M.A.: Right, so that’s sort of the golden rule of…

Wife: So, same thing, treat, don’t do to others what you don’t want to be done to you.

Husband: Love your neighbour as yourself.

Wife: Food security, aren’t we all told that we should share with the people that have less?

Husband: Sure, many times in the Bible.

Wife: You know, those are just a few things that come up in my mind. Right away when you ask that, but yeah there is, if you base your life on the Bible, a

lot of problems could be solved. …when you spell them out in the words of the Bible, yeah, it is even clearer.¹⁴⁰

This farmer saw a great deal more fairness in the biblical principles and stories she emphasized in relation to agricultural issues of today. For her, the Bible speaks clearly about the need to look after the environment, and to be considerate of those around you, with special attention to those who have less, which are principles she applies to many of the farming issues that came up throughout the interview.

Likewise another farmer I interviewed made connections between several different biblical stories and how they can be applied to farming policy. This farmer puts a

somewhat different emphasis than the previous interviewees. Where the previous couple emphasized the importance of charity within the general population to ensure greater food security (that everyone should have enough food to eat) this farmer emphasizes the importance among farmers of working hard so that government money isn’t needed to bail out irresponsible farm managers in bad farming years. This farmer used two different biblical passages to emphasize the farmers’ responsibility to farm well and to save from good years against bad years. He argues that a farmer who does this, who works hard and is prudent with resources, should not need excessive assistance from government in bad years, if good agricultural policies are in place.

Farmer: CFFO has always been big on programs like NISA [Net Income Stabilization Account program from 1991-2002], where there’s responsibility on both sides of the fence, instead of a direct government hand out with no

140 Personal Interview #18.

strings attached. NISA, or right now it’s Agri-Invest [noted as similar to NISA, program from 2007-2012], which is really the example of the biblical principle of Joseph and the seven years of famine and the seven years of lean.

You know, you put away in the good years to take away in bad years. That’s where that principle comes from. ... CFFO has also argued around the table that we’re not going to hand out things for bad management, which is difficult to define. But it is also part of that discussion.

S.M.A.: So, I know you said it’s hard to define, but could you give me an indication of what kind of things might indicate bad management?

Farmer: Well for instance, somebody that doesn’t do a good job in the field, you end up with poor crops due to mismanagement, that individual should not live off of government money. That goes back to that principle of Agri-Invest, and NISA, because if you’re a good farmer you should be able to put away in good years to take away from it in the bad years. … So the biblical principle is, yes there are handouts, they can all work, but there's obviously a little bit of responsibility involved because the Bible in Ephesians says, “he who will not work does not eat.” And so, if you keep that in mind, like, you know, yes you help somebody else, but if they don't want to lift a finger for it, well then you don't have to help them. That's really what it comes down to. And that's based on Ephesians, I forget, you have to look up the verse, but I know there's a verse there, “he who does not want to work does not eat.”¹⁴¹

141 Personal Interview #11.

This same farmer emphasized the importance of work with yet a third story, also from the Old Testament, which also illustrates the importance of how work should be regulated, not just that working and working well is important.

Farmer: And if you look at the book of Proverbs, “if he’s a sluggard he will never have food in this house.” I mean there’s biblical principles throughout the Old and New Testament that quantify that. And if you look at manna that God gave to the Israelites in the desert, did He drop in their soup bowl? No, they had to go out in the morning and get it right? They had to do something for it. He could’ve chosen to put in their soup bowl but He didn’t. He made them go and get it yet. And He taught another big lesson, that they weren’t to do it on the Sabbath day.¹⁴²

He uses all of these different passages to emphasize the biblical view that farmers ought to work hard and that they should be good responsible managers of their farms. He does not suggest that there should be no government programs in place to help farmers or to offer them greater security in bad years; rather, he insists that these programs should be designed to encourage good management, and not dependence on government money. He also emphasizes the importance of regulation of work by recognizing the Sabbath, or the importance of rest in balance with hard work.

2.2.4.2 Biblical Stories and the Value of Food

Recall the first quote from the farmer above who saw great disparity between the value of food and the price paid for it in many biblical stories from the Old and New Testaments.

142 Ibid.

Many farmers found that food is undervalued in our current society, especially in terms of the price paid for it in the market place. However, the farmer quoted above was the only one to point out examples of how food is also undervalued in biblical stories.

Another farmer also examined the value placed on food in the Bible, but he paints a somewhat different picture of the biblical emphasis that he sees. This quote is less specific in its reference to scripture, but is still taken as a reflection on the spiritual value of food in a biblical context.

S.M.A.: You said that you want to recreate the food system that people deserve. Can you describe for me what that food system looks like to you?

Farmer: This goes back to earlier where I was saying that there’s a lack of transparency in many of the products and or activities of our food system.

Food in biblical terms was the celebration of a way of life, intertwined with the blessings of the creation. And it was used to give celebration to the Creator, give thanks and give honour and so on. When you look at people driving a tonne of steel through a drive-thru and ordering some said notion of food through a window, and eating it on the fly, looking at the health impact of the stuff that’s on that plate, looking at the connection that eater has with the hands that grew that from the soil, or cared for the animals, it is the most disconnected system that I could imagine, next to eating it in pills. And we have all kinds of health-food pills that will feed you your food supposedly. So if growing food is a spiritual act in cooperation with the Creator, then eating

it has to also be a spiritual act, or a moral act if you will. And the system we have in place now, is treating food like any other widget.¹⁴³

For this farmer both growing and eating food should be spiritual acts, connecting us with creation and the Creator in meaningful ways. He argues that biblical stories demonstrate food as a connecting point between humans and the Creator, and that we should try to achieve this connection as much as possible in our current food system.

2.2.4.3 The Bible, Greed, and Personal Farming Practices

Others use biblical stories to emphasize the problem of greed among farmers. One farmer drew on two parables together which he saw as cautionary tales against the temptation of greed, of the desire to get big and get rich, particularly as a farmer.

And the bottom line is for me, the people who are successful in agriculture are kind of like in the Bible where it says “a rich man will have a tough time making it to the pearly gates.” So I see that. People have lost their souls in their pursuit of the glory of farming. And my soul aches for that situation or for those people. And so my challenge is first of all to make sure that I don’t get roped into that loss of faith to build another barn.¹⁴⁴

He refers here to two passages, Matthew 19:24 and Luke 12:13-21, one of which has specifically agrarian connections, and one of which does not. His concern is primarily the effect greed has on the people who fall victim to its pull, on the human impact of greed.

143 Personal Interview #7.

144 Personal Interview #7.

Another farmer emphasized to me the importance of not being greedy as a farmer in terms of how much one takes from the land, rather than in terms of expanding the size of the farm for more wealth. She made reference to an Old Testament passage, Leviticus 25: 1-6, which is specifically focused on farming.