A World order of bread and flowerbeds: an eucharistic perspective on food in the Anthropocene

Sharing food brings people together in times of overwhelming ecological questions about the responsibility of human beings to nature and other human beings. Food is a huge field, relating to almost every aspect of human life: Food is about economic and cultural systems, it concerns social relations and spiritual and physical wellbeing. The meaning and scope of the Anthropocene as an area in which humanity controls natural processes can be illustrated by looking at how human communities deal with food.
In biblical stories as well as in ecclesial practices, food is often related to table fellowship; Christianity itself could be called a meal sharing club since the Table of the Lord is at the heart of its beliefs and practices. By approaching ecological questions of food from the perspective of table fellowship they are brought back to a human scale: where do we have our meals, what is on our plate, who are we sharing it with and how do we do that? Table fellowship therefore seems to be a promising approach to give shape to the Christian mission in times of the Anthropocene.
The question I will discuss in my paper is: in what way does the Eucharist offer a diaconal-theological perspective to develop a just and sustainable relation with food?
I will try to answer this question by exploring three aspects of the Eucharist: anamnesis, eschaton and koinonia.
First, I will describe in what way food issues are related to the Antropocene, then I will reflect from a diaconal perspective on the Eucharist, to conclude with a proposition of some perspectives for a diaconal theology to food during the Anthropocene.