Religion
Someone who touched communion wafers distributed at Christmas Day services at New York church was infected with hepatitis A; virus is spread by ingestion so vaccinations urged
By Paul Vitello
The New York Times 2011-01-04
Remote Benedictine monastery in New Mexico becoming known for its traditional Trappist ales; monks in Europe have crafted beers and ales since Middle Ages
By Michael Haederle
Los Angeles Times 2010-11-07
Citing moral duty and directive to broaden concept of loving one's neighbor, faith-based groups mobilize to protect environment
By Larry B. Stammer
Los Angeles Times 2010-05-01
With many foods, but particularly with pork, you change your identity when you change your diet
By Francine Prose
Saveur magazine 2009-12-01
In answer to Passover question, "Why is this day unlike any other day?", alliances work to eliminate food deserts in Los Angeles
By Teresa Watanabe
Los Angeles Times 2010-03-22
Citing potential of GM crops as "weapon of hunger," doubts on their efficacy and questions of long-term effects, Catholic official urges caution, further study
Catholic News Service 2010-03-09
In country of 'infinite independence,' Muslim deli owners face choice between Koran, customers
By Daniel E. Slotnik
The New York Times 2010-01-03
Gathering residents, hope in recession-battered town
After diner, grocery and deli, and bait shop fall victim to recession, church opens mostly-volunteer, nonprofit cafe. With it, hope, life, coffee and pie (coconut, peanut butter, chocolate cream, lemon meringue) return to small Michigan community.
By Jennifer Guerra
National Public Radio/Morning Edition 2009-06-02
No pork, no Dunkin' for restaurateur, court finds
A Chicago-area operator of a Dunkin' Donuts store told to give up his franchise because of his religious objections to serving breakfast sandwiches with bacon, ham or sausage. Company accommodated restaurateur's Muslim dietary tenets for 20 years but reversed itself. Federal court ruled that withdrawing franchise was not discriminatory. And: Pork ban is only one tenet of halal food (click 'See also').
By Ahmeet Sachdev
Chicago Tribune 2009-04-01
Water concerns prompt EPA scrutiny of mountaintop removal permits
umaine.edu
Citing serious concerns about water quality, streams and fragile habitats, EPA plans review of permit requests for mountaintop removal coal mining. Form of strip mining blasts tops off mountains, dumps rock in valleys, burying streams. Industry group says action jeopardizes thousands of jobs. And: Faith-based groups cast opposition to mountaintop removal as 'creation care' and find political support (click 'See also').
By Mireya Navarro
The New York Times 2009-03-24
Slaughterhouse woes prompt disillusionment over kosher meat industry
With bail denied for leader and Agriprocessors filing for bankruptcy (click 'See also'), rival slaughterhouses scramble to fill Thanksgiving demand for kosher turkeys. For some, larger issue is disillusionment about kosher meat industry after evidence of Agriprocessors' labor, immigration law violations and possible cruelty to animals. Non-industrial, organic kosher meat gains in popularity.
By Lana Gersten
Forward 2008-11-20
Nutrition a new role for food pantries
In West Virginia, increase in needy coincides with food pantry organizers' understanding that diet-related disease is common. Some faith-based pantries become more selective about donations; each new client gets health screening before being invited to shop.
By Tara Tuckwiller
The Gazette-Mail (Charleston, WV) 2008-09-14
Diet discipleship beyond kosher and halal
Food, eating, moral values increasingly linked for those in faith-based communities. Congregants contemplate how God would want them to eat considering health, working conditions in food supply chains, environmental crises. One pastor feels accountable for parishioners' diet-related disease. At another church, most of ball field was converted to organic garden; homegrown tomato sandwiches star at annual picnic.
By G. Jeffrey Macdonald
Religion News Service; The Washington Post 2008-09-06
Balancing Ramadan fasts with prescribed consumption
For diabetics, Ramadan fasting means timing medicine and monitoring blood sugar levels. Religion's overarching belief is that Muslims should not harm their bodies, even for spiritual practices. And: Going without food or drink (or caffeine) between dawn and dusk for a lunar month sometimes leads to weight gain from overeating at nightly or early morning meals (click 'See also').
By Robert Mitchum
Chicago Tribune 2008-08-31
Group urges 'God Housekeeping Seal' for kosher slaughter
Rift grows over Iowa kosher slaughterhouse raid and its aftermath. Conservatives want rabbis to preach about stricter standards on slaughter that include wage standards, worker safety, animal welfare and environmental protection. Orthodox group calls slaughterhouse 'A-1 place.' And: Rabbis' work stoppage at plant signals cash-flow problem (click 'See also').
