Ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan on food justice and Jesus
“Jesus was preaching to people who were in the middle of the worst farming and fishing crisis yet.”
Ethnobotanist and ecumenical Franciscan brother Gary Nabhan has written more than 30 books about food, ecology, botany, and justice. His most recent book, Jesus for Farmers and Fishers, focuses on religious and biblical aspects of food justice.
Why, after more than 30 books on such a wide range of topics, did you decide to write a book about Jesus?
To start with, Jesus has been along with me on all of these adventures. Also, I wanted to call attention to the way that people of many faiths have been the safety net in the form of food banks and soup kitchens and other food relief. They tend to get overlooked by activists and even academics who are interested in food justice and food security. I think that’s a shame, because faith-based groups have done the lion’s share of that work for well over a century in the United States and Europe.
