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This podcast is an avenue to dialogue about the totality of the food experience. Everything from gardening, to preparing, to eating, to hospitality, to the Lord’s Table, with an eye toward how this act that we all have to engage in helps us experience the transformative power of God’s love and what it means to be human.
The Biggest Table--Episode 08 (Chris Battle)
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Andrew Camp: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Biggest Table. I'm your host, Andrew Camp. And in this podcast, we explore the table, food, eating, and hospitality as an arena for experiencing God's love and our love for one another.
And today I'm thrilled to be joined by Chris Battle. Just a little bit about Chris.
He's originally from Cincinnati. And Chris has earned degrees from Morehouse College, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Cincinnati Bible College. Since then, he has pastored churches in Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee, while also being an adjunct professor both in the U. S. and abroad.
He has also been an active member of his communities, working with diverse faith groups to tackle pressing issues, including gun violence and creation care. In 2018, his life trajectory changed when he started a community garden named Battlefield Farm across the street from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, which opened his eyes to the effect of food [00:01:00] disparity in his community.
Since 2018, the garden has grown and now includes the Eastside Sunday Market. Chris is also now helping other churches and organizations establish gardens in their own community. He is married to Toma and together, uh, through fostering and natural birth, they have 19 children. Wow. Well, thank you for joining me, Chris.
Um, it is an honor and a privilege, uh, to just chat and get to know you through this podcast.
Chris Battle: Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. I'm enjoying and looking forward to this conversation.
Andrew Camp: Awesome. So, so let's start here. What, what was the role of food and the table and hospitality in your life growing up?
Chris Battle: Ooh, growing up. Um, well, that's an interesting question because I'd never pondered that until I started doing what I'm doing now. Both two of my great grandfathers were farmers. I actually can say that because I knew them personally. My [00:02:00] maternal great grandfather had, I think he had 150 acres, my paternal Grandfather had a, I think he had 300 or so.
Um, they were farmers. Um, and, um, my grandfather, who actually lived next door to us, used to plow up his garden every year. And I would follow behind him in his footsteps in the newly tilled soil and just try to follow him. Um, so there's always been farming, gardening in the family. And I always did a little bit of gardening.
Um. little plot here, plot there. Um, I don't consider myself a good great gardener. I just like watching stuff grow and I would ultimately just end up giving it away. Um, so I've always been, that's always been a part of my life. Um, working in the soil, um, not to a large extent. But, um, but, you know, it was kind of pastime for me, uh, for the most part awesome until 2018
Andrew Camp: until 2018.
Yeah, I want to get [00:03:00] there and understand what all led to this, um, major life trajectory change, , you've been a pastor, you know, and what was your call to ministry like and where, where did that come from and what, what's been your faith journey?
Chris Battle: Yeah. Well, I, um, I came to know Jesus as a child.
Um, at least I came to love the church. I'll put it that way. Um, and then, um, I was always in church or my, my, you know, I was, my father was, Superintendent of the Sunday school. My grandmother was the clerk. I think my parents actually met at church. Uh, so church was an integral part of our, our lives and my upbringing.
Um, I went to college and felt a call to ministry, um, accepted that call my sophomore year while I was at Morehouse College and, um. Went to my first church in Bowling Green, Kentucky at the tender age of 26 and, um, [00:04:00] didn't know what I was doing, um, coming out of Southern Baptist Seminary, you know, I'd go out there.
I said, I'm going to go save the world, you know, um, and so doing those things, but that, so the faith journey was, um, Very, um, kind of follow the pattern, you know, um, from what church had taught me, you know, you go to church, uh, go church on Sunday, make Bible study on Wednesday, you know, um, you know, don't smoke, don't chew and don't date girls that do, um, that whole, you know, the whole, it was very, um, what's the word?
I'm looking robotic almost. Um, and then, um, By the time I moved here to Knoxville in 2008, I'm coming from a pastoral perspective now. I've been pastoring close to 30 years at that point. Um, I'm like, you know, maybe just need to approach this thing a little differently. You know, I love pastoring, love [00:05:00] preaching.
Um, but I wanted to look at this. I like, this is probably going to be my last pastorate. Um. Maybe let me approach this thing maybe from a more philosophical perspective, you know, so okay. I said, what can I, so I came to, came to Knoxville and asking the question, what can our church do to change the culture, to affect the culture, the community?
Um, so that's the way I was approaching it, um, moved down here. And one of the first projects we did was to clean a cemetery that was across the street from the church. And what happened at that cemetery literally transformed my life. Um, it was Oddfellow Cemetery is the name of it. Most of the people buried there were born in slavery.
And Andrew, it was a mess. Um, overgrown, full of debris and garbage. Um. Headstones off, knocked [00:06:00] off and, um, I told the church, I said, this is an embarrassment. I'm not even from here, but this is an embarrassment to the community. It's an embarrassment to our history. Let's go clean the cemetery. And so we, um, went out about 30 of us.
I've been here maybe a month or 2. About 30 of us out there and we're, we're mowing, we're chainsawing, we're putting headstones back up. We've got bags and bags of debris that, uh, that we've collected. And this brother pulls up in the pickup truck. He stops me and starts thanking me for what, thanking us for what we're doing.
