produce.

As you can tell, this has been an exciting venture for us, and I'd be happy to share our experience and hear what others have done.

Peace,

Lorelei

Lorelei Oelschlager

Summer Camp Chaplain

Johnsonburg Presbyterian Center

Johnsonburg, NJ  07846

Right on Lorelei!

• Posted at 3:28 p.m.
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