Advocating for Sustainable Agriculture and Nutritious Food for All
Catholic Rural Life is a long-time advocate on behalf of family farmers and farm communities. Our advocacy work for fair and just federal policies on agriculture and nutrition programs–especially the Farm Bill–is highly regarded by family farmers and faith-based groups alike. As a representative of the Church, Catholic Rural Life strives to speak truth to power and join in solidarity with farmers, ranchers and producers whose generosity, graciousness and stewardship of the land serves the common good of all creation.
Through a program called Faith, Food and the Environment, we collaborate with agricultural leaders and encourage them to make the connections between their faith and food production. Through resources like The Vocation of the Agricultural Leader, we call upon farm and food production leaders to be moral agents in the complex and competitive world of modern agriculture.
For Catholic Rural Life members and supporters in general, we provide educational and advocacy resources that help shape public policy and institute ethical agricultural practices. As a catalyst for social change, CRL works “for a new earth where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).
The Value of Community: Learning for the Greater Good
[Editor’s Note: The following article is from the Catholic Rural Life Magazine, Fall 2019 issue. To read the full pdf…
Blog
An Ecological Conversion in Our Own Backyards
Saint John Paul II has stated that we, as a people, are in need of an “ecological conversion.” During his…
Blog
Dream of Wild Health Farm Visit
On August 16, I visited the Dream of Wild Health Farm in Hugo, MN with the CSJ Native American Awareness…
Blog
The $800 Disk
In the spring of 1993 I was looking for a good field disk and gave Auctioneer Glen of Springfield a…
Blog
A Very Extraordinary Day
As I sit trying to come up with the right words for this column I have written and deleted and…
Blog
The Meaning of “Farm to Table” with Ron
[Editor’s Note: An excerpt of the following appears in CRL’s Spring 2019 Magazine, Our Farms to Our Tables. CRL interviewed…
Blog
The Meaning of “Farm to Table” with Tom
[Editor’s Note: An excerpt of the following appears in CRL’s Spring 2019 Magazine, Our Farms to Our Tables. CRL interviewed…
Blog
Easter Sweet Bread
“One evening, Monsignor Hellriegel was describing the finding of the “Alleluia” egg in his family. The story was becoming more…
Blog
Our Yard Farm
I fancy myself a country boy – from a small Arizona town where I grew up surrounded by (very small…
Blog
The New Farm Bill
On December 20, 2018, President Trump signed into law the 2018 Agriculture Improvement Act, commonly referred to as the farm…
Blog