Bringing farm­­­­-to­-table

Note: This is the first of a two-part series on ways the Diocese is responding to the Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’.

LITTLE FALLS  Without realizing it, clients of the Consumer Choice Food Pantry at the Father English Community Center in Paterson, have been enjoying some organic farm-to-table produce — thanks to the Secular Franciscans of the Most Holy Name Fraternity of the Third Order here.

Over the last year, the food pantry, part of diocesan Catholic Charities, has accepted small shipments of organically grown vegetables, fruit and eggs from farms in New Jersey, donated and delivered by Secular Franciscans. They continue to deliver dozens of pasture raised eggs twice monthly and will resume shipments of vegetables and fruit during the farms’ 24-week growing season from early June to November — part of their new effort to get involved in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), coordinated by Jim Andreano, a Secular Franciscan.

The fraternity’s latest project also has a spiritual purpose: to live out the principles of “Laudato Si’: on Care for Our Common Home,” an encyclical by Pope Francis. Writ­ten in 2015, the document emphasizes the interconnectedness of social, economic and environmental justice — including feeding the underprivileged and supporting local environmentally sustainable farms — in building and protecting the earth, Andreano said.

“With this, we have a two-fold mission: to support people on small farms who are being kind to the earth by using sound growing techniques — not using pesticides and not over tilling the soil — and supporting the Father English Center in helping to feed the people of Pater­son,” Andreano said. “This project has succeeded beyond our imaginings,” he said.

The fraternity’s Integrity of Creation Committee purchased “shares” — percentages of the yield of farms that participate in the Bloomfield-Montclair CSA throughout the season. The cost of the shares was $720 for the vegetables, $345 for the fruit and $120 for the eggs. In addition, some members of the CSA, an organization that supports local organic farms, were so touched by the Secular Franciscans’ efforts that they bought additional shares to be donated to the food pantry. Sometimes, the fraternity received some leftover produce from people who did not take their shares, Andreano said.

So far, the project has netted about $5,000 worth of food, donated by both the Secular Franciscans and the CSA members, Andreano said.

As part of this project, also inspired by the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Secular Fran­ciscans coordinate the pick up of the produce, which is transported from the farms to a house in Cedar Grove, one of the CSA’s three pick-up spots. The vegetables and eggs come from Circle Brook Farm in Andover while the fruit comes from Tree-licious Orchards in Port Murray. Then fraternity members deliver the food to Carlos Roldan, director of the Father English food pantry, for distribution to clients there, Andreano said.

CSAs are not co-ops and have no wholesalers or distributors. All of the money from the shares goes directly to the farmers who grow or raise the food, according to the website of the Bloomfield-Montclair CSA, https://bloomfield-montclaircsa.org, which has 200 members.

Two Secular Franciscans, Jody Pihokker and Maddi Romaine, are among those involved in the weekly pick-up for the fraternity.

“Our fraternity has not only discussed the principals of Laudato si’, but also we are doing something to bring the pope’s encyclical to life and that is so rewarding. I am pleased with everyone’s response. I’m grateful that our Franciscan family is playing a small role in providing some relief to the food insecurity that the pandemic has brought to so many people in the Paterson community,” said Pihokker, who noted that the need for food at the Father English pantry has increased significantly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “In the 92 years since the founding of our fraternity, we continue to bring Jesus’ message to the world,” she said.

With this project, the fraternity has responded to Pope Francis’ challenge in the encyclical that speaks loudly in the world in crisis today: “A sense of deep communion with the rest of nature cannot be real if our hearts lack tenderness, compassion and concern for our fellow human beings … Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society” (91). The pope also echoes the words of St. Francis of Assisi — the patron of the fraternity — writing, “When we can see God reflected in all that exists, our hearts are moved to praise the Lord for all his creatures and to worship him in union with them” (87).

Today, fraternity members, who hail from around the Diocese and beyond, continue to live out St. Francis’ spirit and energy. They conduct monthly virtual gatherings, which include spiritual formation, in the midst of COVID-19 social-distancing protocols. Over the years, the Secular Franciscans have focused their prayers and actions to help address the plight of immigrants who seek refuge, the homeless who need food and support, unjust racial unrest and of the looming ecological crisis, Andreano said.

Romaine called the fraternity’s involvement with the CSA project “a heartfelt privilege for us to be even a small part of this effort to help our sisters and brothers in Christ.

“If we can make someone’s day a little healthier and brighter, then we can feel like we are a part of the solution,” Romaine said.

“The food has always been really fresh. We give it away the next day. The people love it,” Roldan said.