Fred Bahnson, Director of the Food, Faith, and Religious Leadership Initiative at Wake Forest University School of Divinity  and author of Soil and Sacrament: A Spiritual Memoir of Food & Faith, participated at the Byron Program in Aschville, this past August 2014. 

Fred shared his journey with fellows, emphasising the struggle and discomfort it takes to transform a young, passionate heart insisting on change, to one that is synchronized with  mind and hand and is actively transforming community and its relationship with the Earth. Fred’s journey into permaculture, agro-ecology, community gardens and family has also been embraced by a deepening of faith and connection.

We invite you read Fred’s recent article in Yale’s Divinity School Magazine, a special issue on food and water, a compelling reflection on how “Gardens won’t save us” from the climate change crisis, but that will empower us, through loving  attentiveness and connection with soil, to initiate a new collective, ascetic and inspiring journey.