Hope Notes 30

STORIES OF HOPE FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Relationships

IT’S ABOUT

ISSUE 30

SPRING 2022

Food for the Hungry (FH) Canada’s seasonal publication, celebrating stories of hope from partnered communities around the world.

Editorial: Eryn Austin-Bergen, Sarah Harrington, Colton Martin, and Michael Prins

Design: Mark Stewart

Contributors: Farzana Akter, Eryn AustinBergen, Elaine Cheng, Ingrid Delgado, Sarah Harrington, Mike Janz, Isaac Jonas, Samson Kacha, Jarina Khatun, Colton Martin, Sneha Reddy, Jenny Stoecker, Shelaine Strom, Donna Zaengle, and many other valued FH staff and friends.

FROM THE PRESIDENT

I’m so pleased to present you with Hope Notes Issue 30—a celebration of the reconciliation that you, our partners and friends, are helping families achieve.

For over a decade, FH writers and designers have been bringing you incredible stories of change agents from around the world who are transforming their communities.

Read on to see why FH Canada is expanding our work in Rwanda, how God is changing hearts in Guatemala, what forgiveness means to a real family, and why buying a mango means more than you ever thought it could. Connect with partner communities by cooking up some of their favourite comfort food. And explore what being reconciled to God, self, others, and creation actually looks like!

I invite you to delve into these stories and see what gems you’ll discover—what inspires you, challenges your perspective, or might even shift your paradigm of poverty. Enjoy!

WELCOME TO BWIRA, RWANDA!

Written by & Photography by Jenny Stoecker

This year, FH Rwanda and FH Canada began a new 10-year partnership with five communities in Bwira, Rwanda. In the first year, FH will partner with three communities, and join with the remaining two in 2022. We’re so excited to introduce to you this amazing place and hope you’ll consider joining the journey!

5 COMMUNITIES

Shawn Plummer President & CEO

The Beauty of Bwira

22,000 people

As you get out of the city and into the hills, the one-lane dirt road to Bwira is cut with deep scars, causing those in the car to bounce and shift. On the side of the road are people pushing bicycles piled high with firewood or vegetables to sell. While the road rises higher and higher, the views of sharp green hills grow more stunning around every bend. Houses and farms, somehow holding onto the 60 degree slope, dot the hillside.

While Google Maps will tell you that Bwira is a two and half hour drive outside of Kigali (the capital city), the reality on the windy roads is closer to four. The main transport to Bwira, for those who can afford it, is motorcycle. Cars are scarce, and people tending their farms on pause to look and wave as we drive by. If you were to walk the roads in the evening, the streets and houses would be dark, with the majority of the population relying on kerosene lamps for light and firewood for cooking.

Bwira’s five communities are spread out across a vast network of hills. If asked where Bwira ends, an official will point to the furthest hill that can barely be seen and say, “That peak. There is the end of Bwira.”

The Crux of Water

The lush hills of Bwira would make you think water flows in abundance. And in a sense, it does. But it flows downward along steep hills and settles into unprotected streams far below the villages. This makes it hard to get, and easily contaminated. Accessing clean water is one of the greatest challenges families in Bwira face on a daily basis. If they collect water from a slow-flowing, protected spring, it will take a family of four a minimum of two and a half hours every day to get enough to live on. So they often use closer (and dirty!) rivers, bringing home water contaminated with intestinal parasites which cause pain and sickness, and exacerbate malnutrition. Children are badly affected. This is why Bwira’s leaders have named clean water as one of their first challenges to tackle! We’re going to support them as they dig new wells closer to home, cap more springs, and educate families on healthy hygiene and sanitation.

98% OF FAMILIES

DROP OUT

The Value of Education

Sitting in a classroom learning reading, writing, and arithmetic doesn’t make much sense to the parents in Bwira. Shouldn’t their children be learning farming and staying home to help the family survive? This (understandable) resistance to education, combined with the long distances children must walk to school; fees for school supplies, uniforms, and lunch programs; and overcrowded classrooms, make it extremely difficult for children to get very far in school.

We’re going to come alongside caregivers and parents to help them see the true value of education (for themselves, as well!) and ease the financial burdens associated with school through child sponsorship. We’ll also join hands with leaders to increase the access to and quality of basic education in Bwira.

HIGHEST MALNUTRITION

in the whole Ngororero District

Cultivating the Soil

For generations, Bwira’s families have faithfully tilled the soil on their hills. They grow yams, beans, corn, eating and selling their produce to survive. But there’s a growing problem— hunger has been steadily deepening, hurting the lives of children across the region. Why? Bwira’s beautiful hills put farms at risk of soil erosion while some farming practices are depleting the soil and pesticides are killing off the honeybees.

We’re partnering with farmers and leaders to implement lasting solutions—and fast. We’re excited to work with these experienced farmers to provide improved seeds, establish irrigation for crops, and share new techniques to fertilize the land and repel pests in a safe way. By offering farmers animal care workshops and distributing small livestock (think Gift Guide!), FH will further help develop family farms. All these efforts will soon lead to rejuvenated soil, more abundant harvests, diversified diets, and increased (and reliable!) income.

