Why has agriculture become the cornerstone of discussions about sustainable development? And what do ancient religious traditions have to do with this? Like fasting, monastic rules and biblical commandments help… reduce your carbon footprint and create a fair food system? These seemingly abstract questions turn out to be the key to understanding how humanity interacts with nature today.
Agriculture is not just a way to feed the planet. This is the largest human intervention in ecosystems, transforming landscapes, climate and biodiversity. Unsurprisingly, it became the starting point for finding a balance between progress and environmental conservation. Millennia ago, the transition to sedentary agriculture gave rise not only to abundance, but also to the first complex societies. The religions that arose in that era interwoven metaphors of sowing and reaping into their teachings, and the ideas of responsibility for the Land became part of sacred texts, from the biblical “cultivate and preserve” to the Buddhist principles of harmony.
Today, these parallels take on a new meaning. Sustainable development, like faith, is based on the values of long–term care, resource management, and even “immortality” – the desire to leave the planet “alive” and habitable for future generations. Perhaps it is in the synthesis of ancient wisdom and modern environmental challenges that answers should be sought. How can past agricultural practices help avoid climate collapse? Let’s turn to history to understand the contours of the future.
The typicon is a church service book that establishes the order of Orthodox worship, or the Liturgical charter, with instructions on the celebration of temple (patronal) feasts, rules on fasts, monastic dormitories, meals, and other aspects of church, mainly monastic, life. In fact, it is a centuries-old system that has laid the foundations for balanced resource consumption. Its prescriptions, which have been formed since the fourth century, regulate the diet, seasonality of nutrition and the use of resources. For example, Strict fasting on Wednesday and Friday, as well as multi-day fasts (Veliky, Rozhdestvensky, Uspensky) exclude meat, fish and dairy products, reducing demand for resource-intensive animal husbandry. The seasonal menu focuses on vegetables and fruits in summer, pickles and grains in winter. This minimizes dependence on the transportation of exotic products and reduces emissions associated with food delivery.
The most important principle is the prohibition of gluttony: “May the monks eat twice a day, except on fast days, and may they not be satiated” (Typicon, chapter 32). This norm prevents overproduction of food and reduces waste.
How does it work today? In Athos monasteries, up to 80% of products are grown locally. Olive groves, vineyards and vegetable gardens are processed manually, without chemicals. Monks do not buy what they can grow themselves, and they do it not only out of economy, but also out of respect for their land.
There are calculations: if almost 10 million Orthodox Christians in Russia strictly observed fasts and abstained from meat during the fast days, this would lead to a reduction in CO₂ emissions by 23 million tons per year. To absorb this amount of emissions, a forest area of 9 million hectares will be required, that is, approximately equal to the area of Portugal. Orthodox asceticism also applies to ecology: modesty in consumption, abstinence from excesses and conscious choice become a spiritual duty.
Analyzing the deeds of saints and the righteous, one can find many examples of an extremely careful, reverent attitude towards nature and the environment. For example, Neil Sorsky, the founder of skete residence in Russia, the author of the “Charter of Skete Life,” in monastic life called for adhering, in fact, to “consumer minimalism.” Survival is possible without violence against nature.
Obviously, there are many ways to reduce the damage that we do to nature with our food habits, and the first, most significant of them is to reduce meat consumption, especially beef. Raising cattle for meat causes 18% of global methane emissions, which is 1.8% of all anthropogenic emissions affecting global warming. Another important principle is the transition to local products. On the one hand, this supports local farmers, and on the other hand, it reduces transport emissions. The most important task is to combat waste from excessive consumption.
It is also written in the Book of Genesis: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate it, and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15). The words “cultivate and preserve” have become the cornerstone of the Orthodox attitude towards nature. Saint Gregory of Nyssa also emphasized that man, being placed in the center of the world and being its master, must humble himself and take care of all God’s creatures, including animals.
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul reminds us: “For every creation of God is good, and nothing is blameworthy if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Tim. 4:4). Gratitude for food, according to Orthodox tradition, excludes waste. This is also confirmed by the parable of the five loaves and two fishes (Matthew 14:13-21), where Christ, having fed five thousand people, ordered the remaining pieces to be collected “so that nothing would be lost” (John 6:12). It would probably be very appropriate to place these words in every restaurant, especially with a buffet. This would help significantly reduce the excessive exploitation of nature and save numerous lives of farm animals.
In medieval Russia, monasteries became, in fact, centers of agroecology, as they would say today. The Trinity-Sergius Lavra introduced crop rotation in the XV century, preserving soil fertility. And in the Valaam Monastery, monks built irrigation canals and protected forests from logging.
Modern eco-monasteries continue their traditions. St. Elizabeth’s Monastery (Belarus) 80% of the products are produced on our own farms, using both eco-friendly fertilizers in the form of compost and modern solar panels. The Orthodox teaching on the protection of nature, based on the legacy of saints and church leaders, is gaining new relevance in the era of climate crises. Back in the fourth century, St. Basil the Great, one of the fathers of the Church, emphasized in his writings that the abundance of earthly goods should serve the common good, not the accumulation of wealth, anticipating the ideas of social and environmental responsibility.
In the 20th century, St. Silouan of Athos, a Russian ascetic monk, continued this tradition, arguing that the purity of nature was inseparable from spiritual purity: for him, the world around him was the epitome of holiness.
Today, as issues of sustainable development become a global priority, theological ideas about “caring for creation” are turning into a bridge between faith and science. According to experts, this synthesis is based on an ancient belief: the preservation of peace begins with the transformation of the human heart.
One of the positive examples of cooperation between science and faith in the fight for ecology is the program of the Orthodox Academy of Crete, developed jointly with environmental organizations. The course on sustainable agriculture for clergy combines Byzantine traditions, such as rainwater harvesting in monastic farms, with modern agricultural technologies. The aim of a number of projects is to show how respect for nature is rooted in Christian asceticism and can be enhanced by scientific methods. These initiatives echo research in the field of greening nutrition; the integration of basic principles into the educational process. For example, to integrate into business education the tasks of analyzing the possibilities of greening nutrition and the agricultural sector – creating “green” menus and developing the concept of sustainable catering enterprises.
ESG fashion themes (a combination of environmental, social, and management principles) are actually based on great centuries–old experience that needs to be studied. Monastery farms demonstrate the effectiveness of local food systems, a principle relevant to the global fight against food waste.
This experience is of particular importance in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which call for halving food losses by 2030. Analysts believe that ancient commandments – from the biblical “cultivate and preserve” to Byzantine practices – can become the basis for a balance between technological progress and the preservation of the planet. The question is whether we can turn the legacy of the past into a tool for the future.
The authors would like to thank Abbot Serapion and Father Sergius for valuable materials, advice and recommendations on this study.