And I'm excited, you know, man, you know. The community seeing we're doing something, we're making a difference, you know, um, we're affecting the culture, we're making a change, you know, and, um, but then my Southern Baptist, um, evangelism, um, campers for Christ came out because I thought I'd caught a fish, [00:07:00] right?
Yeah, I said, brother, won't you come join us at the church, which was literally across the street. And these were his words and I quote, I ain't coming to your damn church and he pulled off and I'm, I, it messed me up. I sat there mesmerized. I'm like, why he cuss my church, you know? Um, and so I'm, I'm, I'm perplexed by this.
Right. Yeah. Um, you know, you fast forward into 2016. And they did a study here in Knoxville, a church attendance, the buckle of the Bible belt. Right. And, um, what they learned from this study is that only 20 percent of Knoxvillians go to church on a regular basis. 20%. Um, and I'm finding out that's pretty common across the country.
Yeah. Um, And regular was considered once a month. Yep. Roughly 40 percent were done with church. They used to go to church. Don't go anymore. Consider [00:08:00] this self spiritual love. Jesus hate the institution. The other 40 percent had no religious affiliation, and I'm saying, well, it looks like. Nobody's going to anybody's damn church, you know, and then I'm asking my friends, my pastor friends across racial lines, across denominational lines, really literally across the country.
And they're saying the same thing. People aren't coming to church. Church attendance is down. We're having to change our budget. I might have to get another job. These are the testimonies I'm hearing. And so I say, well, maybe, you know, I'm saying to myself. Maybe we need to do church differently. I'm not quite sure what that looks like.
You know, I'm a, I'm a baby boomer and they say we're stuck in our ways. The things that we would do that I was doing it like, okay, maybe we could, this could be attractive to people, make them get them to come to church was, um, you know, was really just preaching to the choir. We were doing things. To get our members [00:09:00] and, you know, and so I'm like, um, I'm, I'm, I'm really struggling with this.
What, what, what do we do? How do we do church differently? I don't know what that looks like. I am extremely perplexed. Right. And, um. It came to, it happened that, um, I ran across these guys who are from like Michael Frost. Um, matter of fact, I was literally with him the day I just left a meeting with him today.
He's in town. Um, uh, missional guy, Alan Hirsch. I met these guys and they literally started to transform my whole way of thinking that church is not a building. It's not a. Point on our GPS. It's not a place to go to. It's who we are. Okay, cool. Yeah, but still, how do we get folks to come here? Yes. Because right now, I need folk in the building so I can get paid.
Right. So we can keep the lights on, you know, [00:10:00] and, um, and as I said before, you know, I've always do a dabbling in, in the gardening and we had a plot of land and this is 2018 now we had a plot of land and um, I said, well, you know, why don't we do a little garden here? Right. Do a little community garden.
Yeah. Cool. And, um, asked a friend of mine to come by and help me. Um, he was working at the botanical garden and say, Hey, give me some insights. I don't know about this community garden stuff. You know, um, I just know I want to do a garden actually for my own self benefit because that way I can do the garden and still say I'm at the church at the same time.
You know, um, I wasn't trying to go out and, you know, you know, necessarily feed the community. I just wanted to have a garden. And we started talking about, um, and he opened my eyes really to food disparity and, um, what's so called food desert. [00:11:00] And of course, you know, USDA says if you're, if one third of your community is living in poverty, And more than a mile away from the nearest grocery store, you're considered a food desert, right?
Well, the median income of our zip, my zip code 37915 zip code is 17, 000 a year. We were 2 miles away from the nearest grocery store. There is no grocery store in our zip code. Wow. And
Andrew Camp: that can you say that? How big is your zip? How many people are we talking about? Because I think I think
Chris Battle: between 6, 005 to 6, 000.
Andrew Camp: Okay. Because most of us, you know, as a white. middle class person, that thought is unfathomable to a lot
Chris Battle: of people. Now we're, we're relatively small zip code. I don't know how they figured these zip codes out. You know, um, I'm, I'm assuming it was based on density because we've got a lot of [00:12:00] high rise, a lot of subsidized housing units.
So you've got more people in a smaller space, but still they had to go two miles to get to the nearest grocery store. And, um, I'm like, this is ridiculous. We can, I think this is a problem that we can, that we can fix, you know. Um, and so I, I, it became my mission literally at that point to go and let's say, let's, let's fix this.
Uh, I reached out to some pastor friends of mine who had vacant lots. Say, why don't you use a garden? Let's create a garden here. Um, because. On one hand, it, it'll help us solve this problem of food disparity. I truly believe that if you don't, if you don't have control over your food source, you're not really liberated or free.
If somebody else is telling you what to eat, you know, you're, you're not free. Um, but secondly is what. Changed in terms of my understanding of church and how to do [00:13:00] church differently. I would go to the garden every morning. My wife would tell you, I was there waiting for the sun to come up, you know, hurry up, son.
I would stop at McDonald's and get my large coffee with five cream and two Splenda and go straight to the farm, right. To my garden at that time. And, um, um, but what was happening is I started meeting people in the community. And people were coming to the garden who would never come to my brick and mortar Black Baptist Church.
