Faith and Food at Bristol's Big Green Week, 2013

Food, faith and the planet will take centre stage at Bristol’s Big Green Week – the UK’s festival of eco ideas, art and entertainment from June 15 -23 – as one of a series of debates, discussions and devotions organised by Bristol Cathedral in partnership with ARC.

This is the second year the Cathedral has taken part in Big Green Week and builds on the success of last year’s well attended talks, which included one by ARC Secretary General Martin Palmer.

The faith events open on Sunday June 16 with ‘Opening the Green Heart: Hope Led, not Fear Driven’. Bishop David Atkinson will lead the debate which looks at how hope can be renewed and ancient wisdom revived in the current crises.

On Monday 17 in ‘Naming and Knowing: Walking and Befriending the Earth’, Mary Colwell, film maker, writer, broadcaster and former ARC colleague, will lead a walk to Brandon Hill, “to name and know the story and the sites, flora and fauna, wells and waters, that have given life to our life”.

On Tuesday 18, in ‘Sharing Eden: From Common Roots Three World Faiths Share a Garden Story’, the faith authors – David Shreeve, Conservation Trust and Archbishop’s Adviser, Rabbi Natan Levy, Harfiyah Abdel Haleem – will explore the common heritage between their three faiths.

On Wednesday 19, ARC’s Faith in Food programme manager Susie Weldon will be one of the speakers in ‘Feeding the World’s 10 Billion without Destroying the Planet’, which will look at our faith response to the critical issues of diminishing natural resources and a growing global population. Timothy Gorringe, St Luke's Professor of Theology at Exeter University, will lead the debate which also features Lydia Nash of the IF Campaign, a coalition of international charities working to end global hunger.

In ‘Song of the Earth: St Francis, Happiness, Community and Communion’ on Thursday 20, Brother Samuel will speak of the Franciscan Community’s vision at Hilfield Friary, Dorset. That evening Joanna Macy will lead a facilitated group in ‘A Truth Mandala: Circle of Devotion and Hope for Creation’.

Finally, on Friday we will discuss the proliferation of food banks in the UK in recent years in ‘Food Banks and Food Sovereignty’. They are clearly meeting a need for people in crisis but what is their long term social impact? This will be a participative workshop with food practitioners at Hamilton House.