Scientist Named Hunger Officer
Episcopal News Service. February 7, 1980 [80037]
NEW YORK -- An expert in food technologies has been named the Hunger Officer for the Episcopal Church Center.
Dr. David Edward Crean, an associate professor at Ohio State University, was tagged by Presiding Bishop John M. Allin to replace the Rev. Charles A. Cesaretti, who has been named Public Issues Officer. Dr. Crean has done extensive research in food nutrient content and is active in local, diocesan and provincial hunger programs.
As Hunger Officer, Dr. Crean will work with the Church's national Hunger Committee and the Churchwide diocesan and provincial network to "sensitize Episcopalians about the issues and to help them discover ways in which they can act to deal with these issues which are many and complex." His work falls under the National Mission for Church and Society Committee of the Executive Council and he will work closely with the Public Issues and other offices of that section in addressing the issues.
He also works closely with the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief.
While conceding that hunger involves "very, very hard questions to which there are no easy answers," Dr. Crean is confident that Church people can have an impact by "approaching the issue through a Christ-centered impulse" in which people see themselves as ministers.
He views the job as helping to raise up issues; to provide the careful analysis that avoids simplistic answers and to offer the recommendations that allow Episcopalians to realize "there are constructive ways of acting."
A second major aspect of the job also involves work begun by his predecessor in identifying, organizing, supporting and informing hunger ministers. "If Ralph Nader is right and 200,000 people can turn an issue around in this country, then the Episcopal Church can make a real impact far beyond our numbers."
One of the particular issues that the Hunger Committee will concentrate on in the 1980-82 Triennium is that of "lifestyle" and Dr. Crean's work in nutrition science has led him to some clear conclusions about this. "Our lifestyle is both wasteful and burdensome to the Third World," he declared in a recent conversation.
Dr. Crean said he had been able to show that the United States was a net importer of beef (which is seen as one of the least efficient food sources) and explored the consequences of that: "Twenty percent comes from poor Latin American countries. The usual argument is that they need this for their trade balance. The fact is that we're turning them into junkies. They send us their beef, their coffee, their cotton. They are becoming heavily dependent on dollars. I don't think this is what Jesus meant when he said, 'I was hungry and you fed me.' "
A native of South Africa, Dr. Crean earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Cambridge University and his Ph.D. at Ohio State University where he is currently an associate professor in the horticulture department.
His recent research has concentrated in food processing fields, specifically in appropriate technology for developing countries. His works have been published in a number of scientific journals.
In anti-hunger work, he has served on committees of the Diocese of Southern Ohio and as a hunger task force member for Province V. He is active in Ohio Council of Churches hunger commissions and serves on three state-wide hunger program boards.
Dr. Crean is married to Sonia Janet Revie and their twin daughters will enter college in September.