Sustainability Powered by Community

Cultivating sustainability in Eastern/Central Sussex County is the key objective of the Teach a Person to Fish (TAPTF) Society. The term “Sustainability” is often understood differently depending on its use and context. Also, as we continue to witness the detrimental affects of climate change, which is already impacting our communities, we need to commit to educating people to live more sustainably, and at the same time, build resiliency to weather the coming storms. More specifically, we are interested in developing systems and teaching the people of our community to both utilize and know how to responsibly manage our local natural resources. This includes local agriculture, fish, and game; transitioning to renewable/clean energy sources; restoring and protecting the environment and wildlife habitats; protecting potable water resources, and responsibly managing wastewater; improving and maintaining soil fertility and health; and constructing efficient, inexpensive, and low carbon footprint housing. Collaboration between our many charitable and faith organizations is the most significant force that we can bring to bear upon responsibly managing our abundant resources for the benefit of all. We must agree to commit to immediate and necessary participation and action for the common good.

Our current initiative, to provide meals to our local food pantry outlets and homeless shelters stems from work that local churches performed on a regular basis for the impoverished of our community prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before COVID restrictions were implemented, participating faith communities regularly provided meals for “code-purple” (cold weather) shelters like the Immanuel Shelter in Rehoboth. Currently, one of the unique drivers of our mission is that these shelters have been closed due to the high rate of infection when people reside in close quarters, so homeless individuals and families are now housed in local hotels for the winter rather than shelters. Also, the churches were providing multi-portion meals that fed many. This is no longer feasible due to social-distancing and common dining restrictions. Lastly, the health benefits of the food which is generally available at food banks is good, but not the best because it is highly processed to be shelf stable. One thing we have learned from the pandemic is that one’s health is directly impacted by the quality of food that is ingested, and vitamin supplements do not provide the same nutrients as one receives from eating fresh, whole foods. Humans are not evolved to eat highly-processed foods long-term without experiencing significant deterioration to their health. Many processed foods contain additional salt, fat, and sugar to improve the taste and shelf-life. These additives contribute to the rapidly rising national obesity and diabetic epidemics. In addition, those with obesity and diabetic conditions were much more susceptible to severe infection and death due to COVID-19.

Further, food insecurity is an emerging social justice issue, as the wealth-gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” increases by the day. In September of 2019, NPR reported “Nearly 1 in 4 households have experienced food insecurity this year.” (1) This issue alone could be resolved by embracing and educating our community to cultivate our local natural resources and employ sustainable living practices. For example, we have partnered with Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) “Sportsmen Against Hunger” program to receive over 400lbs. of Venison during the 2020-21 hunting season. Our local chef partners transform this freshly-butchered (the best “grass-fed” meat you can get!), and local produce (even the “scratch & dent”), into meals for donation. The educational aspect of our “meals mission” is that, as much as practicable, we use local, readily-available, inexpensive ingredients to craft a delicious, wholesome, and nutritionally dense meal. Our goal is to show struggling families that our community will assist them to both reattain, and maintain, economic independence.

Recently, our oldest son was watching me package and label a number of meals for donation, and he commented that he felt like we were going to be poor very soon (I assume from the amount of food he sees us give away). I replied that his dad and I don’t view it as a waste of money, rather we see it as an investment in our community. The person that we feed today may be the nurse, fireman, or citizen who saves our life in 10 years. Kindness, compassion, and education are investments that a community reaps in hundred-fold dividends.