Moving Forward, Together

While local leaders, FH Rwanda, and FH Canada see a clear need in Bwira, the decision to journey together over the next 10 years is deeper than that. There is an openness in Bwira to grow together. The local leaders see incredible potential in their youth, who make up the majority of the population. They have land and relatively good weather, and know that with a little support they can lower rates of malnutrition and improve livelihoods. The leaders, and we at FH, are confident that their community can flourish!

Excited to see where this journey goes? Sponsor a child in Bwira!

fhcanada.org/Sponsorship

50%

are forced to drink contaminated water

rate of students before finishing secondary school

Bwira, Rwanda is on the path toward sustainability and

Adopting God's Heart Adopting God's Heart

Written by Colton Martin

One... two… three… Rosa softly counts out her Guatemalan quetzales, her earnings for the day. Her small vegetable stand in the Rio Azul community is one of a kind. Instead of looking to make a fortune, Rosa is selling fresh, high quality cabbage, chard, and cauliflower at a reasonable price for Rio Azul community members to take home and feed their families. Around the community, she’s known for her delicious yet inexpensive vegetables. And one thing is for certain—she’s not cutting back her prices out of naivety. It is a purposeful decision grounded in her care for the community and reflective of her trusting relationship with God.

“God has control of everything,” Rosa explains. It’s a surprising thing to hear from her because of the many uncertainties she faces. Her husband lives and works in the United States, sending money to her when he can. She remains in Guatemala to raise her two children, Petronia (age 10) and Valeriano (age 8), selling vegetables to make ends meet. In her free time, Rosa attends community meetings to strengthen her relationship with God. She also volunteers at her local church, leading meetings to foster spiritual growth in other community members. Her trust in God’s provision allows her to be generous with her time, resources, and love towards her community and children.

Food for the Hungry operates out of the belief that all communities—Canadians included!—are lifted out of poverty through the reconciliation of four main relationships—with God, self, others, and creation. But the primary one is our relationship with God. It’s our first and deepest. It changes how we see all other relationships.1

What happens when people believe in an emotionally detached God? A God who hates them?

What about a loving and just God, grieving for reconciliation?

The belief you hold about God matters. It shapes all your other relationships in life. FH staff serve communities with the deep conviction that God is seeking to restore all forms of relationships. He is dying for reconciliation with humanity.

For Rosa, it was through her spiritual reconciliation to God that she was able to love herself, her family, her community, and even her garden. At FH-facilitated leadership training sessions, Rosa found a space to grow spiritually. “I am grateful to God and for the important lessons; they help a lot in our personal and spiritual growth,” she says. Through these spiritual development meetings, Rosa adopted God’s lens for her life.

Adopting God’s lens casts off broken ideas of others, ourselves, and creation. As humans, we can be trapped by extremes. We may have crushing low self esteem, or inflated pride. We place people on a pedestal, or treat them as worthless. We may be terrified of our environment, or use and abuse it for our own gain. All of these extremes stem from a broken view of God.2

Through reconciliation with God, we see things as he does. That’s how we learn we are inherently valuable, created in his image. It’s how we see that same value in others and the goodness of the created world.

Today, Rosa sees her community as an extension of her family, freely giving her time to facilitate meetings for the spiritual growth of members. She sees herself as an extension of God’s family, taking time to grow closer to God. She sees her garden as an extension of God’s creation, sharing her crops just like God shares the earth with her.

“I thank God for the opportunity he has given me to serve those in most need. I have learned a lot in the meetings that helped me grow in my spiritual, personal, and family life because I have come forward with my family and see my community transformed!” celebrates Rosa.

In each FH partner community, it’s important that members grow holistically. Not only does FH want to increase household income and reduce disease, FH also promotes spiritual growth in community members who desire it. Programs like the ones that Rosa is involved in help meet this need, and benefit every aspect of development in the community on a foundational level.

FH Canada believes that poverty isn’t just a lack of material things. Poverty is about broken relationships with God, self, others, and creation—and it affects all of us! To learn more about reconciling a broken relationship with God visit fhcanada.org/Education.

1 Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009), 57. 2 Ibid, 61.

Rosa is confident in her children’s future, thanks to her flourishing garden and deep belonging in her community.

I have learned a lot In the meetings that helped me grow in my spirItual, personal, and famIly lIfe.

— Rosa

Vegetable Cutlets

doro WOt ethiopian Comfort Food Sobjir Vora

These vegetable cutlets or patties are a common snack across Bangladesh. Considered a savoury comfort food by many and particularly enjoyed by Jarina Khatun, a member of the Char Borobila community who sent in this recipe!

