StewardshipOfTheEarth

The Chancel of Valley Presbyterian Church

Valley Presbyterian Church
945 Portola Road - Portola Valley, CA 94028

Stewardship of the Earth

Valley Presbyterian Church and its community of members are committed to becoming better stewards of the earth by studying how we use energy and natural resources, by making such use increasingly efficient and mindful, and by living our lives and making our choices to create a healthier, more sustainable world.

Our goals are:

sponsor a series of educational programs about environmental topics (presented April/May 09)
conduct a thorough audit of our energy and resource use and make improvements as indicated (completed 12/2009, improvements made in early 2010)
reach out to other organizations that support better stewardship of the earth and the God-given natural systems on which all of life depends
encourage all our members mindfully to consider how they might become better stewards of the earth as well. Read our research on Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) in our area, courtesy of Michael Thompson.

VPC is now a pick-up point for Blue House Farm, Pescadero, which provides seasonal vegetables, flowers and/or eggs from mid-May to November. (deliveries arrive on Friday afternoons and can be picked up between 3-7 pm) Details can be found at their web site. This is a project of the Stewards of the Earth Committee. For more information about the project, or to join, contact Blue House Farm directly.

Did you know?

Locally-grown/raised food uses less transportation resources to get to you.

Selecting organically grown fruits and vegetables honors your body, the bodies of your family, and the bodies of the farm workers.

Through our food choices, we can discourage factory farms (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs) that pollute drinking water.

Through our food choices, we can encourage supermarkets that treat their workers fairly (fair wages, health insurance).

Through our food choices, we can discourage the feeding of corn products to cattle and encourage grass-fed cattle that do not need antibiotics.

Through our food choices, we can encourage humane treatment of the livestock and poultry that nourish our bodies.

Eggs from chickens that range freely on grass have half the cholesterol of factory-farmed eggs (and mostly HDL), more vitamin E, beta-carotene and omega-3 fatty acids.

Grass-fed (free range) cattle have greater nutritional benefits and less danger of bacterial contamination that is very harmful to humans.

We have the following relevant books in our office available for checking out: (contact Mary Jo Alderson)

Ominivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization by Lester Brown

Cool Cuisine: Taking The Bite Out of Global Warming by Laura Stec