Right. And something said to me, maybe this is how we should do church because they're not coming to my church, but they are coming to my garden. You know, uh, I actually, I've actually written a book and it's called, I ain't coming to your damn church, but I will come to your garden. I have to send you a copy.
But yeah, that's, that's what transformed [00:14:00] everything for me. Um, you know, like. Maybe they'll, how do we incorporate church and, and garden? And so for me, people come to my garden. I get, I mean, I mean, who, again, we got white folks, we got gay, lesbian, uh, trans, um, I think I may have a wish or two. I mean, every, everybody comes to my garden.
Atheists, agnostic, they come to the garden. There's something about the soil, working in the soil that equalizes us. We have conversation. We develop relationships. Um, you know, I was raised that you didn't talk to those type of people with the others. You know, um, you have, if you're going to be holy, you have to separate yourself from them.
But then it kind of hit me one day. I'm like, Well, if that's being holy, maybe Jesus wasn't holy because he was always hanging out with him. [00:15:00] And I was like, well, maybe I want to be more like Jesus than your definition of holy. And so, um, and so, and as a result, you know, my goal is, is that not to sit down with somebody and go through the four spiritual laws with them.
You know, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Nah, it's more like, let's just develop relationships. And prayerfully, hopefully, you'll see the Christ in me and this kingdom of peace that we're trying to build. And as a result, you'll ask the question, why do I do what I do? You know, why are you the way you are?
And then I get to share the gospel. Um, that's, that's the goal. That's how, so that's how I do church now, you know, um, we do have a little, um, service at the church. We call it at the farm. We call it the cut the CUT. Okay. It's an acronym for the church under the tree. And we meet when God says it's [00:16:00] okay means it ain't raining or it's too cold, right?
Andrew Camp: So it seems like right now. It's been a little difficult to me a little
Chris Battle: difficult. Yeah, we do have some we do meet at a home though. Um, you know, on on inclement days, but yeah, but that's. That's so that's how for me, that's how church is now, you know, and it's through food. I take food out every week. Uh, we take out about a ton of fresh produce, actually about two tons of fresh produce out into the community each week, uh, through our partnership with second harvest, uh, which is a subsidiary of feed America.
Okay. And, um. Nourish Knoxville, they run all the, uh, farmers markets in the city and we buy from them, we buy from the, what the, what the farmers don't sell, they give it to us and, um, we take it out into the community that's been deprived of fresh fruits and vegetables because your zip code shouldn't determine your access to, um, fresh food and, um, be available to you.
Yeah.
Andrew Camp: Cause yeah, food desert's not, it's not [00:17:00] just about the access. It's about illness, you know. Yeah, contribute to obesity, diabetes,
Chris Battle: health. We have the largest rate of, uh, diabetes, heart issues, um, and, uh, hypertension in, in, in the community, you know, right, right here.
Andrew Camp: No, I believe it. Yeah. Um, wow. So there's a lot there, right?
You know, I'm
Chris Battle: sorry. No, it's stop me brother. When I get too long
Andrew Camp: with no, it's no, there's so much great there. And, and, you know, and I love you mentioned Michael Frost and, uh, love Michael Frost's work and, you know, He was actually kind enough to be a guest on my podcast, you know, a few months ago. No, his work, yeah, is, is beautiful of, okay, what does the church look like?
And he's a big proponent of going out into the neighborhood, you know, and discerning where God is working. And that sounds like what this garden has, has become for you.
Chris Battle: It truly has. I thought I was the community pastor. We had, um, we would do [00:18:00] a block party every year, back to school block party. And, you know, people would come from all around.
We'd have five, 600 people show up just to get backpacks for the kids. We give them fresh haircuts, get the young ladies, get their nails done, you know, give them food and all this stuff. When Flint, Michigan, when they poisoned the water in Flint, you know, we led a campaign to get five truckloads of water up through there.
Uh, we have a justice ministry here. I was the first president, first co president, you know, so I'm thinking I'm the community pastor, right? Yeah. But what I realized is that, um, the people in the community didn't even know who I was. It was a self designation. No, right. And, but, but, but, but now, um, I imagine there's more people in the community that call me pastor, um, just, just because of, um, my relationship with them, you know, cause I'm out there with them [00:19:00] each and every day.
I have the honor of being able to work, worship, and play, if you would, in the same zip code. You know, and so I live amongst my people, I work with, I understand the hurt, the pain and definitely trying to fight, you know, this food disparity, um, has become my mission and my passion. Yeah.
Andrew Camp: What, what is it about food disparity that just enlivens you then?
Like what, how has this been your passion or?
Chris Battle: Well, I, I think there was this, I saw a need and I'm like, I think we can fix it, you know, and I didn't need, I didn't need to go to any governmental agencies. I didn't have to, I'm like, no, let's just grow. Let's just do gardens. Yeah. You know, Because Andrew, what we're trying to do, we're trying to get everybody in our community [00:20:00] as much as possible to grow at least one crop.
If everybody grows one thing well, you grow great turnips, I grow great turnip greens, Susie grows great cauliflower, everybody grows something. And we trade, we barter, we share, you know, we could practically eat for free. Yeah. You know, but we also create community. And that just makes it just, it's one of those things that just makes sense to me, you know, um, and number one, everybody has to eat.