SUBMITTED BY

Jarina Khatun, Char Borobila savings group member

INGREDIENTS

• vegetable oil

• ½ yellow onion

• 20 fresh french beans (green beans)

• 20 stalks of asparagus

• 3 medium carrots

• 3 medium potatoes

• 3 cups fresh spinach

• 1 tbsp ginger paste

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1 tbsp cumin

• 1 tbsp turmeric

• 1 tbsp chilli powder

• ½ cup fresh cilantro

• 1 cup glutinous white rice flour*

• 1 tsp salt

Doro Wot is a tasty, traditional Ethiopian chicken dish, often quite spicy. It is widely enjoyed at Christmastime, a comforting taste of home for many Ethiopians. This recipe comes to us all the way from Samson, the FH Senior Program Manager for the Sasiga communities.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp butter

• 5 red onions, diced

• 3 eggs

• 3 tbsp berbere spice mix*

Instructions

1. Prepare the ingredients by cutting the potatoes and carrots into small cubes and slicing the asparagus and french beans into 1 cm pieces. Roughly chop the spinach. Dice the onion and cilantro. In a separate bowl, mix all the spices and set aside.

2. Steam the potatoes, carrots, asparagus, french beans, and spinach until soft but not completely cooked through.

3. Combine steamed vegetables with cilantro, onion, spices, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mixing with a large spoon, add ½ cup warm water and rice flour until a sticky batter forms that holds the vegetables together.

4. Fill a small pot with oil to a depth of 2 in. Heat oil to 375F (or on medium-high until bubbles form around the end of a dry wooden spoon dipped into the oil). Use a large spoon to add a heaping spoonful of the vegetable batter to the hot oil. Fry each vegetable patty for about 60 seconds on each side, until it becomes reddish brown.

5. Ladle the fried sobjir vora onto a paper towel to soak up excess oil. Serve hot with your favourite creamy or sweet-n-spicy dipping sauce.

*Don’t be fooled! This rice doesn’t actually have gluten, but is a special variety found in most grocery stores.

• 2 tsp dried oregano

• 3 cloves

garlic, minced

• 3 pounds boneless chicken thighs

1. In a large stewing pot, melt butter over low heat. Finely chop onions and add to the pot. Cover and cook on low heat, stirring frequently and adding a tbsp of water at a time to prevent onions from sticking or burning. Cook until translucent, about 30 minutes (yes—low and slow!).

2. While the onions cook, hard boil the eggs. Peel and set aside.

3. When onions are translucent and soft, add berbere spice and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add oregano, garlic, and butter. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add a tbsp of water at a time if sticking occurs. Onions should cook down to a paste during this process.

4. Slice chicken thighs into 1 in cubes and add to onion mixture. Cook on low-medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently (and adding water if sticking occurs or if sauce loses moisture).

5. When chicken is cooked, remove the pot from heat. Serve with injera (Ethiopian flat bread) or over rice. Garnish with sliced boiled eggs.

*Berbere spice is available at many Canadian grocery stores, but if you’re having trouble finding it, just head to our blog for a recipe to make your own blend! We’ve adjusted the amount here to add a “nice kick”—traditionally, Ethiopians add (much, much) more!

Explore these delicious recipes and more at blog.fhcanada.org

submitted by Samson Kacha, Senior Program Manager, FH Ethiopia

Flourishing in Place

The abundance that flows from Creation

effectiveness, while learning together to love creation and the Creator.

The Habonimana family from Kabarore, Burundi knows the gifts of reconnecting with the Creator. Through FH workshops, they adopted small-scale modern farming technologies (like drip irrigation), sustainable farming practices, making heat compost, digging terraces, and other techniques promoted by FH. Joseph shared, “Thanks to trainings I received, I was able to improve agricultural and health practices.”

The impact of FH engagement for Joseph’s family goes beyond the fields they farm. “When we started being involved with FH, our life changed a lot.” Family members are sick less often, and together, they are planning new income generating projects. Joseph also told us, “Spiritually, we do everything by asking first God to bless us and by seeking to be faithful to God and to our neighbours.” Joseph’s family is experiencing Christ reconciling all things (Col. 1:20). As the land is restored through healthy farming practices, its renewal is feeding them with more than food! Their bodies and their relationships are healthier, and they have new dreams.

The communities that FH partners with around the world are confronted by questions of sustainability in relationship to the land on a daily basis.

here at home. Investing time to know a farmer may provide new insights into what it takes to grow your food, how climate affects farming, or you may just make a new friend. This can be a simple step toward the restoration of our relationship with creation, a relationship that the Bible speaks of from back in Adam and Eve’s first days in the Garden to the vision of a restored earth in the book of Revelation.

You see, FH isn’t simply trying to end hunger. The sustainable change that we work tirelessly to help partner communities experience is about so much more than food, it is about restoration of all that is broken within creation. We want to help vulnerable families and communities, and Canadians as well, tap into what is already there. There is an abundance in creation that has been and is there, literally planted under all of our feet, waiting to be cultivated and shared.

Written by Mike Janz

Canadians feel the seasons, no matter where in our massive country we live. But imagine this—attempting to judge the seasons by the produce department at your local supermarket. You’d be led to think we all lived in a perpetual summer. Strawberries in January? No problem!

What about tomatoes, red peppers, or cucumbers in February? Fill your shopping cart!

This perpetual food abundance, however, is not the experience of those in FH partner communities. Most folks in Sasiga (Ethiopia), Santa Avelina (Guatemala), or Ukhia (Bangladesh) only have access to the food that they or their neighbours can grow. And as climate change brings increased extreme weather, new plant diseases, and general food uncertainty, these long-known agricultural rhythms have decreased in dependability.

