ELCA Synod Leaders Gather To Help End World Hunger

FARGO, N.D. (ELCA) -- Leaders from 55 of the 65 synods of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met for the
ELCA World Hunger Synod Leadership Gathering July 13-17 here at
North Dakota State University. About 150 participants from all
over the nation discussed world hunger and the ELCA's fight
against it, took part in devotions and music, and attended
workshops.
"It is in good faith that we're here to serve people who are
hungry" in North Dakota, said Marcia Paulson, director of
marketing and development, Great Plains Food Bank, Fargo.
Participants toured the food bank and learned the process of how
food is donated, tested, weighed, packaged and distributed.
"We're having more people coming (for food) than ever
before," said Paulson. "Over 40 truck loads of food are stored
here," Paulson told the participants during the tour.
In 2004, 5.4 million pounds of food valued at $8.4 million
was distributed, feeding an estimated 55,495 individuals, Paulson
said. Only 3 percent is food collected at food drives. Cash
goes a long way, she said. Paulson told the participants that
much more food can be gathered using cash to buy nutritional food
at a reduced price, rather than receiving non-perishable food
items from a food drive.
"Poverty is intolerable," said Dr. Nancy D. Arnison,
director, ELCA World Hunger Program, during the opening remarks
of the gathering. Arnison was formally introduced at the
gathering. She started in her position July 5.
World Hunger "is a violation of human dignity and human
rights. Poverty is intolerable but not intractable," Arnison
told participants.
As "advocates, we have a powerful voice. Use it at national
and international levels," she said. "It's up to us to make sure
all are invited to this table and that all are fed."
Currently, we are witnessing an "attention to poverty like
never before," Arnison said, citing the G8 meeting and pop
culture. There is a momentum presenting "an opportunity for
Lutherans to be a public church."
Kathryn Sime, director, ELCA World Hunger and Disaster
Appeal, provided an update on the church's world hunger
ministries. The 2004 ELCA World Hunger Appeal earned $16.25
million, she said. More than $10 million was raised by Lutherans
in response to the Dec. 26 tsunami that claimed more than 200,000
lives in several coastal countries of the Indian Ocean. "We are
still continuing to respond to the tsunami," she said. "We are
there for the long haul ... (and) are helping communities rebuild
themselves stronger than they were before."
"We have sufficiently funded" a five-year plan for long-term
rebuilding in tsunami-affected areas in Asia, said Sime. "The
plan includes partnership with Lutheran World Relief, Church
World Service, United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, Huria
Kristen Batak Protestan -- the (Lutheran) Protestant Christian
Batak Church, Sumatra, Indonesia -- and other trusted partners,"
she said.
"We are a generous church, with a heart and passion for
hunger and disaster ministry," Sime said.
Luther Snow, Decorah, Iowa, led a hands-on activity designed
for synod hunger leaders to organize the assets of their synod
and congregations, making them more able to combat world hunger.
In small groups, participants formed an imaginary synod and,
using their individual "assets" or strengths, put together a plan
to raise money and/or create awareness to end hunger.
"One project might be the thing that catches fire and turns
the community around," Snow said. "To take action on hunger,
we've got to use what we've got." Snow is an author and
consultant on asset-mapping for congregations.
"World hunger is in our psyche," said participant Donna
Norell, Hinsdale, Ill. She said Leo Burnett, an international
advertising firm, recently reported results of a survey among men
from 13 countries. When asked about their ultimate male fantasy,
28 percent (the top answer) of men said "ending world hunger."
Twenty-six percent (second most popular answer) was "being a
world famous sports star."
The Rev. Harvard Stephens, dean of the chapel, Carthage
College, Kenosha, Wis., served as the gathering's chaplain and
offered reflections throughout the event.

White Earth Land Recovery Project
"Indigenous people throughout the world are fighting to
protect local biodiversity and traditional food production," said
Sarah Alexander, who led a presentation on the White Earth Land
Recovery Project -- a project committed to the biodiversity of
the Anishinaabeg (Ojibwa) agriculture in northern Minnesota. The
mission of the project is to recover the original land base of
the White Earth Reservation, restore and preserve traditional
practices of food production and sound land stewardship.
The Ojibwa community owns 9 percent of the original land,
said Alexander. "Without land, we cannot have sovereignty."
On the White Earth Reservation there is 60 to 70 percent
unemployment, Alexander said. "When the reservation system took
place, poverty and hunger came along with it," she said. "The
high level of poverty on reservations means (a) high level of
food dependency."
Ojibwa communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and
parts of Canada harvest and process wild rice, following the
traditions of their ancestors, Alexander said. A directive of
the White Earth Land Recovery Project is to protect wild rice
from genetic engineering and "bio-piracy." She said there are
companies and organizations "harvesting the knowledge of what
native practices have been (in wild rice production) and labeling
and patenting those practices."
Wild rice is a central part of the Ojibwa culture and
tradition, said Alexander. The White Earth Land Recovery Project
is one of the largest Anishinaabeg food producers on the
continent, producing food items for sale through its Native
Harvest program and for local consumption. "Wild rice has
medicinal incentives for people with type 2 diabetes," she said,
citing that Native American populations have the highest rate of
type 2 diabetes in the world.
The traditional diet of Native Americans has been gradually
supplemented by highly processed and refined food products, said
Alexander. The switch from a traditional diet -- which was high
in dietary fiber and lean sources of protein -- to a diet rich in
sugars, refined carbohydrates and fats has fueled the diabetes
epidemic. Through the "Mino-Miijim Program" of the White Earth
Land Recovery Project, the Ojibwa communities seek to re-
introduce a healthy lifestyle centered on traditional foods.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Speaks at Hunger Gathering
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, told
participants, "I'll be your cheerleader," as he thanked ELCA
synod hunger leaders for their "perseverance in addressing
hunger, poverty and justice issues." Hanson also serves as
president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a global
communion of 138 Lutheran churches in 77 countries, with 66
million members. The LWF is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Hanson offered three signs of hope in the ELCA's fight
against poverty and hunger: the ONE Campaign and Millennium
Development Goals, the "One Table, Many Voices" meeting and the
"Hunger No More" event. The ONE Campaign, supported by many
organizations including the ELCA, is an effort to rally people
"ONE by ONE" to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty. A goal of
the campaign is to convince U.S. political leaders to give an
additional 1 percent of the U.S. budget to the causes of poverty.
Hanson noted two "interesting" dynamics regarding the G8
meeting -- a July 6-8 meeting of political leaders discussing the
U.N.'s eight Millennium Development Goals addressing poverty and
hunger in Africa. "Around this issue political leaders