Right. What my people, what my community are eating is killing us. You know, uh, they're going to the dollar stores, they're going to the corner stores, and they're not getting any fresh produce. Um, because we not only live in a food desert, we also live in what is called a food swamp. And a food swamp is when there's four, uh, unhealthy choices for every healthy choice.[00:21:00]
Okay, so when you go to my, the Kroger that I go to, I bet we pass nine, ten, um, Fast food restaurants, corner store, gas stations or whatever, um, that are, that will say food Mart, but there's no fresh produce in there.
Andrew Camp: No, no, it's highly processed.
Chris Battle: It's highly processed.
Andrew Camp: Yeah. Um, high in sugar, high in fat. Um, yeah.
So you're right. The food that you have access to is literally killing you.
Chris Battle: Literally.
And there's a young lady, I can't, uh, her name escapes me, but she's written a book called, um, Slow Death. Hmm. And it's basically just that we're killing ourselves slowly just through eating this processed food, you know, um, and it's ridiculous.
I mean, food ought to be available and it ought to be free because we all need it. At least vegetables, you know, if it comes out of the ground, you know. It ought to be free. Now, if I cook it for you, that's a [00:22:00] different story. Yeah.
Andrew Camp: So then, you know, you've mentioned community, you've mentioned the conversations, like what, what has community then looked like for you since starting this garden?
Chris Battle: Wow,
it has definitely broadened. Um, I meet people, uh, when we go out, like I said, we, we, we serve, uh, basically for subsidized housing units in the community. Right. And we could do more. I just don't have the capacity right now. Right. At this moment. Um. And meeting the people there is create, we've just created this new community because I'm meeting these people every day or every week and they're, they've, I've become literally, I've become some of their pastors, you know, they come, they talk with me, we have conversations, we laugh, they're crying.
Can you pray for me? You know, this is happening every week. [00:23:00] Um, I'm seeing people. I saw a lady the other day just broke my heart. Um, cause she came out on the wheelchair. She had been walking out and I noticed that her leg was missing, you know, and she said her, she had had both of her feet have been in.
Half of both of her feet have been amputated, and I guess she got, um, some veins got infected or whatever, and they had to cut off a leg, you know, and I, I mean, it's literally breaking my heart to see this happen, and I know what it's from, you know, and I'm like, we have the cure. We have the answer. We can fix this thing.
But, um, it's just about making it more available to our, to the community. And, um, yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's why it became my passion. Because, again, my goal was not to feed people. My goal was just to have a garden. Because I like the garden, you know. But it's like God said, uh uh, Chris. Nuh uh. Nah.
You're going to do more than this, you know. Uh, what's that? He told John, [00:24:00] uh, Peter to go feed his sheep. Right. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't know he meant literally. No, but it starts back. I was fine doing it from the pool. Yeah,
Andrew Camp: but it started with that crisis back when you were cleaning that cemetery and that gentleman said he's not coming to your church.
Yeah, you know, and, and started you on this trajectory of. Thinking, okay, how do I see the needs in my community and meet the needs in my community? Yeah.
Chris Battle: And it's, it, like I say, it was just kind of a, again, it was like a 10 year process actually, you know? Right. And I'm really struggling with, with this issue.
Um, and, and that, that gentleman, I don't, again, if he, if he walked in my door right now, I wouldn't know who he was, you know? No. Um, but I do need, I, I've, I need to send out Apol an apology to him for not. Just being, you know, considering who he was. Um, cause I, I was seeing numbers, you know, the way we measure success in our churches is so backwards.
[00:25:00] You know, we talk about what butts in the pews, baptisms in the pool, bucks in the plate and building programs, you know, but you can have all of that and not know Jesus, not see the kingdom. Right. And, um, um, but I think it's really about, you know, As Mike Frost would say, helping people see the reign of God in our, in the community, help him, help people see that, um, life, we could have a better life, that Christ offers us a new alternative, an alternative to this craziness that we're living in, that we can live in places of shalom, we can have communities that are whole, and part of that wholeness is eating.
Yeah,
Andrew Camp: he told us to eat in remembrance of him and. The end times, you know, it's, it's a marriage supper at the very end.
Chris Battle: And so, well, I mean, from, and it started in a garden. It did. Yeah. It started in a garden. And if you read revelation, it's going to end in a [00:26:00] garden. Right. You know, so yeah, don't get me started.
You're going to get me to preach in here, bud. Oh
Andrew Camp: no, let's go. Let's go. Let's do this. No. Cause it is it. The garden becomes a central motif of the place of God's beauty and abundance. Yeah. And if we're not, if we're just metaphorically as pastors or Christians or followers of Jesus, whatever you, whoever you are, if we're just metaphorically speaking of God's abundance, but not showing it to our people and providing it for our people, they're not going to taste and see that the, that the Lord is good.
Amen. And so. Yeah, this idea of the garden just then allows you to give a glimpse of what God wants to provide for his people.
Chris Battle: Yeah, it is so interesting because, you know, I had a guy the other day who came by. He's, um, he's from, um, he's from, he's English, but he's from Britain, and, um, he lives in the [00:27:00] community, and he just, he said he had been following me on Facebook, right?
