Thursday, March 29, 2012

NAFTA and Noah: lessons from covenant

Breakfast: toast and grapefruit
Lunch: apple, carrots, almonds, cereal, etc
Dinner: Pizza, strawberries

Origin of one Item: The strawberries came from CA. They were organic, but I know that strawberries are one of the top 12 foods for highest pesticide use, aka the Dirty Dozen. And the distance they traveled is about 2,000 miles.

Theological Reflection:
I ate strawberries from Mexico in March. Ugh. I feel like I've broken my Lenten agreement with myself to pay better attention to what I eat. The word translated often translated as covenant in the Bible  (berit in Hebrew) can also describe contracts/covenants/agreements of a more legal nature between equals. Other times it is used to describe a more existential agreement between God and humanity--decidedly non-equals.

This multi-layered use of berit makes me think of NAFTA(North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement), which is one reason I can get cheap strawberries from Mexico. The "free" market drives our cheap corn to them, making it so what is worth their while is to grow berries cheaply for thousands of Jamba Juices. Thus, NAFTA I would claim, is the sort of unequal berit. Yet not in a good way.

For Noah, the unequal, unconditional nature of God's covenant is forever. It doesn't matter what sort of wrongs people do--God will deal with that on a case by case basis--but never will there be ultimate destruction of the Earth. For his end, Noah has obligations, but they are dictated by God. He doesn't have much negotiating power in this agreement. Noah listens, and the agreement is that God will continue to love humanity.

I think Mexico may be a bit like Noah in this context, with little negotiating power. Whether or not Mexican farmers would rather grow corn for Mexicans and not strawberries for Americans --that doesn't quite matter. Tthe US dictates the terms, and Mexico must comply. Often times this is the case.  The "developing" countries can get strong-armed by trade "agreements" where they don't have much say.

Now, lucky for humanity, God's berit/agreement is unconditional and everlasting. But no country is God. While it is true that we in the US may have more dollars, the Christian message claims that we are not of greater value. Further,God's covenant with Noah extends to "to all living beings..."(Gen 9:16) What a different food system we'd have if our own treaties were based off the assumption that all life is included, but grounded in the reality that we are all flesh--that none of us are God. How differently would we eat, eating as equals?

Erika

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