While we may feel inconvenienced by a temporary shortage of ripe bananas or complain about an increase in the price of our beloved avocado, this is likely to feel more related to personal preference than to creation. But what if your livelihood in all aspects is placebound, tied to the land on which you and your ancestors have always lived, and this land is failing you more often? Your traditional farming methods no longer result in a harvest sufficient to feed your family and sell at market. The annual rains that have always come no longer arrive to water your fields.

FH partner communities around the world are confronted with questions of sustainability in relationship to the land on a daily basis. This is one reason why FH puts a strong livelihoods emphasis on helping farmers and families increase agricultural

Joseph went on to share, “Before, my family was living on its own and not open to the other community members...Now our neighbours, friends, and relatives see us as role models. Our involvement with FH is helping other community members to change.” This is deep, sustainable, and holistic alleviation of poverty. As Brian Fikkert and Kelly Kapic contend in Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn’t the American Dream, “Poverty alleviation is fundamentally about transformation—transformation of whole people, body, mind, will, affections, and relationships.”

“Know your farmer, know your food” is a popular farmer’s market movement saying. Isn’t it strange to know more about our favourite athlete or musician than we do about the people who grow the food we put in our bodies? You probably know more about Joseph now than you do about the farmer that grew the apple you ate this morning! One step toward reconnecting to our roots, literally, can start with practicing presence to those who feed us

FH Canada believes that poverty isn’t just a lack of material things. Poverty is about broken relationships with God, self, others, and creation—and it affects all of us! To learn more about reconciling a broken relationship with creation, visit fhcanada.org/Education

Dairy cows help replenish the soil with their nutrient-rich dung, enabling farmers like Joseph to grow abundant veggie gardens.

Joseph and Marie-Rose’s family are healthier, more hopeful, and increasingly engaged with their neighbours as a result of FH’s presence and agricultural training in their community.

gifts for change

Celebrate and shop all year long! fhcanada.org/Gifts

2,378 GENEROUS DONORS!

YOU GAVE A GIFT AND DELIVERED HOPE

Thousands of Canadians banded together this past Christmas to help support families in Food for the Hungry partner communities. By purchasing gifts from the FH Canada Gift Guide, Canadians joined the story of children, parents, farmers, teachers, and leaders working to lift their communities out of poverty. Every item in the Gift Guide supports initiatives in child education, family health, helping families make an income, and community leadership.

Together, we raised nearly one million dollars in just three months! Egg-ceptionally moo-vellous! This wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible generosity of FH’s amazing donors and partners. We are sow very grateful!

MOST POPULAR GIFT Pair of Chickens

TOAD-AL RAISED! $928,340

Your Gifts at Work

1,334 donations RAISED $33,360 at $25/pair

CUTEST GIFT

Fluffle of Rabbits

396 donations RAISED $13,860 at $35 each

Portly Pig

“Production increased because people adopted new methods of farming including intercropping, sowing in lines, and fertilizing with locally produced manure. The number of domestic animals is increasing and we thank you for the animal distributions!”

— Narcisse, farmer (Burundi)

Story Books

“I feel happy that there are children’s clubs established in my community! We are united, especially to design such beautiful clubs. And thanks for distributing so many toys and allowing us a place to read the books, play, and learn for fun.”

— Chhinh Chorvy, children’s club volunteer (Cambodia)

SUPER SPLASH Water Well

58 donations RAISED $144,050 at $2500 each

Medicine

“Many people come for medical support. This has benefited parents who bring children affected by diseases. We are able to do health education for our health centre services. I feel happy and appreciate the support this has given to our health centre in Bukiende!”

HIGH ROLLER

— Tapisa, nurse (Uganda) Dairy Cow

1,252 donations RAISED $200,355 at $160 each

From Tree to Table: From Tree to Table: A global food journey

Written by Eryn Austin-Bergen, Sarah Harrington, Isaac Jonas, and Colton Martin

Iwalk into the supermarket with my list of bright flavours to dazzle my dinner guests. I steer my shopping cart to the produce aisle, in search of something tropical. While prices in this area are steep this time of year, I’m prepared to shell out a little extra cash to treat myself and my friends. I turn a mango over in my hands, examine the skin for bruises, test it for just the right softness, and smell for sweetness. Satisfied, I select three, tick them off my list, and walk away, never pausing to consider just how far the mangoes have journeyed to grace my winter table. Sound familiar?

You can walk into any major Canadian supermarket at almost any time of year and buy a mango. Have you ever stopped to think how that can be? I mean, have you ever seen a mango tree in Canada? I can guarantee you they’re not flowering in Saskatchewan in March!

Global markets 101

Without global food markets, it would be impossible to access foreign fruit in our Canadian grocery stores. But what is a “global market”—that thing which facilitates almost every item we purchase, from a $5 T-shirt at a big box store to a high-end silver laptop.

Unlike trade that happens at your local craft fair or farmer’s market, a global market is not limited by geography. Rather, it involves goods (like mangoes), services (such as banking or shipping), and labour (like farm workers) of one country being traded (purchased or sold) to people of other countries.

