Sacred Land: Food and Farming – St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church

Sacred Land: Food and Farming explores our connection with the land and our responsibility for it.

Together, small groups learn how food and farming practices affect the climate crisis, marginalized communities, and their own health and spiritual wellbeing. Participants explore practical ways to support, advocate for, and implement sustainable food and farming practices in the communities and the institutions of which they’re a part — whether it’s their workplace, congregation, apartment complex, or neighborhood. Each participant works toward a plan of action: for example, this could be starting a composting program with their next-door neighbors, building a community garden with their congregation, or advocating for local and national policies that support sustainable food and farming practices.

Each program in the eco-justice series includes eight 2-hour sessions, an immersion experience, and an optional get-to-know-you session. The eight regular sessions include prayer, dialogue, active listening, weekly spiritual practices, and relationship-building. The immersion experiences connect participants with people and organizations working on eco-justice issues; this real-world experience guides groups in discerning how they can put their learning into action.

You can stop after your first eco-justice program, or you can offer all three programs. You do not need to take the eco-justice programs in order.