The New York Times looks at a variety of religiously-motivated farmers concened with good stewardship, humane treatment of animals, and fair treatment of farm workers.

It’s always tough to know how widespread the phenomena discussed in these kinds of “trend” stories actually are, but it’s heartening to think that “environmentalism” is no longer a dirty word even among some very conservative religious believers. I think this may well be a function of age; an older generation of religious leaders may have dismissed environmental concerns as inimical to our glorious system of “free enterprise” or even condemned it as a kind of ersatz religion, but younger believers don’t seem to be carrying that baggage:

“Food and the environment is the civil rights movement for people under the age of 40,” said the Rev. John Wimberly, pastor of the Western Presbyterian Church in Washington.