In the Mango Grove

Canada’s mangoes originate in the pacific coast of Mexico, where the states of Baja California Sur and Sinaloa make up nearly 35 per cent of Mexico’s commercial mango production.4 To keep pace with demand, Mexico’s mango production is growing 3.7 per cent year-over-year!5

in landlocked Alberta can sit down to a dinner of grilled fish (Canada’s Atlantic coast) with herbed quinoa (Peru) and garlic butter asparagus (China), drink Bordeaux wine (France), and enjoy chocolate (Ghana) and a cup of coffee (Colombia) for dessert? Are there downsides to mixing diverse ecosystems and thousands of miles on one plate?

I don’t think any of us would argue that the mindblowing diversity and availability of food in our Canadian supermarkets isn’t fantastic. We love our fresh bananas from Hawaii and TimTams from Australia! We love them so much, we pretty much take their presence on the shelves for granted. Rarely do we question whether we should have mangos in March. I mean, why shouldn’t we? Isn’t the globalization of our food system good?

Doesn’t buying a mango in Canada love these global neighbours who need my support?

Over the past century, the globalization of our food systems has taken some major turns. Mangos in March. Kiwis in July. Coffee in every home’s cupboard. Not to mention sushi, butter chicken, and burritos on demand. How is it that a family

Good for our nutrition and making us more open-minded by exposing us to different cultures? Good for the low-wage farm workers who need our markets to support their income? Good for all the pilots and truck drivers? Doesn’t buying a mango in Canada love these global neighbours who need my support? To explore these questions (and more!), we followed the journey a mango takes from tropical tree to Canadian table.

For example, a business located in Canada may purchase parts (goods) for one of its products from South Korea. The parts may be shipped by a shipping company from Greece (services) to an outsourcing firm in China for assembly (labour), then transported across transcontinental railroads for distribution in European retail stores, or through ecommerce anywhere in the world.1 This means someone in Attawapiskat, Ontario can purchase a computer from this Canadian company from the comfort of their own couch, never imagining how many countries and hands it traversed before landing on their doorstep in a home-delivered box.

Global food markets can involve just as many pairs of hands. With growing interconnectedness, our daily purchases in the supermarket can impact the livelihoods of families far away. Take, for instance, a mango.

The global market for mangoes was estimated to be around 17 billion USD in 2018 and is forecasted to grow by 6.4 per cent every year into 2025.2 Why? Because of rising demand, mainly from North America and Germany. In other words, because you and I want to eat mangoes. So, whose farmers should be getting richer by 6.4 per cent every year for four more years? In 2020, the top five mango exporting countries were Thailand, Mexico, Netherlands (primary port of entry and exit for European Union mangoes), Peru, and Brazil.3 Where do Canada’s mangoes come from?

With growing interconnectedness, our daily purchases in the supermarket can impact the livelihoods and wealth of families far away. Global market

Ever since the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect in 1994 (recently replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), Mexico has provided us with a huge amount of the fruit and veg we see in our stores, the bulk of which is commercially produced by large companies.6 They typically rent fields from farmers on five-toseven year leases.7 They farm the land intensively before moving on to a new area and starting over. Part of the agreement is to leave behind infrastructure—irrigation wells, electrical installations, and water extraction tools— for local farmers. If you’re thinking that sounds too good to be true, you’d be right.

When soil is farmed intensively, especially for a singular crop without rotation, the nutrients in the soil deplete with each harvest. This leads to struggling crops and infertile soil. The extraction of water from underground sources for irrigation often far outpaces the natural rate of replenishment.8 Irrigation can lead to the erosion of topsoil, which not only destabilizes trees and root systems, but can contaminate the local water supply with pesticides and other chemicals.9

Top Exporting Countries

17 Billion

Thailand

1 https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-global-marketplace-definition-lesson-quiz.html

2 https://www.tridge.com/intelligences/mango 3

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/ processed-mango-products-market 4 Tridge Market Guide, Mexican Fresh Mango, https://www.tridge.com/market-guides/MX-mango 5 González, Humberto. 2020. “What Socioenvironmental Impacts Did 35 Years of Export Agriculture Have in Mexico? (1980–2014): A Transnational Agri-food Field Analysis.” Journal of Agrarian Change 20 (1): 163–87. doi:10.1111/joac.12343. 6 Ibid 7 Ibid 8 González, Humberto. Socioenvironmental Impacts. 9 O’GEEN, ANTHONY TOBY, Orchard Floor Management Practices to Reduce Erosion and Protect Water Quality, https://ucanr.edu/repository/fileaccess.cfm?article=54262&p=%20NOEUZX

Netherlands Mexico Peru Brazil

In the region of San Quintin in Baja California Sur, such substantial damage was caused to the water supply by large-scale farming that the quality of drinking water was dramatically affected. This led to local protests and political clashes.10 Yet the companies responsible don’t stay to address these issues. Instead, they move on, leaving the local population with subpar land and compromised water.

