Using your LOAF: Amy Ellis has food for thought

‘We all have the power to make a difference on this issue.’

For some time I had been holding a concern. I brought it to my Local Meeting. Speaking from my heart, and from my research, I began with Advices & queries 42: ‘We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly, with reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendour of God’s continuing creation.’

I shared a chart from the well-respected ‘Our World in Data’ website. It compared the environmental impact of four types of milk (cow, almond, oat, and soya), and showed clearly how dairy milk manufacture leads to significantly higher land use, water use, chemical run-off and greenhouse gas emissions, when compared with plant-based options. Peer-reviewed research from Oxford University concluded that the single biggest action we could do for the planet is to choose alternatives to meat and dairy. I also spoke of animal suffering, especially within intensive farming practices which now constitute seventy per cent of all UK animal farming.

Whether you are motivated by climate change or animal welfare, we all have the power to make a difference on this issue. I asked Friends to consider the foods we serve in our Meeting house. Do our choices truly represent our testimonies? Can we make changes, not just for ourselves but for future generations? My Meeting listened carefully and asked if anyone felt called to form a group to address these matters. I welcomed five Friends.

We began with a startling awareness-raising documentary, Eating Our Way to Extinction, which can be found on YouTube (https://youtu.be/LaPge01NQTQ?si=W1FFyj12PuOc_3n8). Lots of discussion followed.

Through being an Eco Church we had heard about the acronym LOAF: Local, Organic, Animal-friendly (or Animal-free) and Fairtrade. Our Meeting committed to these principles, and we went on to design LOAF placemats and create a display on our kitchen wall.

We searched for a suitable plant-based milk to be served as a default. We found a gluten-free, organic oat milk, produced locally by Glebe Farm, which is owned by the family of a young Quaker Friend within our Area Meeting. We still have a bottle of cow’s milk available for those who ask for it. We also became a ‘Fairtrade Place of Worship’ and now purchase some of our supplies (organic and fair trade) from a local Christian-based cooperative.

We encourage people attending our soup lunches to try alternatives to dairy by providing plant-based options. We offer olive oil produced in Palestine, fresh organic hummus, organic vegan butter, and a vegan cheese.

We are learning as we go, and finding out what goes down well and what doesn’t. I am glad I found the courage to share my heartfelt concern. I am grateful for the support I have received and for the changes I am seeing: for the planet, for its creatures and for the future.

---

Comments

Please login to add a comment