And he just happened to see me at the garden one day. And he stopped by, we were chatting a little bit. He says, I believe in your mission. I'm not too big about the God of your mission, but I believe in your mission, you know, and, um, I'm like, okay, that's, we got to start here. Yeah. You know, but at least. He came and we had, we could begin to have this conversation where we can talk about the God of art, this mission, you know, um, but too often, I think in our world today, we're so polarized, you know, you got everybody in these different political beliefs, you know, left and right.
Yeah, pro and con Democrat, Republican, whatever, you know, and we don't talk to each other, you know, at least at the farm we can talk. Yeah,
Andrew Camp: no, no. Yeah. And I was curious because then, you know, 2018, we're in the midst of political strife. 2020 comes we have COVID like, [00:28:00] yeah. What role did the garden play through COVID and well,
Chris Battle: interestingly enough, in 2019, I, I, I resigned from my pastorate position.
Okay. I resigned from there and just went on to do the garden. Um, and, um, so 2020 comes the pandemic comes and the, the work of the garden continued, you know, we had not yet started delivering produce to the community. We struggled. I mean, you know, um, because, you know, it was, it was, it was pandemic, you know, um, and so those were really, um, because a couple of things that happened.
So, uh, there was a, there was a, um, we had started a farmer's market in 2018. Right. Um, when I left in 2019. That meant the garden that I had at the church, you know, they kind of said goodbye, [00:29:00] right. Um, but one of the garden, one of the, um, there was a small two acre urban farm called Abbey field and the young lady that was running it left.
And they needed somebody to run it. And for some reason I raised my hand. And so I moved from a 16 by 12 plot. Okay. To two acres of farm. Wow. And I learned that there's a huge difference. Right. Um, then that property was, um, was sold to some developer. And so we're now with our present spot. And we only have maybe, maybe a half acre, um, right there.
Um. It was during that time, it was during pandemic that we purchased the, um, the half acre. So we were just kind of renewing, rebuilding, building this up, you know. We had to do raised beds because the soil is so bad, it's real rocky. Here in Knoxville, when they take down a house, they just cave it into the basement.
Oh gosh. Yeah, [00:30:00] so you got a lot of, you don't know what your soil content is. Yeah. Um, but we've, uh, so we've been built, we were building beds, putting in soil. And what have you so that first year of the pandemic, um, it was just a matter of building. Um, so, but, but, um, and then 20, 2021, 22, I guess is when we really started rolling in terms of, um, um, getting out there and serving the community.
So there was a church here, Concord United Methodist Church. Um, they serve pantries and. Every so often they get sweet potatoes. And Mike, brother Mike called me said, brother Chris, would you like some sweet potatoes? I said, sure. He goes, how much would you like? Well, how much do you have? Oh, we got a plenty.
Well, [00:31:00] so I ended up going home with, um, 210 pound bags of sweet potatoes. Took them down to the farm, got on Facebook Live and said, Hey, come get these potatoes. Within two hours, they were gone. Wow. People were coming from everywhere. Yeah. Then I said, well, you know, the demographic that I'm trying to reach may not have transportation, may not have internet.
How do I get this to them? Mm hmm. And, um, got this idea about doing a veggie van. And so, um, um, was able to get a, uh, old mini bus, got it converted. And we called it Fannie Lou after Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist who also had a, uh, the Freedom Farm Initiative in Mississippi. And, um, we started taking produce out to the community, you know, and, um, and again, through our relationship with Second Harvest [00:32:00] and with the Nourish Knoxville, we're able to give out about two tons of produce every week.
Wow. different people. Um, so we're excited about being able to do that, you know, and, you know, you talk about who my community is, the people who are receiving, they, you know, they love them some Chris battle. Yeah.
Andrew Camp: Yeah.
Chris Battle: You know, they love him some Chris back and it's this whole thing, you know, um, In the Bible, you know, he, in Leviticus 19, he talks about, he tells the, uh, those landowners who are farming to leave the corners of your field unharvested, you know, and so that the poor can come and glean from it.
And so that's kind of what we're trying to do. We're trying to be this gleaning thing where people can come and get. Those who can't get to the food who can't, may not have the transportation, may not have the money to buy the fresh produce. They can come here. [00:33:00] Uh, we can come bring it to you and, um, where you can get this produce, you know, and literally say, get your life saved, you know?
Um, so that's, that's, so that's what we do. But, um, ultimately my goal is to go out of business.
Andrew Camp: Explain, what do you mean by go out of business?
Chris Battle: I want to go out of business. I want to not be needed. Um, either by people who have produced, producing their own food with their own gardens, and they're sharing in the community, or there's a grocery store that's affordable and accessible to the community.
And that's literally what we're working on now. Um. We're looking at some spaces that would, um, provide, you know, a place that we can literally have a brick and mortar place. Uh, we've been following this model. Um, we're looking at where everything that we purchase, every, all the commodities, we'd be just a nickel over what we purchase it for.
Um, and all the produce would be free. Um, [00:34:00] so if, if, you know, if you got 1. 2 million dollars, well, I can buy this build and I appreciate you sending that to me. I wish I would, but in the meantime, we're trying to, we're going to probably do a mobile market, um, where we could get taken around the community.