By Julia Preston
The New York Times 2008-08-23
The chocolate thieves
Israeli chocolate factory doubles up on shifts to replace 99 tons of chocolate stolen at height of Passover preparation. Police think thieves neutralized alarms, covered camera lens with tape, then hauled pallets of chocolate away on trucks. One ton has been recovered in Kabul neighborhood grocery store; company usually makes 1,000 tons a month.
By Fadi Eyadat
Haaretz Newspaper 2008-04-11
Lightness of being
After study a decade ago showed link of obesity to higher levels of religious participation, churches strengthened commitment to ministry beyond spirit, to body. But after follow-up study in 2006, researcher says that church is contributing to public health problem by condoning high-fat foods at fellowship. Faith-based weight-loss programs spring up: Light Weigh, Freedom Weight Loss Program, and First Place.
By Colette M. Jenkins
Akron Beacon-Journal (OH) 2008-03-11
Saying grace
Move toward buying more local and organic foods reflects value judgments and is returning morality to the table, says member of group that celebrates theories of economist E.F. Schumacher. It is the antithesis of the modern economy, which reduces relationships to those of maximum use.
By Michael Gordon
Times Union (NY) 2008-01-19
Daily bread
Beyond farming, there's natural agriculture, a devotional practice that the Shumei religious community believes is our fundamental connection to the natural world. Our relationship with our world should be humble coexistence. Eschewing pesticides, farmers watch the bugs eat crops to learn how to make next year's effort more resistant.
By Lisa M. Hamilton
Orion Magazine 2007-09-01
Temptations
Arrival of the sub sandwich truck in ultra-Orthodox Jewish enclave splits community into would-be customers and those, whom some say are a vocal minority, who think the truck is encouragement to eat purely for pleasure, or believe that it will encourage male-female mingling.
By Michal Lando
Jerusalem Post 2007-11-01
Feeding a fighter
As fires rage near California's Running Springs, Hasidic rabbis at Camp Gan Israel welcome soot-covered fighters with chicken, salami, cold cuts, baked potatoes, rye bread and sodas - and spiritual strength through the stories they tell.
By Martha Mendoza
The Associated Press 2007-10-25
Fasting and faster?
Fasting for Ramadan was no hindrance in performance for Denver Broncos' Hamza Abdullah and other professional athletes who cite better focus with hunger, but others find water, nutrition depletion a distraction.
By Neil MacFarquhar
The New York Times 2007-10-13
Opinion: Eating less
Fasting for Ramadan helps writer with self-discipline and in achieving greater awareness of a plentiful food supply, the tendency for lavish spreads during iftar and their distraction from religion, and the extent of food waste.
By Aziz Junejo
The Seattle-Times 2007-09-15
Breaking the fast:
In large tents around Istanbul, hundreds of celebrants (and some tourists) gather for iftar, the meal that signifies the end of a day's worth of fasting and prayer during Ramadan; diners ate soup, stewed meat and rice, and baklava.
By E. Baris Altintas
Today's Zaman (Turkey) 2007-09-17
Opinion: Temple of food:
To celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi with modak - dumplings stuffed with coconut and jaggery - or moon-shaped karanji, or to eat stellar Indian food, go no farther than the nearest temple, where the prices are low, writer says.
By Chidanand Rajghatta
Times of India 2007-09-16
Growing spirit:
Long the designated caretakers of the poor and disenfranchised, religious communities find their interests growing toward farming and food production for reasons including humane treatment of animals, fair wages to workers and stewardship of the Earth.
By Joan Nathan
The New York Times 2007-08-22
Opinion: Healing garden:
Near the site of a murder that ripped a North Carolina town apart, the Anathoth Community Garden now grows, the gift of a black woman to a white church, and now the working poor find food at their door, and the town is finding a new peace.
By Fred Bahnson
Orion Magazine 2007-07-01
Feeding the hungry:
Religious brother skips "jogging for Jesus," instead choosing to spend the last 25 years growing potatoes, beans, squash, carrots, beets, raspberries and other staples in a massive garden, most of which goes to community food bank in Canada.
By Andrew Hanon
Edmonton Sun (Canada) 2007-08-20
Fixing the system:
Religious groups mobilize around the farm/food bill, speaking of justice and the urgent need to fix broken food system, from nutrition programs and energy policy to farmers and the wellbeing of the people they feed.
By Joe Orso
La Crosse Tribune; Associated Press, Wisconsin State Journal 0000-00-00
Growing sprouts
Community activists gather and build a garden for children in apartment complex; the program is part of a larger effort of education on nutrition, food security and self-sufficiency in Ohio community.
By Mike Ludwig
The Athens News (OH)
Behind bars:
District judge orders prison to provide kosher meals for Muslim inmate after he sues Tecumseh State Correctional Institution to request them, citing religious requirements; officials complained that special meals would raise food and preparation costs and possibly cause resentment in other inmates.
Associated Press; Sioux City Journal