On Agriculture and Faith

The first installment of the series "Food Through the Eyes of Faith” is an interview with three faculty members in the agriculture department at Dordt University. Sarah Moss facilitated a discussion with John Olthoff, Jeremy Hummel, and Meghan Jones surrounding food and the Reformed faith from an agricultural perspective. This discussion has been edited for length and clarity.

Sarah Moss: As Christians, we often talk about the creational mandate to be fruitful and subdue the earth. What are some important aspects that you think Christians today should consider when it comes to agriculture and food?

John Olthoff: Agriculture, by definition, is a cultural activity and responsibility. This includes the production of food which we are called to do as part of the creation mandate. In the garden, Adam and Eve simply went around and gathered food, but they were still supposed to care for the garden. It was work, but in a different sense than after the fall, when gathering food became more difficult and burdensome.

Throughout the Old Testament, God says, “I'm going to bless you, if you put your faith in me, and I'm going to bless you with abundance, but I want to see how you use that abundance to show that you depend on me. So, you need to share. You have to supply for people who have needs.”

It's our Christian responsibility to provide for the needs of the world—locally and beyond. We need to be concerned about places of malnutrition, undernourishment, and more. I think as Christians, that should be seen as one of our major focuses: how are we providing for the physical needs of the rest of God's people?

Meghan Jones: I think the Bible lays it out beautifully in the creation mandate and how we are supposed to approach agriculture. We're not only supposed to be thinking about economic profitability and running a business for our families to provide for them. We're also providing for, like John said, the whole world, whether it's malnutrition in developing countries or our everyday neighbors around us.

In addition to that, we're not just thinking about the here and now; we're also thinking about the future. How are we going to sustain all these different practices and our land that God has given us for the future generations so that we can keep this going and we can keep providing for people like God has called us to do?

Jeremy Hummel: Yes, God created an incredibly intricate, complex system, which is described in Genesis 1. He gets to the end of creating all the parts of it, and He finally says it's very good. And agriculture works in this complex system: we're providing food for everyone, and we're doing it in a way to preserve resources. But hopefully, we're also recognizing that there are all kinds of other creatures that depend on that creation for their sustenance. So, agriculture is a complicated discipline because we have to be thinking beyond ourselves.

Sarah Moss: Thinking about how the work of agriculture is to feed the world, can you share your thoughts on the sentiment as ag experts and as Christians? What does it look like to feed the world Christianly?

Jeremy Hummel: In my agroecology course, I challenge students with that concept. Early on, we define what sustainable agriculture is: providing food (and maybe other products too) for everyone. Then we consider who “everyone” is and if our agriculture is, in fact, feeding the world. How is that sort of equitability or justice in food lived out in what we do and in the decisions we make? Those are important questions. I don't think it's our role as professors to tell the students what the answer is, as much as to challenge them to think well about these types of questions.

Meghan Jones: Agriculture is so complex. There are so many different ways for our students to be involved in agriculture and still be impacting the world. Even the ag banker, for example, who sits in an office all day, is helping fulfill that creation mandate, just as much as the guy who's planting thousands of acres of corn and soybeans. Everyone has a role in it, and I think that is what is so beautiful about agriculture. You can be impacting the world around you and just living out this call that God has given us, no matter what you're doing in this industry.

John Olthoff: As Jeremy said, it's our role to challenge students to think well, not give them the answers. But, really, we don't have all the answers. There is no single Christian way to do agriculture, but we give them options to consider. Can we take principles of how things work and put them into practice? We also must consider how practices look different in different parts of the world. Do we provide food when food is necessary in disasters? Yes, that's part of our responsibility. But more importantly, can we help others learn to sustain themselves? Self-sustaining is much more important, much more valuable.

Jeremy Hummel: There’s a role to consider regarding agricultural policy from a Christian perspective. What we do in the Midwest and across the U.S. affects how people in other regions can operate, even in terms of our domestic policy. Our agricultural decisions influence markets and determine what crops people can or choose to grow, whether that’s food for themselves or cash crops for a wealthy North American culture at the expense of growing food for themselves.