Let me, let me tell you, I know I might talk too much and forgive me. Um, they did a, um, a new segment here on, um, food deserts in Knox County. So there's like 12. Identified food deserts, and it affects like 50, 000 people in our community. They were interviewing a lady, elderly lady, and she says it takes her two to three hours.
To get to the grocery store using public transportation. That's not what got me. What got me is what she said next. I can only purchase what my [00:35:00] walker will allow me to carry. I've never had that problem. I've had a car since, you know, I was 16 years old. 1968 Rambler with three on the tree. You know, I've always had a car.
I needed something, go to the grocery store. If I forgot something, I'd go back. Yeah. You know, I'd get whatever I wanted, you know. That's what I have children for, so they can bring the groceries into the house. You know. Um, never had that, but I never saw it through the eyes of someone who lives in a food desert.
Mm hmm. Who doesn't have transportation. Who doesn't have that car with a trunk. And have to only carry what they, what their walker will allow them to get. Yeah, and that really messed with me, you know, that's stuck with me like we can we can do better if we had a grocery store That's here accessible right here in the community.
You wouldn't yeah, you have to walk but maybe we'll carry [00:36:00] it to you You know, okay, it's not because it's not that far and you don't have to wait You don't have three out. It won't be a three hour journey. No
Andrew Camp: You know, yeah, because if you can only take what your walker can carry, and it's a 3 hour journey, you're spending your whole day shopping,
Chris Battle: shopping, you know, but if it's a 5 minute walk, you won't mind walking every day.
No. And then you get to see your neighbors on the way. Right? Wow. You know, yeah. So, yeah, it's, um, it's, it's, it's, um, it's, it's, I guess it, it, it, it just overwhelmed me. Um, in a sense that, um, it just like said, Chris, this is, this is you get everything else. This is what you're, this is what I called you to do.
Um, I kind of wish he would, I wish God would have told me this 20 years ago, you know, when I was, when I was younger.
Andrew Camp: But you may not have been ready to receive that call, you know, we receive the
Chris Battle: call when we're ready. Yeah, [00:37:00] but, um, I am, I can be honest with you. I'm probably haven't been happier in ministry because I see that I see how it's literally affecting people and transforming life.
And I'm getting to meet some wonderful people. I'm sure within the community, you know? Yeah. Yeah.
Andrew Camp: You're no longer just Church, around church folk, you're, you're in the community. Yeah,
Chris Battle: I don't, I don't know if I like church folk as much as I, Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. I pass, I tell people, I pastor Okra now, so you know, they don't, they don't give me the problem.
Andrew Camp: No, uh uh, yeah. Yes, the church is a wonderful place, but it's also full of heartache. Yeah, it can be hurtful. Oh, yeah, extremely hurtful. You've, you've shared about what you've seen in your community and the joy that you're bringing to your community and I see the joy in you, like, what has Jesus taught you personally, Chris Battle, like, who is Jesus to you now that you've done this garden?
Chris Battle: [00:38:00] Jesus,
for me, and I hope I don't sound sacrilegious.
It's like he's came off the cross, got up from the grave and became a gardener. You know, Mary thought he was the gardener at the tomb. And I understand why the gardener part now, because when you're gardening, when you're working with people to garden, you have to be patient. You have to be. Nurturing, um, you have to love, I mean, you don't do this because you want, you do this out of love, trust me, you know, and, um, and be willing to accept some, um, some, Some defeat, you know, um, sometimes some stuff don't grow right?[00:39:00]
Um, and things like that But so Jesus has become more Personable to me. Hmm more practical in a very real sense more powerful you know because Wholeness and healing is not just something we pray over people for but it's something that could be very real and demonstrated And I think it's being demonstrated through what we're trying to do with the, with, um, fighting food disparity.
Um, so yeah, he's, um, he's been pushing me. He's my pusher man. Yeah. You know, to get out there and do more and it's, and also provider, also provider. Let me, I'm going to tell you another story. All right. Please. Okay, I don't know how much time I got, but I'm going to tell you another story. We, I have, I have been struggling with leaving the church, right?[00:40:00]
As pastor, I just felt my calling was somewhere else. But I was living in the parsonage. We had eight children in the house at that time and, you know, when you leave your, your job, that means you don't get a paycheck. Right. And when you live in a parsonage, that means you got to move. And so we were looking for a place and we couldn't find a place that was big enough.
That we could afford and on the east side of Knoxville, where we wanted to stay and minister. So my wife had a, um, a nonprofit for young ladies, single moms, and there was only one lady in there at the time. And so the girls moved in with her. Okay. Moved in there. My wife and the girls moved there. And one of the members of elderly members of our church had a little two bedroom house.
She said, pastor, you just go and stay over there with the boys. Okay, fine. You know, um, [00:41:00] so the Sunday before I left the day before I left, I met with this gentleman about a book study that I had conducted with him and he asked some questions. And so we talked and I just I told him exactly what I told you.
Hey, you know, tomorrow's my last day at the church is kind of heavy on my mind. You know, we don't have a place to live. We talked and chatted. Everything was cool. We said our goodbyes. I went to the church that next day, said my goodbyes, preached my last sermon. Monday morning, I'm at the farm. The gentleman I had breakfast with on Saturday, text me and say, Chris, are you at the farm?
