Loaves and Fishes

In a sermon delivered in March, 2008 to the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, the Rev. Colin Bossen talks about the miracle of community transformation. He writes, in part:

The story [Loaves and Fishes] is usually interpreted to highlight Jesus's miracle making abilities. Read this way it is his special relationship with God that allows Jesus to turn the five loaves of bread and the two fish into enough food for everyone. When Jesus prayed God worked magic through him. A miracle occurred and a meal that was meant for a dozen was turned into so much food that even five thousand people could not eat it all.

Like all stories in the Christian New Testament there is more than one way to interpret the loaves and the fishes. Another way to read this story is to suggest that in it Jesus performs a far greater miracle than the transformation of five loaves and two fish into a repast sufficient for five thousand. Instead of working miraculous magic he taught everyone present to share.

Community Supported Agriculture

Find a community supported agriculture enterprise or participating independent farms near you that sell directly to consumers. The Local Harvest website, dedicated to sustainable food projects, has a CSA locator.

Learn more about the CSA movement from a book which gave it momentum, Sharing the Harvest, Revised and Expanded: A Citizen's Guide to Community Supported Agriculture by Elizabeth Henderson and Robyn Van En (White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1999).

Food Redistribution

Food for Life is a non-profit that supports projects to redistribute food. All of the projects it supports are vegan based.

The Society of St. Andrew is an ecumenical, non-profit, charitable organization working to prevent hunger through food rescue and distribution.