There’s also ample potential for labour exploitation in migratory farming. When a company brings their operations to a new area, new jobs are created, which has the potential to enrich the local economy. However, new workers are often less organized and more willing to accept lower wages than experienced workers in the previous location.11 And even though labour laws prohibit children under 16 from working, kids can often be found harvesting alongside their parents.12

But not every orchard in Mexico has these issues. Smallholder farmers who have more control over their land and labour conditions also grow mangoes. But with large companies having such a substantial share of the industry, it can be difficult to make a go of it. And while the Mexican government offers subsidies to support small farms, their fruits are rarely exported, meaning they probably won’t reach our kitchens in Canada.13

As awareness about issues such as direct trade, resource depletion, and working conditions continues to grow, however, some large companies are paying attention and adapting their practices.14 And after a series of protests in San Quintin, some workers were able to negotiate better wages and conditions.15 These are budding signs that it is possible for increased justice to permeate our globalized food system, starting with how our food is grown.

Fresh, Frozen, Dried, and Pickled

Over Land and Through the Skies

Mangoes can be tricky to ship. A ripe mango has fragile skin and bruises easily, so they need to be picked green while they’re harder and tougher.16 But they still need to be moved quickly. Because of this time-sensitivity, it makes more sense for mangoes coming to Canada to be shipped via air, rather than land or sea. What cost does this have on our environment, specifically carbon emissions?

Different forms of transportation related to food production and shipment have different environmental implications to consider when weighing the benefits and costs of a globalized food system. “The global transportation sector is a major polluter and in 2020 produced approximately 7.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.”17 While passenger cars were the biggest source of emissions that year, road freight accounted for 29.4 per cent, shipping 10.6 per cent, and air freight 2.2 per cent.18

While more goods are moved by land than air, carbon emissions from air transport are roughly four times those of land shipment, and up to 30 times those of sea shipments.19 So, the environmental toll of getting a flat of mangoes flown all the way from Mexico to Canada is going to be a lot steeper per unit than moving hardier produce or locally grown products.

Research suggests, however, that in general, transportation related to the food industry accounts for only 4 per cent of a food’s greenhouse gas emissions, while production accounts for 83 per cent.20 So, let’s talk about post-harvest production.

Demand for processed mangoes is on the rise as consumers look for juices, fruit bars, and candies. The expanding market is good news for the millions of smallholder farmers in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America who earn their living selling mangoes to local and international consumers, yet who struggle against post-harvest losses, that is, losing fruit to rot or pests after it has been plucked from the tree.

In Africa and Asia, farmers have been known to lose an estimated 50 per cent—half!— of their crop during the main harvesting season.21 To address this loss, many exporting countries process the mangoes. Mangoes can be transformed into purees, canned or frozen slices, chutneys, pickles, curries, beverages, and various dried products that extend their shelflife. They can then be supplied to the market even outside the growing season.

pay for. These purchases are often motivated by emotional and social desire and culinary preference rather than a consideration of what is in season (loving the environment); who grew, harvested, processed, packaged, and moved our food (loving our neighbour); and what our bodies actually need and wallets can afford (loving ourselves). Whether the Mexican mango we buy is in or out of season, fresh, frozen, dried, or pickled, one thing remains the same—a desire to eat a tropical fruit means we are participating in a community of production larger than ourselves.

These purchases are often motivated by emotional and social desire...rather than a consideration of what is in season (loving the environment); who grew, harvested, processed, packaged, and moved our food (loving our neighbour); and what our bodies actually need and wallets can afford (loving ourselves).

All this processing, this “value add”, generates jobs which provide income to families who might not otherwise have work. However, it also consumes precious water and energy, and produces waste. In addition, everytime a mango is processed or packaged, the farmer’s share goes down. So, while processing the fruit presents a solution to one problem—post-harvest losses for the farmer— it also requires more resources and potentially shortchanges the farmer.

Consumer Power

One of the foundational drivers of the global food market is consumer demand, that is, what you and I say we want to eat and are willing to

How? Nations specialize in producing and trading foods they are uniquely advantaged to grow and leverage for income. For example, the Canadian prairies are well suited to growing cereals. They are not, however, suited to growing coffee. Yet the Canadian consumer demand for coffee last year totaled 298.8 million kilos.22 Lucky for us, Colombia has the perfect climate for growing coffee. So, instead of growing food for their own consumption, Colombia produces and exports coffee, then imports cereals from countries like Canada. The result? The Canadian demand for coffee now has control over a share of Colombia’s economy, while their people are dependent on countries like Canada to produce their basic foods. When events like the COVID-19 pandemic shut down agricultural production and import/export capacity, the average Colombian family depending on imported food may go hungry.

10 Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12 VICE News, The Fruits of Mexico’s Cheap Labor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT6AvAhDx8Q

13 Tridge Market Guide, Mexican Fresh Mango 14 http://www. underthemangotree.crespoorganic.com/2019/01/21/the-fruits-of-crespos-labor/#more-1932 15 VICE News 16 https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/HITAHR_04-06-93_100. pdf 17 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185535/transport-carbon-dioxide-emissions-breakdown 18 https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-transport 19 https://pubs.acs. org/doi/10.1021/es702969f 20 Ibid. 21 Owino, W. O., & Ambuko, J. L. (2021). Mango Fruit Processing: Options for Small-Scale Processors in Developing Countries. Agriculture, 11(11), 1105. 22 https://www.statista.com/statistics/448852/coffee-consumption-canada

What does coffee have to do with mangoes from Mexico? It’s another example of how our preferences can have incredible global reach and impact families thousands of miles away. How, then, will we choose to leverage our buying power?

