LOAF Campaign Letter
Updated for 2013:-
Letter to send:- CEL LOAF Campaign for Sustainable Food to be served in Christian Premises
LOAF: – Locally produced, Organically grown, Animal friendly, Fairly traded
We are asking you – our members and supporters – to promote the LOAF campaign.
Could you modify as you wish, print and send the letter below to your local church leader, district chair, diocesan office, cathedral or other large church with a refectory or eating place, or to a Christian holiday, retreat, conference centre, school or college you know?
Send the letter with a copy of CEL’s new, full colour ‘Use your LOAF’ leaflet. Download the leaflet or send for it in printed form from jill-publications@christian-ecology.org.uk
Download the letter as a word file here, or copy and paste the letter below.
- Order some full-colour ‘Use your LOAF’ leaflets for distribution during Fairtrade Fortnight: 25 Feb -10 Mar 2013
- Start the ball rolling in your own church by serving LOAF PANCAKES on Shrove Tuesday 12 Feb 2013 and make them with local free range eggs, organic milk and fair trade sugar or syrup.
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Dear
As a supporter of Christian Ecology Link (CEL), I feel that many present aspects of food production imperil the wellbeing of creation. This is why I am writing to tell you about CEL’s food campaign – LOAF – and to ask you to consider following these guidelines.
CEL is asking churches, cathedrals, districts, diocese offices, and Christian holiday, retreat and conference centres, schools and colleges to try to source food which is:
- Locally produced… supporting local and national farmers and producers strengthens local economies and communities, and lowers carbon emissions. We need to combat the nonsensical policy of importing food which could be, and indeed is, grown and produced here only for export.
- Organically grown…subsidised industrialisation of agriculture leads to severe biodiversity losses, to soil depletion, water pollution and agrochemical resistance. Organic farming is key to the recovery of interdependent ecosystems. Supporting organic production is also central to the struggle against GM biotechnology, which poses threats to other crops (via cross-pollination) and biodiversity.
- Animal friendly… UK animal welfare standards are higher than many countries. But shops still sell produce from hens caged, beak-trimmed and bred for unnaturally fast growth rates; pigs confined to barren sheds, teeth clipped and tails docked, many pregnant sows in farrowing crates; turkeys in dark, dirty sheds where they develop lameness and burns. The wellbeing of animals is entrusted to us. Will you consider sourcing only free-range eggs and free-range, organic or outdoor reared meat? Also, a shift to a much higher proportion of vegetarian/vegan cooking is also vital as meat and dairy production requires far more land and water and is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions.
- Fairly traded…in a world where trade justice seems to recede and trade policies assist large producers rather than small producers, a commitment to serve only Fairtrade tea and coffee, for example, would signal support for the one certification guaranteeing minimum remuneration and community investment.
I feel that we are called to renew, heal and restore God’s creation: an immense commission only to be realized by infinitesimal everyday acts – in His grace.
Please find enclosed CEL’s new LOAF leaflet. More may be downloaded free from the Internet website : https://www.greenchristian.org.uk/resources/loaf
I look forward to your response.
Yours
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Do let us know how you get on.
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