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Hello my name is Angela Smith and I'm the director of the Baltimore Food and Faith
project at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
I'm going to give you some tips on how to assemble a good food team and get
started on using the tool kit
this is the second video in a series of three that will orient you to the toolkit
the toolkit is a series of tools meant to help faith communities assess their
food policies and practices in terms of sustainability and justice
it also helps congregations figure out what changes they want to make in their
food environment
the toolkit involves a survey of current policies and a planning guide that helps
you use the results of the assessment to create an action plan for your
congregation
our focus here will be on stage one of completing the toolkit
this stage considers how to assemble a team of people who will work through the
toolkit
it also gets your congregation prepared for undertaking the assessment
and planning process
it may be helpful for you to have a copy of the toolkit especially pages two
through twelve in front of you as we go along
there are a number of ways to get a team together to complete the assessment
and of course you're welcome to come up with your own system for completing the
evaluation
some congregations have the entire team stay together to complete all four
sections of the evaluation
sometimes in just one day
sometimes doing just one section at a time
others form smaller teams from the larger one to work separately on each of the
four sections
however you decide to do it we recommend that you have at least two people working
on each section
that will help to ensure accuracy and encourage a number of creative ideas
for bringing about change
if you had some teams working on individual sections
make sure to bring the whole team back together to share results with each
other and to answer the planning questions and complete the action plan
it also does not matter in what order you do the assessment or how long it
takes you to complete it
just be sure you don't take so long that people lose their momentum and the initial
excitement that the process generates
the second thing to remember is to have fun
when you meet with your team make sure to relax share some good food
and be gentle with yourselves
no person or institution has all of the answers and no one person or institution
can have perfectly sustainable or just food practices and policies across
the board
the point is not to beat yourselves up for what you don't do
but to discover those things which your congregation is passionate about and
finds meaning in
use this process to learn together and to take steps toward creating a food
environment that reflects your community's interests and values
you'll get to where you want to be
even if it takes a little while
so now let's talk about how to actually get the right people together in the
same room
sometimes it can be tempting to try to go it alone
you're obviously someone who cares deeply about food sustainability and justice
issues
and it's not always the case that everyone else and your congregation
does too
that's okay
everyone a faith community plays a role and people with different passions are
doing good work in other areas
still it will be a lot easier for the congregation to make lasting changes
if they're more than a few people involved in the assessment and planning
process
so how do you get people involved?
first we suggest that you set up an appointment with your clergy or spiritual
leader
if your congregation has a governing body talk to them too and get their
support
even if they do not end up getting involved in the assessment it's
important for your leadership to be on board
their support with facilitate the changes you ultimately want to make
let them know why you're passionate about trying the good food toolkit
with your congregation
speak from your heart
but also know your facts
you'll want to show that you have done your research and that you have looked at this topic from
different angles environmental, social, economic, and so on
show them that the process will benefit your congregation
use some of the statistics and writings found throughout the toolkit to back up
why it's important for your congregation to tackle these issues
check out the success stories in appendix e of the toolkit
and share examples of what other faith communities are doing and what positive
results have occurred as a result of their work
if you find that you need information that's not in the toolkit you should always
feel free to get in contact with us
our contact information can be found on page four
we will be happy to do some research to find what you need
our website also has a whole bunch of resources including a list of
denominational policy statements that can be helpful
now identify a coordinator who can take the lead in managing the process this
might be you or it might be someone else or a couple of people who share the task
who cares deeply about these issues?
who is skilled at facilitating groups and has the ability to bring people to
the table who might not otherwise want to be there
who understands how the congregation functions and how changes are made
it's probably a good idea to choose someone who is well organized and can
keep people and the process on track
insuring that everyone has a voice and as many people as possible feel good
about the outcomes
it's not necessary for the coordinator to have any sort of background in
environmental stewardship or food justice issues
there will be enough people around the table to cover those needs
whoever manages the process should probably read the detailed instructions
for coordinators
this will walk the coordinator through how to lay the groundwork and assemble the team
this document can also be found on our website
now put together your good food team
or whatever you decide to call it
the team will be responsible for completing the evaluation and action plan
so make sure it includes people who have some free time to commit
some congregations use an existing committee like a creation care or social
justice ministry if they have one
others make a new subcommittee from the governing body or counsel still others
create a new team altogether
it's up to you
no matter where you house your team try to get as many people from your
congregation as involved as you can
besides the people who have an interest in food system issues
you also want to include people who know about the congregations food
environment
these people may have knowledge of religious education
grounds maintenance
kitchen use or other related expertise
you'll be looking at food as it relates to all of these different areas and it will
be very helpful to have involvement from people who can advise you in them
it's important to have a diverse group of people participating
you'll end up with a more accurate and complete assessment and a congregational
community that is on board with your changes
the connections and sense of community that develop among participants can be among
the most important results of this process
you may also want to take a few minutes during weekly worship announcements to
share the toolkit and the teams intentions with the entire congregation
inviting other members to join up
once you've gotten your team together you might start your meeting with a prayer
were reading to help center your group
you can use one of the relevant prayers or readings that we recommend in
appendix b of the toolkit
or chose one of your own
you might spark a conversation by posing some questions for participants
to discuss
what are the environmental, spiritual, and social justice consequences of the way
we eat?
how can improving our faith community's food policies and practices help us
put our faith and values into action?
why are we all gathered together to work on this?
now explain good food toolkit and its purpose in more detail
just like you did when you talked to your clergy or governing body explain
why it's important for your community to take this on and what benefits will
ensue
altogether come up with a process, timeline, and concrete steps for moving
forward
you might also list the roles and responsibilities of each of the team
members
who is doing what and by when?
once you've done this you will have successfully completed stage one
stages two and three involve actually evaluating your congregation's
food sustainability and justice policies in four different areas of congregational
life
and devising an action plan for making changes
the third training video will walk you through this process in detail
and that's that for training video two
I hope you now have some ideas about who might join your good food team and how you
can begin the process of evaluating your congregations food policies and
practices
thanks for tuning in