Harlem church offers vegan cooking classes to promote healthy lifestyle

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnNEW YORK (RNS) — On a recent Sunday afternoon, staff members of Harlem’s Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church traded their Saturday church clothes for aprons as they prepared to host the church’s vegan cooking class.Throughout April, congregants and Harlem neighbors were invited to multiple Sunday afternoon events at the church — which, as part of the Seventh-day Adventist tradition, holds services on Saturdays — to learn to cook savory plant-based recipes, get tips on growing vegetables in urban gardens and hear advice on how to avoid processed foods.
The initiative, imagined by the church’s health ministry, was named “Taste & See” as a nod to a verse in Psalm 34, proclaiming: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
“We’re showing people that you can eat healthy and satisfy your taste buds,” said Karen Phipps, director of the church’s health ministry.
The church created the ministry two years ago to promote the Seventh-day Adventist lifestyle. Since its founding in the early 1860s, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has encouraged believers to give their bodies the best treatment as they are seen as the temples of the Holy Spirit.
The church’s dietary recommendations are inspired by the biblical Book of Leviticus, which prohibits eating foods deemed “unclean,” including pork, rabbits and shellfish. …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]