Responding with Faith to Fight Hunger and Help Farmers

On a rainy Friday in Charlotte, 100 people gathered at a local Baptist church to talk about food, faith and farming.

Some people discussed community gardens. Others learned about poverty. One session focused on industrial agriculture.

By the end of the day, participants had heard from authors, farmers, pastors and chefs.

The gathering was organized by Come to the Table, a project of the North Carolina Council of Churches that works to feed communities, support farmers and farmworkers, and foster a connection to the land. The Council of Churches has contracted with Rural Advancement Foundation International in Pittsboro, N.C., to run Come to the Table. A grant from The Duke Endowment to the North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church supports Come to the Table forums.

"The time is right for a lot of reasons," said Project Director Claire Hermann. "There's a growing interest in sustainable gardening and ‘eating local.' A lot more people need food assistance. And North Carolina is at a challenging point for agriculture. In the last three years, we've been losing farms faster than any other state."

At the Charlotte Come to the Table conference, participants heard from the Rev. Rob Brooks, pastor of a United Methodist Church in Ashe County, who told about a program that supports mini food pantries at rural parsonages. He and his wife, Andrea, say they see it as a way to offer "pockets of hope."

The Duke Endowment has supported the program as a way to help rural United Methodist churches reach out to their communities and provide volunteer opportunities to their congregations.

In 2009, Come to the Table conferences helped people across North Carolina learn more about important issues.

"Food connects us," Hermann says. "It's a very strong way to understand God's grace and our dependence on each other and our dependence on these gifts that we're given."