The Spirit of Environmental Justice: Resurrection Hope in Urban America
Author: Wallace, Mark I.1
Source: World Views: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, Volume 12, Numbers 2-3, 2008 , pp. 255-269(15)
Publisher: BRILL
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Abstract:
Using the resources of prophetic religion, and with special reference to the blighted city of Chester, Pennsylvania, I argue that lack of access to affordable, nutritious food is an environmental justice problem embedded within a host of other social and economic problems. A holistic analysis of the dysfunctional web that ties together seemingly disparate social pathologies can make sense of, and provide solutions for, the eco-crisis, including the food crisis, in urban communities today. I offer a case study of a grocery co-op in Chester as a successful experiment in sustainable food justice and participatory democracy that directly confronts the urban crisis, including the rising incidence of obesity and diabetes in under-resourced communities. By avoiding a carbon-intensive food regime, the Co-op is a living parable of how local food choices can undergird the health of consumers along with the bio-systems that support this and future generations of humans, animals, and plants. I conclude that the powers of resurrection hope and biblical justice are compelling resources for combatting the mean-spirited politics of greed and power that drive the downward cycle of American cities today.Keywords: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE; CHESTER, PA; FOOD SECURITY; RESURRECTION HOPE; AMERICAN CITIES; SUSTAINABILITY
Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1163/156853508X360019
Affiliations: 1: Department of Religion, Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave, Swarthmore PA USA
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