Honor the Goodness of Creation Food production is one of the main land uses worldwide, including 46% of U.S. land area. It’s no wonder that irresponsible agricultural land management practices can add up to serious environmental problems, including degraded soil, water, and air quality, and habitat destruction.  Soil - Traditional agricultural practices and U.S. farm policy encourages the production of crops in such a way that causes tremendous damage to the land. Commodity payments are strictly production based and are offered only for certain crops. This leads to over-production of the land and skews crop choice toward commodities that are more damaging to the soil in which they are grown. Soil that has been subjected to this kind of treatment can be highly erodible and less productive. Water - Conventional agriculture requires the input of high volumes of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer. These chemicals do not disappear – they end up on and in our food and, through the processes of runoff and erosion, in our streams and rivers and groundwater. Accumulation of these chemicals in water can have an impact on water we use for drinking and recreation, as well as wildlife habitat. Agricultural nonpoint source pollution is the leading cause of water quality degradation in lakes and rivers, the second largest source of impairment to wetlands, and a major contributor to contamination of estuaries and groundwater. Habitat - Many natural habitats have been converted to agricultural land – in the last 300 years, cultivated land worldwide has increased by more the 500%. In the United States, we have policy to keep any more native prairie and wetlands from being converted to agricultural land and further depleting our native biodiversity, but this is not the case in the tropics. Demand for consumer products in the developed world, especially coffee, cocoa, sugar, palm oil, and soya, continues to drive deforestation, contributing to species extinction and the loss of important ecosystem services. Air - A shocking 17% of the fossil fuels used in the U.S. is consumed by our food production system. These fossil fuels go toward powering heavy farm machinery, processing foods, creating packaging, manufacture and transport of chemical inputs like fertilizers, refrigeration of foods during transport, and the transport itself of the food. On average, food travels at least 1,500 miles from the farm to your dinner table. Not only does this mean that you’re not eating the freshest tasting or most nutritionally powerful food, but the fossil fuel emissions from transporting food adds up. A study done by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University found that replacing 10% of Iowa’s produce consumption with food from a regional or local food system would decrease fuel consumption by 4-17% and CO2 emissions by up to 5-17%. Demand Justice for Producers As recently as 1920, one-third of the U.S. population lived on farms. Now, the number is less than 1% of the population. Thriving family farms are becoming the endangered species of the rural landscape. In the face of unfair competition and antiquated farm policy, it has become unrealistic or financially impossible for many families who work the land to continue farming. The United States has lost 4.7 million family farms since 1935 – this doesn’t just happen by accident. Access to the market is limited by large corporations that dominate the market. The potential for profit, innovation, and growth is limited as banks are reluctant to lend money to farmers. Obstacles in the way of potential new farmers are almost insurmountable. American farmers feed each and every one of us, and they deserve better. Provide Access to Healthy Food to All God's Children Foods at the supermarket can spend 7 to 14 days in transit before they reach your market, and the varieties sold are chosen primarily for their ability to withstand industrial harvest equipment and travel long distances. In fact, a supermarket tomato, is likely harvested when it was still green and hard, and was sprayed with a hormone to make it ripen. Our urban areas are plagued by "food deserts" and people in developing countries the world over live daily with hunger pains, even though there is enough food produced worldwide to feed us all. Healthy, nutritious and fresh food should not be a privelege of the upper classes. We as Christians must do better to esure that the most vulnerable among us are provided for and have access to food that will grow and nurture a healthy mind and body.