Tag: Sustainability

The fresh fruits or vegetables you harvest at a gleaning, will reach the tables of hungry families in your community within 24-48 hours. Your efforts matter and share great nutrition AND hope for a better tomorrow.
Dear Southwest Ohio Faith Leaders,

My organization is a gleaning organization. We have been working with Miami University’s Institute for Food farm since fall of 2019, gleaning on a weekly basis throughout the harvest season. They have been a wonderful and generous partner, and the vast majority of their donations have remained within Butler County, distributed by TOPSS Pantry, Army of Kindness, and JEE Foods. TOPSS and Army of Kindness are this year’s recipients.It is a rare opportunity to be invited to a farm on a weekly basis, as the MUIFF has done. (Most of our gleanings are one-off events that arise when growers find they have a surplus that needs to be harvested before they plow it under.) Lately, we are having a particular challenge finding enough volunteers to show up, each week, as many of our past regulars are otherwise engaged, this season, and most students are away for the summer. I am reaching out to request your help in spreading the word about this wonderful weekly volunteer opportunity right in Oxford. I’m attaching a flier for posting or sharing electronically. Folks can also register as a volunteer at https://endhunger.org/ohio/, then find the event dates they want to sign up for. (Please note that we ask folks to sign up via our volunteer platform. It’s important that no one just shows up unannounced at an event, in consideration of the farm and the growers. We send specific instructions for where and when to meet, and any other requirements, the evening prior to each gleaning.)We are looking to fill up to 10 volunteer spots in a 3-hour shift on Wednesday mornings, 9-12. We are currently scheduled into November. The food we glean is some of the freshest available, and gets distributed to individuals to rarely otherwise have access to it. Our volunteers love the work and their time on the farm. I am more than happy to field any questions you have about this, via email or phone (see below).
Thank you for your time!
Sue Plummer | Ohio Program Coordinator
2366 Kemper Lane • Cincinnati, OH 45206513-458-9808 | ENDhunger.org Facebook | Instagram

Discussion facilitated by Janelle Allen

Live on Zoom: Register Here

In Rooted, cutting-edge science supports a truth that poets, artists, mystics, and earth-based cultures across the world have proclaimed over millennia: life on this planet is radically interconnected. Our bodies, thoughts, minds, and spirits are affected by the whole of nature, and they affect this whole in return. In this time of crisis, how can we best live upon our imperiled, beloved earth?

Award-winning writer Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s highly personal new book is a brilliant invitation to live with the earth in both simple and profound ways—from walking barefoot in the woods and reimagining our relationship with animals and trees, to examining the very language we use to describe and think about nature. She invokes rootedness as a way of being in concert with the wilderness—and wildness—that sustains humans and all of life.

In the tradition of Rachel Carson, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Mary Oliver, Haupt writes with urgency and grace, reminding us that at the crossroads of science, nature, and spirit we find true hope. Each chapter provides tools for bringing our unique gifts to the fore and transforming our sense of belonging within the magic and wonder of the natural world.

Register to join the conversation!

Discussion facilitated by Janelle Allen

Live on Zoom: Register Here

Book:
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert).

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth and learn to give our own gifts in return.

This beautifully written and inspiring book is back by popular request. Make new friends as you join us in meaningful discussion.

Live on Zoom: Register Here

Our beautiful Ohio River was declared the 2nd most endangered river by American Rivers in April due to threats from industrialization and pollution. In U.S. law, nature is considered property to be used as humans decide. Many indigenous people, scientists, and a growing number of ecologically-concerned people believe that the natural (other than human) world has a voice that we must listen to and respect, not only for the health of the natural world but our own health.

One way to offer the natural world protection is to encode this into our legal system. As part of a growing international movement, Citizens for Rights of the Ohio River Watershed (CROW) has started a petition to recognize that the Ohio River and its watershed have a right to thrive and flourish. Come join the presentation and discussion – Is water acred? Why are watersheds important? How did this international movement start? What difference would a rights-based law make? What do faith-based communities have to say about this issue of nature’s rights and protecting our Ohio River watershed? For more information on CROW, go to crowohio.org

Presenters:

Deborah Jordan is the clerk of Community Friends Meeting (Quaker) a founding member of CROW, and a mediator. She has a long history of a concern for natural, biodiverse yards. She is also the producer of the Central Ohio River Valley (CORV) Local Food Guide.

Bill Cahalan is a psychologist who brings the Human-Earth relationship into his work with clients. A founding member of CROW, he teaches a contemplative practice of communion with life. Bill and Deborah engage in regenerative land care on the 9/10ths of an acre in the Bold Face Creek Watershed they call home.

Hosted by Faith Communities Go Green, Advocacy Working Group.

Register to join the conversation!

Bring your lunch – we’ll have drinks and a seasonal treat for dessert!

