About six years ago, the Community of the Holy Spirit, an order of Episcopal nuns in New York, decided to begin growing their own food.  As part of a larger desire to heal their relationship with Earth, starting an organic farm was a way to reconnect more deeply with the sacred nature of creation and to live more sustainably. Turning the great lawn of their Brewster, NY branch house into a great big garden has involved a tremendous learning curve—everything from building soil health, to minimizing damage by bugs and critters, to selecting and saving seeds from season to season.  The more the Sisters came to learn about sustainability, the more they began to delve into those practices that no longer are passed down over generations: food preservation, cheese- and yogurt-making, weaving, wine-making, maple sugaring, and more.  In recognition of these “living arts,” and the abundantly rocky soil that constitutes their land, the Sisters have named this project "Bluestone Farm and Living Arts Center.” 

The Sisters' work is compelling, sparking inquiries, drawing visitors, and bringing people to come learn alongside the Sisters and to share in their work.  In addition to four Resident Companions, including myself (folks who live at and participate in the work of Bluestone Farm, and share in the Sisters’ worship life), this summer the Sisters hosted three young women as interns.  Working each day in the gardens, singing the monastic offices (Lauds, Vespers and Compline) and taking part in daily Eucharist, assisting with food preparation and preservation, and learning about the New Cosmology, our interns were fully immersed in all things food and faith.

The interns and I spent a good deal of time talking about ethics and food production—how what we eat is connected to how we care for the land, how we treat each other, and how we nourish ourselves.  Pesticides, the exploitation of farm workers, and the energy expended to grow, warehouse, and ship food—all of these are bound up in our current system of industrialized food.  Growing one’s own food, or getting to know your farmer, helps us to understand how plants grow and to appreciate the care they need, which enhances our understanding of the value of food. These issues have been laid out skillfully by many authors in recent years, including Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Barbara Kingsolver (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle).  

But beyond the ethics of our current food industry, what the Sisters have taught me, and what seems to have resonated most strongly with the interns, is that there is also a powerful spiritual dimension to food.  It’s one thing to appreciate Earth as God’s creation, and to begin to undo the mindset that conceptualizes the sea, soil, and sky as “resources.”  But what I’ve come to realize at Bluestone Farm is that food is truly sacred, as it is what allows us to be God’s hands in this world.  When we eat, we take in the energy of the sun, participating in a great energy exchange, and we have a responsibility to use that energy to further God’s work in the world.  The Sisters articulate this truth when they speak about food as “a source of compassionate action.”

What would happen in our society if we began to focus less on the number of calories, and more on the energy we get from food?  If we started with the realization that nutritious, nourishing food allows us to be more effective in the world?  Would we give up junk food, processed food, industrialized food?  Would we begin to feed our bodies as well as we would feed our souls? 

We are living in a time of growing awareness about food, and young people are creating important change within their faith communities.   What is happening at Bluestone Farm and Living Arts Center is happening all around the country in local parishes, and in places like the Good Earth Farm in Athens, Ohio, which grows food specifically for nearby food pantries, and the Abundant Table Farm Project, at California State University.  We pray that this movement continues to expand, interweaving food and spirituality, nourishing us all.

Young women who are interested in interning with the Community of the Holy Spirit are encouraged to visit our website, where more information and application procedures are provided.

Erin Martineau is a Resident Companion of the Community of the Holy Spirit, and serves as Farm Manager and Volunteer Coordinator for Bluestone Farm.

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