Eating: More than just a matter of Life and Death

If you are not able to join us on campus tonight, we will be live streaming on YouTube starting at 6:45pm (PST).

Join keynote speaker Norman Wirzba as he speaks on Eating: More than just a Matter of Life and Death. Andrea Perrett, Trevor Malkinson, and Karen Giesbrecht will join Norman in a discussion after his keynote.

Today’s dominant food system encourages people to think of food as a commodity that is to be secured (and enjoyed) as efficiently, conveniently, and cheaply as possible. But what if food is more than a commodity? In this presentation Wirzba will develop what it means, and what it practically entails, to grow and receive food as a gift from God. Come and learn how eating can be a window into and a witness to God’s redeeming, reconciling ways with the world.

Free public lecture.

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Norman Wirzba pursues research and teaching interests at the intersections of theology, philosophy, ecology, and agrarian and environmental studies. Current research is centred on a recovery of the doctrine of creation and a restatement of humanity in terms of its creaturely life. He is married to Gretchen Ziegenhals and is the father of four adult children. Norman serves as general editor for the book series Culture of the Land: A Series in the New Agrarianism, published by the University Press of Kentucky, and is co-founder and executive committee member of the Society for Continental Philosophy and Theology. He is currently the director of a multi-year, Luce Foundation-funded project exploring academic disciplines in light of the Anthropocene.

As a dietitian and a pastor Andrea Perrett loves exploring the connection between physical health and spiritual health and what that can mean for Christian witnessing communities. It is not surprising that most of the roles she stumbles into involve both food and ministry. She is the director of a church planting network through St Andrew’s Hall. Andrea has a MDiv from Vancouver School of Theology where she is currently working on a ThM in Missional Theology. Although a prairie girl at heart, after seven years in Vancouver, Andrea and her husband, Jordan, have embraced the West coast life and enjoy road biking and taking their goofy black lab on canoe trips.

Trevor Malkinson did a BA and MA in Philosophy, and was a chef for twenty years to pay the bills. He graduated from VST in 2016, and was ordained in the United Church of Canada in 2017. He’s currently the acting director of the West Coast Centre for (r)Evolutionary Theology. He lives in Courtenay, BC, with his wife and two young children.

Karen Giesbrecht is a registered dietitian with a particular interest in mental health, strong communities, good stories and real food. She wove all these together in Happy Colon, Happy Soul: An Exploration of Why and How we Share Food. At home in Vancouver, Canada, Karen takes great delight in sharing good meals with her family, friends, and those in her community who know hunger.