I go, yeah. He said, I want to come talk with you. And, uh, he comes by and he says, uh, man, me and my wife had been praying. About you. Thank you. You know, we all need prayer. He said, it's just the two of us and we live in a [00:42:00] big old house and I hope I don't start crying. I'm sorry. No. So I'm wondering if we moved out.
Would you all want to move into our house? And I'm like, yes,
I said, but I ain't got no money, you know, and he said, well, how much can you afford? And I told him, he goes, well, that's, that was as low as we said we could go. He said, come by tomorrow, look at the house, tell your wife, bring the kids, see if you like it. Fine. Okay. So that was Monday. And we're going to go to the house Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday evening.
I'm at the farm Tuesday morning, and one of the volunteers comes up, and she goes, Chris, me and my husband have been praying about y'all, and you know, we live in a big old house, and we were wondering if we moved out, would you all want to take it over? [00:43:00] So now I'm laying out on the ground, right? Yeah. I'm like, who does this but God?
No, right. You know, I'm, I'm worried about where I'm going to live, and he's already set it up and provide it. Now I got to make a choice between two big houses.
So we ended up going with the first house, which meant they had to go buy a house, but they are people of means and they can. Yeah. And I'll never forget. We got a call and said, Hey Chris, we found a house. They accepted our bid. Uh, we're going to close May 30th. And June 1st, you can move in. And this was back in 2019.
Okay. And, um, yeah, 2019. And, um, He said, but we got one problem. I'm like, what's that? He said, the house we're buying is bigger than the house we live [00:44:00] in. So instead of moving to us, moving out of that house and moving into this one and you moving out of your place and moving an old one, why don't you just take the big house?
What? That literally happened to me, bro. And and, but it was more than just the house being provided. No, it was, it's what, it's, to me, it's what God was confirming. Like, Chris, you're on the right path. Mm-Hmm. Just keep trusting me. Keep following me. I'm gonna take, I'm gonna take care of you. Yeah. I'm gonna take care of your family.
Mm-Hmm. . You know, and it's been like that from, you know, like for me, I, I don't worry about stuff. I, you know, I quit worrying. Yeah. I know. Like, okay. If he can do it for the, I. You know, because that, that's a big time move right there. No, that's huge. Yeah.
Andrew Camp: And God, he's extremely, yeah. God saw your heart. He sees you.
Yeah. He saw your, your desires and he and yeah, he just graciously like in a garden, just [00:45:00] provides, he provides, he provides,
Chris Battle: he provides. You know, I had been preaching, trusting in Jesus for years. . I know what it means now. I'm sure. I know what it means. It's not a cliché anymore. No. You know. Yeah.
Andrew Camp: Wow. So as we begin to sort of wrap up, like, what, what's the story you hope the church tells in today's culture?
Chris Battle: I hope we can understand that we need to get out of the building. Our church caught fire in 2012.
And we had people who, we were meeting in a school down the street from us. And we had people who would not come to the school because, and worship because it wasn't a church. And [00:46:00] I think we've gotten so con, so connected with
the building that we've identified with, that we've missed the community that the churches are in. Hmm. And. I want us to get to this point where we're not consumed by a beautiful edifice, but we are consumed by beautiful people who live in the beneath the shadows of our, our steeples. I want us to see the value of community and the people who would, again, who may never grace the threshold of your, your church, um, who have significant problems and struggles.
But also have many assets and gifts [00:47:00] that can be utilized. And I believe God gifted all of us to be, to be utilized for the glory, for his glory, and again, to create the kingdom, which he wants us to establish. Um, I think we got to get beyond our political anxieties and all the stuff that divides us. Um, it's just, uh, it just, it frustrates me, you know?
Mm-Hmm. . Um, but when they come to the , when they come to the garden, we don't care about your politics. You know, we we're, we're, we're, we're, we're talking about the soil. Um, so yeah, for, for me, um, I've probably become a bigger critic of the church. I hate to say that in that way, but it's a loving critique.
Yeah. It's a loving critique because I believe, you know, Jesus said, you know, he said, build my church. He never said build a building. Mm hmm. You know, never said build a building. I think it's [00:48:00] about building relationships with people and letting your light so shine that, you know, they might see it and glorify our father in heaven.
Um, I think that's what it's all about. Just being in proximity to the people that they may see the presence of God. Um, and. They may know that his, he's, he is, he is still King. He reigns.
Andrew Camp: Um, yeah, that's beautiful. Like, yeah, your passion, your love. And yes, it's a critique, but it comes from a place of love and a place of action.
Um,
it's a beautiful, it's beautiful, Chris. Like I feel privileged. Oh man,
Chris Battle: bless you. No.
Andrew Camp: Yeah. You know, you're, you're telling a story and hoping you don't tear up and you're speaking right now and I'm welling up just because it just feels Like this is what the church is supposed to be about, you know, [00:49:00] and there is such the church and God's people if we can Move beyond ourselves and see the needs in the community and just go feed his people like history go feed his people.
Yeah If people are interested in understanding more about food deserts or community gardens like do you have any advice for where people could start and because I'm even in Flagstaff. I'm sure there are food there. I know there's food disparity issues. And
Chris Battle: that's a huge
Andrew Camp: question. I know it is, but like, like, you know, like, okay, like, how do we, what's some practical advice?
