Food and Hunger

We should be eating much better with more zest and fellowship and health for ourselves, justice for the poor who endure hunger and food insecurity, humility before the creation, and gratitude to God. And that's advice from the Bread of Life.

From the Passover feast to the Lord's Supper and banquets in the early church, God's people have been molded by common meals. In Scripture we discover how table fellowship can shape our communities of faith.

Do Christian weight-loss programs uncritically embrace cultural ideals of slimness and distort the devotional significance of the body? While many Christians struggle to be fashionably slim, the poor are emaciated by hunger in developing countries or endure food insecurity in industrialized societies.

When it comes to conquering hunger, "we have what we need to make our way a world blessed with abundant fertility," Norman Wirzba observes. "What we still await is a culture devoted to the just production and sharing of this blessing."

The study guides and lesson plans integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to help us explore Christian attitudes about food and responses to world hunger. The guides can be used in a series or individually. You may download and reproduce them for personal or group use.

Download the entire Food and Hunger issue and the set of six Study Guides. Or, download individual pieces by clicking the titles below.

Articles

• "Table Fellowship of God's People," by Todd D. Still
• "Hungry Souls," by Thomas Hibbs
• "Who's Hungry? Who Cares?" by Jack Marcum
• "Heavenly Hunger," by R. Marie Griffith

Art

• Hunger in Christian Art, by Heidi J. Hornik
  • "Beckoning the Hungry," on Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus
  • "Photographs from a Captivated Heart," on Gerard Straub's When Did I See You Hungry?

Hymn and Worship Service

• "Where is Bread?" by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
• Worship Service by Katie Cook

Inspirational Pieces

• "Sharing Our Bread," by David Beckmann
• "Love Serves," by Sister Alice Marie Quinn, D.C.
• Other Voices, Quotations on Food and Hunger

Book Reviews

• "The Culture of Food," by Norman Wirzba
  • Douglas H. Boucher (ed.), The Paradox of Plenty: Hunger in a Bountiful World
  • Marion Nestle, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health
  • Michael Schut (ed.), Food & Faith: Justice, Joy, and Daily Bread
• "We Are How We Eat," by Lori Brand Bateman
  • Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
  • Sara Covin Juengst, Breaking Bread: The Spiritual Significance of Food
  • Holly Whitcomb, Feasting with God: Adventures in Table Spirituality

Interview

• "Pura Vida Is Way Cool: Conversations with Chris Dearnley and John Sage," by Clark Baker

Study Guides and Lesson Plans 

Download the set of six Study Guides

• "Jesus and the Passover"
• "Table Fellowship"
• "Hungry Souls"
• "Heavenly Hunger"
• "Who's Hungry and Who Cares?"
• "A Moment of Recognition"

Further Reading

• "Eating Well: Seven Paradoxes of Plenty," by Mary Louise Bringle (Health)