Take the Nature Challenge

 As a Christian who believes in the reality of the God who created all the beauty and wonder of this exquisite, complex and most perfect world that we live in, I am embarrassed that we as Christians have not more visibly led the quest for environmental stewardship and respect for the world we live in.

We talk about the sacrifices we make in our faith in not seeking first all the earthly rewards that others do, but are pretty paralytic when it comes to putting the real money where our mouths are … i.e., in “religiously” making environmentally sound and prudent choices in our lifestyles, even if it costs us more financially. 

 Walk into a Loblaws Superstore and tell me you are not tempted by all the luscious fruits and vegetables from (literally) all over the world and don’t salivate at the massive array of every type of decadent chocolate, myriad of exotic pre-prepared dishes, every possible combination and permutation of every food imaginable??!  But have you ever tried to imagine the inordinately increased cost to our environment to import and/or prepare each of those seductively tasty morsels?

I admit I am one of the first to cave in to the attraction of these overpoweringly tempting choices – both from a taste perspective and from the ease of preparation.  But David Suzuki challenges us to just take a few simple steps to at least begin to reverse the devastating effect of our gluttony on our immediate and global environment.

I challenge each of you to “Take the Nature Challenge“.  (I have!)

Next time you’re grocery shopping, think about it …

“The most important environmental criteria for buying food in Canada is to minimize the distance between field and table. It’s best to buy locally grown organic food. But given the choice between imported organic and local produce, buying local is better.

Buying local produce helps support Canadian farms located near urban areas and reduces the environmental costs associated with food transport.

Buying local produce also helps conserve precious farmlands and wildlife habitats. In Canada, the best agricultural land is located near our largest cities.

Keeping this land in production instead of converting it to strip malls and suburban housing will conserve fertile land and preserve biological diversity for the future.

The closer consumers are to their food producers, the greater the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from food transportation.”

from David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge