According to Catholic Rural Life, what we eat is a moral issue. How do we use an informed conscience to make moral eating decisions?
1. By placing an emphasis on eating and purchasing foods that are good for the planet.
2. By eating and purchasing foods that are good to grow and that benefit soil and water resources.
3. By focusing our purchasing decisions on the common good—what is good and just for farms, farmers, and their workers in terms of health and well being.
4. By asking questions about how food is grown, harvested, and kept safe for us to eat.
5. By embracing the reality that we share the planet with all of God’s creatures.
6. That we should live in solidarity with others and promote the idea that what happens on one side of the planet affects those around the planet.
7. That through the promotion of the virtue of prudence, we can face every challenge.
If you have questions about food security, why not begin a study group to investigate food security and economic justice for all? Catholic Rural Life publishes a study guide that can help begin the discussion: Food Security and Economic Justice; A Faith Based Study Guide on Poverty and Hunger.
This is a web-only sidebar which accompanies “Food fight: The pros and cons of genetically modified food” which appeared in the May 2014 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 79, No. 5, pages 18-22).
For more on farming and food, read these other articles:
Family farmers: Living on the edge
Is food security worth sacrificing food safety?
Image: Wikimedia Commons cc by Marjaliisa
Add comment