Most Christians assume that the “teach a man to fish” parable is implied through a combination of Jesus’ words to his disciples in Matthew 4:19 and 19:19, “Come, follow me…and I will make you fishers of men”, and “love your neighbor as yourself” (NIV). Actually, this particular teaching is from an ancient Chinese proverb, “Give a poor [wo]man a fish and you feed her for a day. You teach her to fish and you give her an occupation that will feed her for a lifetime.” (2) The point is that care of impoverished members of a community is a moral imperative in many of the major religious traditions. An Imam shared the following story from the Islamic tradition:

Sayed Mustafa Qazwini relates a parable about a Caliph who assigns a newly appointed governor to one of the regions within his Caliphate. Upon acceptance of the appointment, the Caliph asks the governor what he will do if he catches a thief. The governor quickly replies that [of course] he will cut off the thief’s fingers. The Caliph then reminds the governor that if there are any hungry citizens within his region [who are reduced to stealing], the governor will be the one losing fingers! (3)


The next asset we are adding to our arsenal to combat food insecurity is a network of community and private gardens. We have identified five garden sites that will be prepared for the growing season in March. Philosophically, we feel that the abundant natural resources of this region should be shared with people from all levels of the socio-economic spectrum. Those who can afford to pay more for produce at grocery stores and farmer’s markets should continue to do so in order to keep our local farmers in business. However, as a nonprofit, our goal is to share a large percentage of each harvest with food bank outlets and our chefs who will use it to prepare meals. We also plan to sell the “beauties” from each harvest to local commercial farm partners for them to sell, and we will reinvest any proceeds to continue to grow our organization. The distribution of meals and fresh produce is an immediate challenge that we hope to tackle with a mobile food bank to reach communities with those who may not have reliable means of transportation to and from the food banks. Also, we hope to have greenhouses on each site by this fall to have fresh produce year-round. We have begun construction on the first greenhouse prototype in the network, using only natural and bio-degradable materials.

Cedar wood framing

Our long-term (5-year) goal is to construct an ecovillage as a “living laboratory” where we employ and teach sustainable daily living practices, such as cultivating, cooking, and storing food to minimize waste, producing clean energy, responsibly disposing of waste, etc. We are currently looking for arable land that is centrally located (within the Georgetown, Milton, Lewes, Rehoboth quadrangle), and adjacent to either forested private (with permission to hunt) or state game-lands. We are modeling our community after those we have visited in Asheville, NC (earthaven.org), Gettysburg, PA (hundredfoldfarm.org), and Ithaca, NY (ecovillageithaca.org). Each of these are well-developed, thriving communities with whom we will seek to collaborate as we begin construction and habitation.

In addition, our community will strive to advance economic, environmental, and social justice ideals for historically marginalized communities. This includes those who are impoverished, elderly, recent immigrants, and/or communities of color. A recent Sierra Club discussion about the concept of “Complete Communities” gives one a clearer vision of our community. A “Complete Community” is the idea that daily life services, such as grocery stores, banks, outdoor recreation sites, etc., be situated within walking/biking distance for each community to reduce commuting and associated greenhouse gas emissions. We see this as an added benefit to one’s daily life in our ecovillage, in addition to its own economy from which no one is excluded or marginalized.

Locally, we are developing partnerships with city, county, and state government entities, such as DNREC, the Department of Education, and the Rehoboth and Milton Town Councils. Also, we are building relationships with other nonprofit organizations with whom our mission overlaps, like regional food bank outlets (the Community Resource Center (CRC) and The Lighthouse for Broken Wings in Rehoboth, and the Milton Food Pantry), Family Promise of Southern Delaware “Transforming the lives of families experiencing homelessness” (4), communities of faith, and Delaware Interfaith Power & Light (DEIPL) who “provide a religious response to the causes and impacts of climate change through advocacy, education, and promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and clean, renewable energy sources.” (5)

We hope you are inspired to join us in this grassroots community effort. For more information or to support our endeavor, please browse our website.


1 NPR, https://www.npr.org/2020/09/27/912486921/food-insecurity-in-the-u-s-by-the-numbers, 27Sep20
2 https://www.andyposner.org/2018/07/28/problem-parable-teaching-man-woman-fish/
3 Ahlulbayt: Documentaries. “Sharia Law – Manipulation & Distortion.” June 24, 2016. youtube.com/watch?v=VJZnmggKkdo, 32:15.
4 www.familypromisesouthernde.org
5 delawareipl.org