So…what’s the point?

Our mango has journeyed a long way. So long, in fact, we may have forgotten why we started following it in the first place! We got a hankering for something tropical and paused to ask the question, “Should we buy mangoes in March in Canada?” Which got us rolling into the globalization of food markets; farmers versus large corporations; degraded soil and polluted air; innovative processing and job creation; desire, diversity, and deliciousness. One thing’s for sure—our food systems are complicated!

eating what is locally and seasonally possible? As we’ve seen, there are pros and cons to purchasing mangoes in a sub-arctic region and it wouldn’t hurt to ask a few more questions about all of our food. Questions like, “Does this purchase love the land it was grown in? Does it help or hurt the farmer and factory worker? Does it feed me in ways I truly need to be fed?” And, ultimately, “Does my purchase of this food love God?” Because we cannot love God without loving our neighbours (1 John 4:20).

Does my purchase of this food love God?’ Because we cannot love God without loving our neighbours.

And perhaps that’s the real point of this mango journey—to realize our food (and all our purchases) connects us to people and land far beyond our daily experiences, to ourselves and to God in ways we rarely reflect on. And whether or not we can see the global difference our personal decisions make, knowing our values and consistently living them out draws us deeper into the flourishing God has planned for our lives. So let’s encourage each other to make compassionate and courageous choices when we wheel our food up to the till.

Poetry from Farzana Akter

Because Canada does not usually experience widespread food shortages, we don’t often think about food security. But helping families in FH partner communities become independent of unpredictable global markets and resilient toward shocks caused by climate change and global disruptions like COVID-19 is a top priority. FH teaches people to sustainably grow their own food for consumption and develop local food markets for income, while still connecting to national or even global markets to sell cash crops, like coffee. Moving communities away from monocropping and dependence on foriegn appetites reduces their risk of hunger and gives them more freedom and agency over their own health, their own lives, their own futures.

Should we in Canada also consider a return to

Now what?

Food for the Hungry Canada’s stated purpose is to end poverty—one community at a time. This involves the reconciliation of four primary relationships—with God, self, others, and creation. Want to learn more about the complex nature of poverty and how we can heal relationships and help each other thrive? Join us at Flourishing: Overseas and over your fence, a two-day virtual conference featuring local and international experts.

fhcanada.org/flourishing

JOIN SHELAINE AND A WIDE VARIETY OF GUESTS ON SEASON TWO OF THE ENDING POVERTY TOGETHER PODCAST FOR REAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT REAL SOLUTIONS!

POVERTY IS MESSY, BUT THE SOLUTIONS CAN BE BEAUTIFUL.

Repent. Forgive. Repair. Repeat.

A hard-won reconciliation

Written by Sarah Harrington

Picture this: You’re at home, settling in with popcorn and the latest binge-worthy Netflix show, when you hear shouting through the wall. This isn’t the first time you’ve heard your neighbours argue, so you turn up the volume and make a note to avoid eye contact when you pass them on the sidewalk.

Conflict touches all of our lives, whether we’re the avoidant neighbour, the child listening to parents argue, or the spouses caught in a toxic cycle of disagreement. Maybe we’ve grown used to a world of unhealthy conflict, but isn’t there some way to address this brokenness?

Well, we might have something to learn from communities in Rwanda about reconciliation.

If you met Evalde and Rosette from Busekera today, you’d be struck by how well this husband and wife get along. They support each other fully and split the work of raising their beautiful family. You’d certainly have no idea they were once the couple that neighbours heard arguing.

“I was raised in a family of five children and I was the only boy. Everything was done by my sisters and I was treated like a king,” admits Evalde. “After

marriage, I didn’t change my attitude. I thought everything should be done by my wife.”

Evalde’s attitude led to serious conflict. While he spent his days at the local pub, Rosette worked to the bone trying to provide for their children. When he returned home, they argued about money. It wasn’t a healthy situation for them or their three children.

But this began to change when Evalde and Rosette attended a Savings and Loans group meeting and heard a leader speak about reconciliation. Evalde felt the message strike him. It took courage, but Evalde and Rosette humbled themselves and asked the leader for help.

Enter Magnifique, a community leader trained in conflict resolution by Food for the Hungry (FH).

In Rwanda, many student dropouts come from families experiencing conflict. These children don’t see healthy role models at home, and are also deprived of the support system at school. This can have dire consequences for their futures.

Magnifique knew that, for the sake of Evalde and Rosette and their children, it was time to use his Food for the Hungry training.

During the workshops with FH, Magnifique worked through a biblical model of conflict resolution. In simple terms: repent, forgive, and repair. For Evalde and Rosette, that structure looked something like this.

This new peace between their parents has been an amazing thing for their kids, who now have a healthy and nurturing home environment. “My children used to be afraid of me,” Evalde explained. “But today, we’re friends.”

