Faith in Food
Faith-based CSAs broaden concept of community supported agriculture

credit: Tacqwa Eco-Food

At the same time, the market for faith-based foods grows by 10 percent annually. With markets for both CSAs and faith-based foods expanding, several organizations created the ultimate faith-based foodie experience: faith-based CSAs.

Faith in Place, a Chicago-based nonprofit and participant in the Sacred Foods Project, started TAQWA Eco-Food in 2004 to address the rising demand for organic and halal food in the Muslim community.

“We thought about how we could have a conversation about how to care for the earth that is relevant to our community, and we thought about food,” says Reverend Claire Butterfield, the executive director for Faith in Place. “There was no source for organic meat that also met Islamic dietary requirements. We thought [a faith-based CSA] would be a way to start this conversation, just to ask, would it be helpful to have this option?”

From that conversation, TAQWA Eco-Food was born. The Muslim-oriented CSA is an ambitious project, aiming “to return worship back into the entire process of food production so as to ensure a lawful and wholesome product that will secure the blessings of God Most High in the lives and communities of people.”

In practice, TAQWA Eco-Food purchases meat and poultry from Illinois farms. All farmers raise the animals in a humane, ecologically sound manner and slaughter them according to Muslim principles.

“It’s the law in the Koran to eat what is lawful and wholesome,” says Shireen Pishdadi, the Founder of TAQWA Eco-Food. “We have to look beyond the food to see whether it was raised in a wholesome way—a way that is wholesome to farmers, the animals, the earth, and ourselves.”

credit: Tacqwa Eco-Food

Other faith traditions also embrace the CSA concept. Hazon, a New York City-based nonprofit focusing on faith-based outdoor and environmental education, launched Tuv Ha’Aretz, the nation’s first Jewish CSA, in 2004.

“The word ‘kosher’ literally means ‘fit.’ For 3,000 years, ‘kosher; has meant asking ‘Is it fit for me to eat this food?’” says Nigel Savage, the Executive Director of Hazon. “In 2006, that question is no longer limited to traditional Jewish categories like ‘Am I eating bacon, am I eating shrimp, am I eating foods that are biblically prohibited.’ For both Jewish and non-Jewish people, more people are asking ‘How is this food being grown, how are people being treated, what consequences does it have for the farmer, the topsoil, for the people who are eating it.'”

Tuv Ha’Aretz uses a traditional CSA structure with weekly deliveries of fresh veggies and a strong commitment to local agriculture. Hazon, in partnership with Manhattan’s Congregation Ansche Chesed and Garden of Eve Farm, piloted Tuv Ha’Aretz in 2004. Originally anticipating 40 members, the CSA ended up with 80, and the program continues to expand each year. In 2006, versions of Tuv Ha’Aretz will appear in Jewish communities in New Jersey, Washington D.C., Houston, Texas and Long Island.

“We feel really excited and believe this is growing because it’s hitting a chord,” says Savage.

The chord is that faith-based CSAs are fun. Both Faith in Place and Hazon emphasize the community-building aspects of their CSAs. Tuv Ha’Aretz provides a supportive Jewish community that explores the meaning of food and faith while expanding community. As one Tuv Ha’Aretz member says, "I think one of the things that has enhanced community is stopping by to pick up produce and running into people I know, and new people as well."

TAQWA Eco-Food facilitates cross-faith interaction and understanding: Amish farmers raise and slaughter the animals humanely in accordance with Muslim principles.

“I love the community that has been formed around [TAQWA Eco-Food],” says Butterfield. “You might think it’s impossible for a Muslim woman from Chicago to connect with an apostolic Christian farmer in west-central Illinois. In a national atmosphere that discourages these conversations, looking at people as brothers and sisters grows increasingly important. And positive things happen as a result. In our small way, we’ve been proving that. It’s the best part for me.”