John Olthoff: We’re part of a global system, and this goes beyond agriculture. In my Food Science course, while we may not delve into production, we talk about the consumer side. Your choices as a consumer—what food you select—affect where it comes from. If I want fresh produce in January or February, it’s not locally sourced; it comes from elsewhere. This raises questions about whether my choices support local farmers globally or undermine their ability to grow food for themselves. Again, there is no single Christian diet that is appropriate for all people. But, we need to consider that our choice of food, how and what we eat, impacts the rest of the creation.

Sarah Moss: John, I’m wondering if you could share a bit about how your Food Science course provides students with an opportunity to better understand where their food comes from.

John Olthoff: During one of our labs, my students must make pizza: they make their own crust, their own sauce, their own sausage, and their own cheese. Then they put all the ingredients together into a pizza. What I hope they learn from this activity is that there’s more to our food production than simply calling in a pizza order and, 15 minutes later, a pizza is delivered at your door. It's not that simple. It's quite actually a lengthy process from, and that's not the whole growing process that gets to the product. That's just the assembly process.

Sarah Moss: When it comes to faith, food and farming, what are some topics or ideas that you think about most, or what captures your imagination?

Jeremy Hummel: I think of a term that was brought up at our Agriculture Advisory Committee meeting, and that term was “conservation ethic.” Whether you call it conservation ethic or stewardship, it’s this idea that when we're producing food and stewarding and caring for the creation, we need to make sure that creation keeps being productive and keeps doing all the things that creation was meant to do. I think whether it's on the producer’s side or the consumer’s side, making purchasing decisions based on a fuller understanding of food and the implications of our food-related choices is important.

John Olthoff: At Dordt University, we talk frequently about worldview. How you engage with food systems is one of the ways we put faith into practice. For example, rather than putting rigid laws on diet, and even agriculture, food is an expression of our Christian faith. What you eat and how you eat is a manifestation of your relationship to God and what you believe.

Sarah Moss: How do you think having a better understanding of where food comes from and how it grows enriches our relationship with food, neighbors, and God?

Jeremy Hummel: Food is beyond just the physical nourishment for the body. It’s a provision from God for us to live and to be able to be in community. I think understanding food better helps us to better understand God's provision in our lives. It's not simply a product I bought from the grocery store; it's something that was nurtured by someone else and then shaped and formed by someone else. Before it got to me, there was this whole system behind it. There's just something richer about understanding that. And then, understanding my food translates into a better understanding of God and the complex ways in which He provides for us, that He formed so well.

John Olthoff: Yes, it’s the whole system, certainly the provisions that God gives us. For example, we're coming up to the Thanksgiving holiday. Should we feel guilty about eating a big meal on Thanksgiving? I don’t think so. In the Old Testament, God expected the Israelites to have festival celebrations with feasting because He blessed them. He says, “Enjoy it. First, though, give me my portion. Then take care of the people who need it, and then you can enjoy it.”

And that's for us, too. If we have an abundance, we can be thankful and have a Thanksgiving. But what about those in our own town that don't have an abundance? I remind my students that they have more than the vast majority of people in the world; they can still contribute. That’s one of the ways we can exhibit our faith, by caring for others.

I also want students to recognize that people eat differently around the world. If you go into their culture, don't expect them to serve you North American food; instead, enjoy what they give you because it's their way. Food has always been a way to show hospitality to the visitor. That's how we show our care and our concern for the stranger, for the people in need.

Meghan Jones: I think agriculture is involved in so many different aspects of our lives that people may not even realize. If we can have as many people as possible have a base level understanding of agriculture, I think that will help us to love our neighbor better. There’s often a gap between the consumer and the producer, but if we can close that gap a little bit, it's going to be so much easier for everyone to accomplish what God has called them to do.