“Before, everyone in the community knew me as a bad father. Now, it’s a miracle to see my family living in harmony.”

Evalde

Repent. During home sessions with Magnifique, Evalde had a change of heart and realized his attitude toward women needed work. For his family to be healthy, he couldn’t keep shirking his responsibility as a husband and father. Forgive. After seeing her husband’s changing mindset, Rosette came alongside Evalde to find a new form of communication other than arguing. Repair. Evalde and Rosette worked with Magnifique to determine a healthy way to work through their issues. Now, they take equal responsibility for their family, supporting each other through the hardships and the successes.

Reconciliation doesn’t happen overnight, but Evalde and Rosette are committed to this path. They regularly participate in meetings with their savings group and are even acting as a model for how to overcome conflict within families.

Conflict touches all of our lives— but so can reconciliation. We just have to be willing to work at it. The next time you pass by a neighbour who is struggling, don’t avoid eye contact. Instead, remember Magnifique, who stepped in to help a family in need. When you’re stuck in an argument going in circles, consider Evalde, who humbled himself. And when you’re faced with someone who is admitting they’re wrong, think about Rosette, who had the courage to forgive.

FH Canada believes that poverty isn’t just a lack of material things. Poverty is about broken relationships with God, self, others, and creation—and it affects all of us! To learn more about reconciling a broken relationship with a neighbour, friend, or family member, visit fhcanada.org/Education.

—

Rosette and Evalde had the vulnerability to share their struggles with others, the courage to forgive, and the grace to change.

THE BEAUTY OF

THE BEAUTY OF BROKENNESS BROKENNESS

Written by Shelaine Strom

As a young adult, Elaine Cheng was a machine of activity. It all started in university when she began working her dream job as Program Assistant to the manager of the Health Check BC Dining Program— an organization that audits restaurants to ensure compliance to health standards.

After completing a Master’s degree in Italy, Elaine returned to Canada to launch and run six businesses, reaching the peak of her entrepreneurial ventures in her early 30’s.

Elaine worked with university students and the government to reduce food waste. She gave oversight to a church ministry, and made a food documentary series. Her food consulting business served a range of client portfolios, including a commissary kitchen where entrepreneurs from all over the city came to prepare their products and get free business tips from Elaine. She launched a cooking classes for group birthdays in her family’s restaurant, and ran a successful event business.

All the while, her identity became more and more wrapped up in her capacity to change the world around her.

Elaine soared with the challenge, success, and opportunities to influence others. Until she didn’t.

Just before Christmas in 2018, at only 33 years old, Elaine got a fever and for four days couldn’t get out of bed. She assumed that the fever would

pass and she would resume her adrenaline-packed pace of life. Instead, after the fever, an unexpected depression set in and her capacity disappeared. Her boundless energy and drive vanished and an inner battle began to rage.

For the first time in her life, Elaine felt shaky, fearful, anxious. Humbled and scared, she began a slow, deep, and painful journey. “I had to reconcile that part of me [anxiety] with myself because I really hated it.”

When her ability to do was stripped away, Elaine wasn’t sure how to be. “I guess I had a fragile sense of worth because I tied my identity to success,” she reflects.

Over the last three years, Elaine has walked with God on an intense journey of self-discovery and reconciliation to the realities of her own limitations.

Elaine is recognizing the need to live from deep within herself, from her relationship with God, and not rely simply on her skills.

A piece of Elaine’s journey to deeper acceptance of herself has come from her recently embraced role as a facilitator with Food for the Hungry’s Ending Poverty Together Workshop, where root causes of poverty are explored.

The reconciliation with self that Elaine is experiencing rises, in part, from a willingness to address childhood issues and trauma that have shaped her behaviour as an adult. “It’s super uncomfortable,” Elaine admits. “I didn’t want to touch that root thing because the world sees the outside and doesn’t see the [inner] crumbling, fragile thing as beautiful.”

But it is beautiful.

God is using Elaine’s willingness to dip deeply into the causes of her own brokenness—her own pride, her own mess—to empathize and connect with others. She’s able to help those who share similar stories of incredible worldly success, like celebrity chefs, renowned food writers, and culinary consultants, but who struggle with mental health and feelings of isolation and worthlessness. The authenticity and vulnerability of her story is drawing people to her, to God.

Elaine also credits some of her ongoing healing to the people God has brought into her life who are living on the margins.“The very people who are in the marginalized community—the ones I’m trying to help—they humble me and teach me otherwise. They are some of the most resilient and courageous people I’ve ever met.

Elaine describes her newly found life philosophy: “The only way I know how to connect with people is to put down the professional consultant-type veil and just be real.” Be real with God and her self.

FH Canada believes that poverty isn’t just a lack of material things. Poverty is about broken relationships with God, self, others, and creation—and it affects all of us! To learn more about reconciling a broken relationship with self, visit fhcanada.org/Education

Cooking classes at Elaine’s father’s restaurant.

This diminutive powerhouse is out to change the world. But first she’s changing herself.

Elaine is a high capacity creative who’s learning the invaluable importance of inner quiet.

“I just want you to know your value for being you—not for what you do, what you produce, or where you can give.”

— Elaine Cheng

Poverty

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