Where do we like, cause you know, it's nice to start theoretically, but I'm like, well,
Chris Battle: I mean, for me, practical, just start a garden, start a garden, you know, get, I mean, it, it doesn't get you a pot and put a seed in it. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. I mean, it's really just that, that simple, um, cause that seed's [00:50:00] going to do what God intended it to do.
You know, there's something, you know, seed to grow in a crack of concrete, but, uh, I think if people just begin to, and for me, it's like, whatever the issue is, you know, we have a plethora of issues in my community, bunches of them. You know, I'm just trying to solve one right now. My focus is on one, but if you are in a food desert, you know, you can create community gardens.
You can help people learn how to garden. Um, just start growing things. I mean, you know, um, maybe, um, invite. Um, farmers to come in and, and do it, um, a farmer's market, um, an affordable one, if that's possible, you know, um, but I think you gotta, everything has to be done in the context of the communities, you know, um, there are technically some food deserts here in Knoxville, but, you know, they wouldn't consider the food desert because of the [00:51:00] financial aspect of it, you know, but, um, um, I think just seeing people at their point of need, And addressing it is the 1st step, you know, 1st, you just got to see people, you know, see the people hear their voices, respect their voices and then begin to do something about it.
Um, in partnership with them, you know, I couldn't do this if people, you know. We start community gardens now, right? And I couldn't do it if churches wouldn't let us use their property. I couldn't do it if people in the community wouldn't, um, adopt a bed or whatever. Yeah. Um, we just bought another, we just bought a piece of property.
Uh, we call it the concrete garden because it's on a slab of concrete. Oh, wow. Yes. We've got like 30 beds on a slab of concrete. And, um, uh, it's right there in the midst of, um, what they call the gun zone. And we're just trying to offer some beauty in the midst of this ugly spot. Um, I'm going to do a [00:52:00] nice pollinated garden because I want butterflies everywhere.
I want, you know, butterflies and collard greens.
Andrew Camp: Guns beat into plowshares.
Chris Battle: Yeah. Yeah, I know Shane Claiborne, he actually gave me a plow, a little trowel that he made out of a gun. Awesome. That's kind of my emblem, you know. Yeah. To keep moving. My mantra, um, is from the Talmud. Um, it says, um, Be not daunted by the world's grief.
Do justice now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now. We're not obligated to complete the work, but neither are we free to abandon it. And, uh, for me, God has put this work in front of me and, um, I just got to do it. You know, it's what I wake up for now.
Andrew Camp: How? Yeah. Again, just a privilege, Chris. Like you, you are a beautiful [00:53:00] soul in person.
Bless you, brother. That is, this is. Yeah. Like I said, it was on a whim. I emailed you to ask, you know, and I, you know, you never know what to expect when you meet somebody for the first time or, you know, you trusted me. Um, you know, and I, it has been a joy and a privilege. You know, this has been all mine, brother.
I appreciate it. Um, something I'd like to do towards the end is just a few rapid fire questions. You know, it's a little change of pace. Um, so what's one food you refuse to eat?
Probably
Chris Battle: beets. Beets, okay. Yeah, I'm not a fan of beets.
Andrew Camp: Gotcha. What's the best thing you've ever eaten?
Chris Battle: Ooh. My grandmother's castella parthenia battles collard greens.
Andrew Camp: Okay. What makes her collard
Chris Battle: greens? I can't, well, I know what it is, but it's just disgusting. Okay. She put lard in hers. [00:54:00] Oh,
Andrew Camp: absolutely. All soul food starts with a good helping of lard.
Chris Battle: Talk to me, brother!
Andrew Camp: Amen. Yeah. And finally, there's a conversation amongst chefs about last meals, like if you knew this was going to be your last meal, what would you want to have and why? And so what, if you knew you had one last meal on earth, what would that be?
Chris Battle: Man,
that is a darn good question.
It'd probably be a good ribeye.
I'm a pretty common guy, so it's going to be real basic, but ribeye with a side of fried chicken, collard greens, cornbread, some black eyed [00:55:00] peas. Yep. And, um, and probably some rice. I love rice. Okay. With some, with some gravy.
Andrew Camp: Awesome. And probably with the community you're serving. You know. Oh yeah, absolutely.
Let's set up a big picnic table in your garden and let's have
Chris Battle: a feast. I need to come to Flagstaff. I've never been there. Oh, we'd love
Andrew Camp: to. Yeah. No, it's gorgeous. Um, you know, we're in the mountains. We're near Grand Canyon. We're near Sedona. There's some beautiful hiking and, uh, good stuff to do here. Cool.
So, well, Chris, this has been a pleasure. If people want to learn more about your work, um, and your organization, is there a place they can, they can find you?
Chris Battle: Yes. Uh, they can go to our website. It's battlefieldfarm. org, battlefieldfarm. org. And um, you can learn all about us there and contact us through, um, through that.
Andrew Camp: Awesome. And we'll make sure that that's in the show notes. Um, but again, if you've enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review or sharing it with [00:56:00] others. And I think this is an episode you definitely want to be sharing with others as Chris's stories and heart for his community is something that is inspiring for us all.
So thanks for joining us on this episode of the biggest table, where we explore what it means to be transformed by God's love around the table and through food until next time. Bye.