Washington, D.C., April 19, 2007--The National Council of Churches (NCC) USA's Eco-Justice Program is asking all people of faith to call their Senators and Representatives on May 2 and 3 to support strong conservation measures in the farm bill and help farmers to be good stewards of God's good creation.

The NCC is providing a toll-free phone number and a call script [available at http://www.nccecojustice.org/ED2007ActionAlert.html ] to help faith-based farm and food advocates communicate to their representatives that a strong conservation emphasis is critical in the 2007 farm bill.

Each year, the Eco-Justice Program chooses an Earth Day Sunday theme.  This year the theme is, "The Food that Sustains Us."  Thousands of congregations around the country will lift up agricultural issues during worship on Earth Day Sunday, April 22. Whether through a prayer, a sermon, a locally-grown potluck, of an Earth Day Sunday festival, churches are using Earth Day Sunday to draw connections between Christian principles of stewardship and justice to United States farm and food policy.

"We are compelled, as people of faith, to regard the land with reverence and respect," said Cassandra Carmichael, director of NCC's Eco-Justice Programs.  "We go about our breakfast, lunch, and dinner almost mindlessly. We ought to eat every meal with thanksgiving for the land and the people that produced our food. We ought to have farm policy that sustains our farmers and our farmland, just as our food sustains us."

The Eco-Justice Program is supporting conservation programs that strengthen working land conservation, continue and improve existing programs, foster the growth of local food systems, and provide for the sustainable growth in the production of bio-fuels.

A flyer promoting the Capitol Hill Call-in Days can be found at http://www.nccecojustice.org/callindayflyer.pdf .

The NCC is the ecumenical voice of America's Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, historic African American and traditional peace churches.  These 35 communions have 45 million faithful members in 100,000 congregations in all 50 states.
---
NCC Eco-Justice contact:  Cassandra Carmichael, 443-822-3720, cassandra@nccecojustice.org
NCC News contact:  Dan Webster, 212.870.2252,

NCC News contact:  Dan Webster, 212.870.2252, NCCnews@ncccusa.org