PASTOR LEAVES HIS CHURCH TO FEED THE HUNGRY - 'Our Farm Is Changing Lives'

AFTER 30 YEARS IN THE PULPIT, CHRIS BATTLE STARTED A GARDEN TO NOURISH HIS COMMUNITY

- JOHNNY DODD

Hunger by the Numbers

• 44 MILLION Americans live in food-insecure households 
• 17 % of U.S. households have children who face hunger
• 42 MILLION Americans rely on food assistance 

On a Sunday morning, Chris Battle, clad in dirt-smudged overalls, sits on a lawn chair under a box elder tree in a vacant lot in East Knoxville, Tenn. As he puffs on his pipe while reading from the Bible, members of his congregation warm themselves beside a small fire. Behind them sit piles of okra, cabbage and onions, freshly picked from garden beds on the half-acre property and ready to be transported to a nearby farmers market once the service ends. “We meet here whenever God says it’s okay—meaning whenever it’s not raining or too cold,” Battle says with a hearty laugh. “We’ve got atheists here, gay, trans and straight people. I think we’ve even got a witch.”