[1] When you think about the book of Daniel, do vegetables come
to mind? Not Veggie Tales-although you wouldn't be faulted for
suddenly bursting forth into song at mention of this cartoon-but
vegetables, or even vegetarianism. If not, you should, because
vegetables play a crucial role in the opening narrative of this
book. Daniel-renamed Beltashazzar by King Nebuchadnezzer after
King Jehoiakim of Judah is defeated by him-is taken captive, and
enrolled in a strict regimen of learning, in preparation for
becoming a member of King Nebuchadnezzer's court.
[2] He is also given a daily ration of food and wine by the
king, but this he rejects, worried that the diet will defile
him. He asks his guard to test him and the others by giving
them vegetables to eat and water to drink instead of the royal
rations. If after ten days he is worse off than the others
receiving the king's rations, then so be it, the guards can do with
him as they will. At the end of this time, true to his faith
and his word, Daniel presents himself fatter and stronger than the
rest, and as a result throughout his three years of training,
continues to receive vegetables in place of the royal rations and
wine.
[3] Many of us probably find this story reassuring. We were
told as a child, "Eat your vegetables, they're good for
you." And more recently, we've learned that diets too high in
wine and other fatty foods may weaken rather than strengthen
us.
[4] But this story isn't about eating vegetables. It isn't
a dietary lesson. No, it is a lesson in faith. Notice
what Daniel doesn't do. He doesn't reject the lessons and
learning the king has prepared for him. He even learns the
Chaldean language. For whatever reason, these things are not
the things he believes risk defiling him and corrupting his trust
and reliance on the God of Israel. Instead, it is the
food. Daniel's faithfulness to God and reliance on God is
grounded in what he firmly requests not to eat.
[5] We could mention other such narratives in Scripture. Adam
and Eve not eating and then eating the fruit of the tree in the
middle of the garden. The Israelites not eating more than
their daily share of manna. The Israelites no longer eating
from the fleshpots of Egypt. Jesus not eating for forty days,
and then not turning stones into bread. In each case, a person
or a people is defined by what they don't eat, and this not eating
is a sign of faith.
[6] Since I published an article here several months ago
entitled Eating Theology, a lot has
happened. Suddenly, the ethics of eating became the issue
du jour. The New York Times ran an article by Michael
Pollan, excerpted from his book The Omnivore's Dilemma: A
Natural History of Four Meals, that has brought to light more
issues of food and its origins than any other recent piece of
journalism of which I'm aware. At about the same time,
Sojourners magazine devoted an entire issue to food.
[7] If it had only been the publishing industry that was
bringing the issue to a new level of attention, I wouldn't be
writing this follow-up piece. But two events, one at the local
and one at the national level, made me realize that eating (and not
eating) has a certain cachet these days.
[8] First, Wal-mart announced that it would begin carrying
organic produce. Most authorities in the organic industry see
this as a mixed blessing. It will mean, on the one hand, more
plentiful organic produce at lower prices. On the other hand,
it will likely result in small local organic producers being priced
slowly out the market. However things pan out, what is most
striking is that organic food is the fastest growing category in
all of food. Wal-mart, aware of this fact, wants in on the
market.
[9] Which brings me to the local level. I picked up our
first box of vegetables at our CSA two weeks ago. There was a
new and larger walk-in refrigerator on premises, and I asked Robb,
the owner of the CSA, if they had gotten more members for the CSA
this year. He said, "Yes, oh my, yes. We've doubled our
numbers." There are probably many reasons for this marked
increase, including word of mouth publicity, and a popular movie,
The Real Dirt on Farmer John, that made the circuit of
small theatres last year. But Robb thinks the main reason for
the increase is simply that more and more people are looking for
local, fresh organic produce.
