A Brief But Spectacular take on nourishing the mind, body and soul

Geoff Bennett:

Over the last five years, more than 170 churches have joined the Reverend Dr. Heber Brown III's mission to address disenfranchisement and food insecurity.

Tonight, Reverend Brown shares his Brief But Spectacular take on nourishing the mind, body, and soul.

Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III, Executive Director, Black Church Food Security Network:

One of the things that I learned about being a pastor was that so much of my work went far beyond Sunday morning.

I really was sharing life with people. And as I shared life with members of our church, I learned so much about the pressing matters of their lives, like their health, like their finances, like their food needs in their households, and that pulled my heart to do something more and do something different with respect to how I showed up as a pastor.

I was a pastor for 14 years. And, after 14 years, I left the pulpit, went to the farm, so my ministry continues, but now I'm kind of a preacher and a farmer altogether.

But while I was pastoring Pleasant Hope Baptist Church, I noticed that many of the members of our congregation were being hospitalized repeatedly for diet-related issues. When I noticed that pattern and I recognized that the nutrient-rich food that we needed was too expensive for me and our members, we started growing our own food.

I watched that garden transform the lives of the people of that church. The magic was in the garden and in the food. I was led to establish a national organization called the Black Church Food Security Network. The church has served as a hub for the African American community.

And so it only makes sense to utilize the existing assets of the church in order to address our food and health concerns. Now we're upwards of 250-member congregations and more than 100 Black farmers in our directory as well.

The misconception that the Black community is wholly deficient when it comes to addressing health challenges and food insecurity is a dangerous one, because what I have seen is that, in these same communities where there is high prevalence of diabetes and kidney challenges and heart disease, there are also the ingredients to help address and overcome those very challenges.

What we do have in Black communities is relationships, heritage, history, and, yes, faith institutions, many of which have been around for 100-plus years, that can serve as a stable bedrock and foundation for the co-creation of a more just, ethical food system that's better for people and the planet.

I'm Reverend Dr. Heber Brown III, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on nourishing mind, body and soul through African American church communities.

Geoff Bennett:

And you can watch more Brief But Spectacular videos online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.