Last weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina to document a friend of mine who cooks for her church. I am doing a story on New Southern Church Cooking. While I was there I drove about 50 miles west of Raleigh to the small rural town of Cedar Grove to visit the Anathoth Community Garden. This is a gorgeous and idyllic little community garden project run by members of the Cedar Grove United Methodist Church. They had a nice greenhouse filled with Strawberries, Chard, Beans, and other crops. Most of their outdoor beds seemed to be dug in and well under way. There were four laying hens freely walking their enclosed area in search of grubs and insects, and a bee hive in the corner of the field that was already buzzing with active honey bees.
There is a very interesting essay on the Anathoth website that describes their philosophy towards sustainable agriculture as it relates to Christianity. I think this same idea could be embraced by all churches, regardless of denomination. The spiritual connection to gardening and eating is an ancient one that most modern churches have fallen a way from.
A Theology of Eating Anathoth web site
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