[10] What does all of this mean? Well, for starters, it
simply means that many people around the country are paying more
attention to their food and where it comes from. They may be
doing this for a host of reasons. Some may simply wish to
ensure that the things they eat or serve their children are
healthy. Last time I checked, almost half the baby food in my
local grocery store was organic. Others may be thinking about
the justice issues involved, hoping that those who harvest bananas,
for example, aren't exposed to the harmful chemicals often used to
produce them. Still others may be thinking about it simply at
the level of quality and taste. CSA vegetables are definitely
more flavorful than anything picked, crated, and shipped half way
around the country or world.
[11] But it seems to me that Christians need to be able to
articulate and confess why it is they choose to eat what they eat,
or more importantly, why they choose not to eat certain
things. Somehow along the way, the ethics of eating was
co-opted by more secular communities, and at least some Christian
groups, fearing that practicing things similar to these groups
would imply agreement with their fundamental beliefs, stubbornly
entrenched themselves in dietary practices contrary to their good
health and probably their faith. The animal rights movement
and the "Christian" backlash against it would be a case in
point.
[12] This trend has been slowly reversing in recent
years. Many faith communities have led the way through their
participation in fair trade organizations. A local church in
our area was featured on the front page of the Wisconsin State
Journal, and the headline featured a stellar neo-logism,
Christecology Christian communities are coming to realize that care
of creation and love of neighbor, both vocations God has called us
to, are intimately linked to what we eat, where it comes from, who
harvests it, how the land is tended, and all the other intermediary
steps from seed to table.
[13] This is why a book like Michael Pollan's is so
important. Christians, in order to bear witness to the gospel,
need to be attentive. We need to know enough about the things
we put into our mouth to be able to speak wisely about why we do
so.
[14] Jesus famously remarked that it is not what goes into a
person that defiles, but what comes out (Mark 7:15). At first
glance, this seems to contradict the Daniel narrative outlined
above. But upon closer scrutiny, we can see how Jesus' remark
strengthens rather than supersedes the lesson. Daniel does not
believe that the foods themselves are what will defile
him. Daniel's diet does not become a model for all readers of
Scripture. What is set forth as a model is Daniel's attention
to the way in which the provision of the king might weaken
him, so that his faithfulness to the God of Israel might be
undermined by his reliance on, and subjection to, this
king. What comes out of Daniel's mouth-faithful and daring
witness-is what results in his being set apart and strengthened by
God. The vegetable diet is simply the result of what is first
of all Daniel's confession.
[15] If we were to take Daniel's actions as a model for our
time, it wouldn't be the particulars of his diet that we would
emulate, but rather his unwillingness to simply eat what the regime
set before him. Our entire food complex has been set up in an
incredibly complicated and robust manner, to such a degree that
most of us simply assume the foods we eat are all there are, they
are givens of our economy. In fact, a lot of food in the store
is no longer food to us. It is now a commodity, the
idea of a vegetable rather than a particular vegetable
lovingly grown. We are being handed rations by a monarchical,
some might even say tyrannical, process, and the question is, will
we have the strength, moral courage, and faith, to ask for water
and vegetables? Have we even given sufficient thought to what
the water and vegetables of today might be?
[16] Michael Pollan, in his natural history of four meals, helps
us at least begin this inquiry. He traces each of the food
chains in which we typically participate-industrially produced
food, organic foods, and foods we forage-from origin to
table. Reading it, or doing our own homework of learning where
our food comes from and how it is processed, would be the first
step in a truly ruminative theology of eating.
[17] The second step would be testifying to what we will not
eat. Remember that Luther in his Small Catechism said,
"Fasting and other outward preparations serve a good
purpose." A person of faith receives the forgiveness of sins
even without these kinds of preparations, but we forget that the
fasting and other outward preparations still are of good
service. In the end, the dietary practices of Christians may
look strikingly similar to the practices of other social or
religious groups. It is not what goes in that defiles,
remember. But our attentive intentionality will be articulable
in expressly ethical terms that bear witness to the gospel, and
this is what will be a credible witness in the world, just as
Daniel was an in-credible witness in Babylon.
© January 2007
Journal of Lutheran Ethics (JLE)
Volume 7, Issue 1