The Brueggeman Center for Dialogue and the Ethics/Religion & Society Program invite you to attend Xavier University’s Inaugural Laudato Sí Lecture by Dr. Nancy Tuchman, Founding Dean of the School of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University in Chicago:  April 26, 2023 at 7 pm in the Conaton Board Room in Schmidt Hall on the campus of Xavier University. Laudato Sí refers to Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical and his subsequent call (the Laudato Sí Action Plan) for people of good will to create and implement plans that will promote care for the Earth, our common home.

Dr. Tuchman chairs the International Association of Jesuit Universities’ (IAJU) Task Force on Environmental & Economic Justice and she co-edits the Jesuits’ free online environmental science textbook Healing Earth, which received the inaugural Expanded Reason Award from Pope Francis and the Vatican in 2017.

Dr. Tuchman will speak on “The Role of Jesuit Universities in Advancing Laudato Sí.”

The FCGG Education/Lifestyles Working Group
Presents
The April 2023 EcoChallenge

Join our team, FCGG for Earth Month 2023, and compete with teams from around the world in this fun, free, educational, and interactive game.

April 1st through April 30th, 2023

You choose your level of involvement from simple one-time actions to daily activities. Each action earns points for our team. You can “chat” with teammates and give high-fives for great ideas. Invite friends, family, and members of your faith community to join our FCGG team.

The April Ecochallenge is designed to introduce you to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Ecochallenge transformed the 17 SDGs into 5 categories of daily and one-time actions that everyone can make. With easy-to-understand instructions and information on the Ecochallenge website, you will learn about the local and global benefits of each action. Our team captain, Becca Desai, at bfdesai@aol.com/ is here to assist you if you have questions.

Discussion facilitated by Deborah Jordan

Thursday, March 30th
7:30pm to 8:30pm

Live on Zoom: Register Here

Book:
Food from the Radical Center:
Healing Our Land and Communities
by Gary Nabhan

“In Food from the Radical Center (2018), Gary Nabhan tells the stories of diverse communities who are getting their hands dirty and bringing back North America’s unique fare: bison, sturgeon, camas lilies, ancient grains, turkeys, and more. These efforts have united people from the left and right, rural and urban, faith-based and science-based, in game-changing collaborations. Their successes are extraordinary by any measure, whether economic, ecological, or social.” quoted from Amazon.com.

Nabhan is an Agricultural Ecologist, Ethnobotanist, Ecumenical Franciscan Brother, and author whose work has focused primarily on the interaction of biodiversity and cultural diversity of the arid binational Southwest. A first generation Lebanese-American raised in Gary, IN., he is considered a pioneer in the local food movement.

There is a Cincinnati Public Library copy. It can be ordered from Island Press, the leading publisher on environmental issues in the U.S., for $30. There are copies available on Better World Books (a B corp) and Abe Books (a subsidiary of Amazon) for about $10.

Two new federal laws, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (a.k.a. the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), offer funding opportunities for energy projects at nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship! Funds can cover projects ranging from small retrofits (e.g., replacing lighting systems, adding insulation) to large upgrades (e.g., replacing HVAC systems, adding solar panels).

The new Energy Efficiency Pilot Program was created to set aside $50 million in grant money exclusively for nonprofits. Applications for these grants will demonstrate to Congress the need for more exclusive energy efficient funds for nonprofit organizations and will create more jobs in small towns and low-income communities. This is a win-win for everyone.

FCGG is honored to have speaker Dan Bresette, president of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI). Created by Congress and based in Washington D.C., EESI is as an independent, bi-partisan, 501 non-profit organization that seeks to be a catalyst moving society away from environmentally damaging fossil fuels and toward a clean energy future.

Learn what opportunities are available for you to help your religious facility fund efficiency upgrades this year!

March 14th, 2023
7:00-8:00 pm
Via Zoom

The Archdiocesan Care for Creation Task Force is eager to welcome people to learn about this powerful initiative from the Vatican to unite Catholics around the globe as we seek to love and care for all of God’s creation. Our Archdiocese has joined, and we’re looking to engage individuals and families, families of parishes, schools, and all others in this work.

We’ve got multiple virtual introductory sessions coming up, and we’d love for you to join us (and bring a friend!) for an hour to learn about the LSAP and how you can get involved.

Tues. 2/7 at 12:30pm https://catholiccincinnati.zoom.us/j/86503581210

Tues. 2/7 at 6:30pm https://catholiccincinnati.zoom.us/j/81726969116

Registration is not required, but we would love to know if you plan to attend. RSVP with Tammie Mers, in the Catholic Social Action office. Please contact Liliana Sierra, with any questions. All are welcome!

Faith Communities Go Green invites you to join them for a free, virtual workshop to address the climate crisis through the moral teachings of faith traditions.

This workshop will cover empowering faith leaders to advocate for protecting the environment; inspiring faith-based organizations to support implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals; and enabling leaders to communicate with decision-makers and the public.

Sessions are available from 1:00-2:00 pm or 7:00-8:00 pm on Thursday, February 16. Register for the event here.