Couple Drives Cross-country on “Eat Well Food Tour”

CRWRC Newsroom | June 12, 2009

Today begins a six-week road trip for a young couple who have loaded up their Volkswagen diesel and set out to talk with faith communities across North America about the connection between their spiritual beliefs and the food they eat.

Why faith and food?

Rob and Kristen Vander Giessen-Reitsma, co-founders of the non-profit organization *culture is not optional (*cino), believe that food has had a myriad of roles in human history – from basic nourishment to becoming the central element of some of religions’ most sacred rituals. The pair is an active part of a grassroots movement in America that considers the production and use of food a matter of being equitable and just.

*cino’s website asks if people of faith can, given that today’s global food system benefits some while leaving others hungry, eat in a way that sustains life and fulfills humanity’s role as stewards of the earth: Should personal values influence food-related habits around the table and beyond?

“The purpose of the Eat Well Food Tour is to help families and churches develop daily practices that relate eating and food to faith,” Kristen Vander Giessen-Reitsma says. “We will be driving, teaching, talking, and networking around that connection over the summer months. We want to help people begin to think and talk about the ways they interact with food – what they eat and how it’s produced.”

The Tour will take the Van Giessen-Reitsmas to a dozen or more locations in North America, making multiple stops at whole foods businesses, organic farms, greenhouses, farm markets, and churches in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan, and Ontario. For a full list of locations or to request an event in your area, go to www.cultureisnotoptional.com or www.eatwellfoodtour.com.

The Vander Giessen-Rietsmas have made the practice of eating faithfully a lifetime pursuit that rose from an ongoing desire to live faithfully in their everyday lives.

Since the inception of *cino eight years ago, the couple’s work has grown to include Catapult, a biweekly e-zine; the biennial Practicing Resurrection conference; a quarterly print publication called road journal; a book series that includes food and justice road maps; World Fare, a fair trade store located in Three Rivers, Michigan; a *camping is not optional event at Russet House Farm in Cameron, Ontario; and an annual Festival of Faith and Music at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“This summer’s workshop will challenge you to consider the story you tell when you eat,” the Vander Giessen-Reitsmas say, “and to think about whether it’s a story that’s consistent with your beliefs. How might you learn to eat well – and allow food to feed your faith?”

The Eat Well Food Tour is a free and co-sponsored by the Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice. Kate Kooyman, a Congregational Justice Mobilizer for the denomination, notes that while summer is an off time for many faith groups, it can also be a great time for food, fellowship, and a relaxed conversation about faithfulness in eating.

For more information, to arrange an interview, or schedule a workshop in your area, contact Kate Kooyman at 616-648-6068 or email kkooyman@crcna.org. For the Eat Well Food Tour workshop schedule, daily trip blog, and promotional materials, go to www.eatwellfoodtour.com.