Contact: Wesley Strackbein, 210-340-5250 ext 222, wesley@visionforum.com

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, July 12, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Dozens of food controversies will be addressed this week at the Reformation of Food and the Family: A Tasty Conference for the Hungry, to be held in San Antonio, Texas, at the Gonzalez Convention Center on July 12-14. Sponsored by Vision Forum Ministries, the event will feature lectures on hot-button food issues such as FDA overreach, dieting fads, the fast-food lifestyle, GMO's, and a host of other thorny topics -- all from a Biblical perspective with the goal of equipping Christian families to be wise stewards of the food they eat.

"Our goal at the Food and the Family Conference is to address some of the great food controversies of our day which affect the family," noted Doug Phillips, President of Vision Forum Ministries. "From gluttony to glutens; from genetically modified organisms to grass-fed meats; from statist control over the food supply to sustainable lifestyles; from the poverty of the fast-food lifestyle to dieting fads -- we hope to tackle these and other raging food debates and to refute two dangerous extremes: the apathetic 'anything goes' mentality concerning food, on the one hand; and the divisive, fad-oriented food movements that pit Christian against Christian, on the other -- to bring sanity and charity to today's 'food fights.'"

The conference will feature food-baking contests, a Ladies Tea at the Menger Hotel with Michelle Duggar, an eclectic array of food vendors -- and more than 50 workshops covering a smattering of food controversies relating to food and the family. Among the questions to be addressed will be: Is big government and Marxist policy the answer to our impending food crisis? How should informed Christians wisely prepare to provide healthy sustenance for their families in a world of big government-regulated, genetically-altered, lowest common denominator, marketing-driven food supplies?

"We are not eating the same food our great grandparents ate," observed Phillips. "Over the last fifty years, through government manipulation of the food economy, efficiency-driven corporate policies that do not take into consideration Biblical principles of management and stewardship of animal and plant resources, and unwisdom in the genetic manipulation of the food supply, we have erected a dietary Tower of Babel that threatens not only the health of Americans, but the future of food in America."

"The domination of pre-processed, steroid-rich, genetically manipulated food in our diet is a reflection of the priorities of modernity -- 'live, eat, and die fast, and don't think too much about what you are doing.'"

In addition to identifying negative food trends, the conference organizers plan to present a positive and joyful look at the Bible's teaching on the role of food for fellowship; food as a spiritual picture; food as blessing; food for feasting, health, and discipleship; as well as the centrality of the family table.

"With the demise of family mealtime as a staple of household culture, we have watched the corresponding demise of the family," commented Phillips. "In the Bible, we see the family table as a place for feeding the body and the soul, as a beacon of hospitality, and as a centerpiece of godly culture. It is time to put away family-segregating lifestyles and return to family mealtime. It is time to turn off the technologies that are preventing us from having meaningful conversations and to restore the beauty and power of the family table."

Following the Food Conference, Vision Forum is sponsoring two specialty cooking classes on July 16 at the Culinary Institute of America. The first is "The Joy of a French Cuisine: How to Prepare a First-Rate French Meal," which will be hosted by acclaimed chef, Francis Foucachon. Born and trained in Lyon, France, the capital of French gastronomy, Chef Foucachon will offer a six-hour course on the foundations of French cuisine. The second class will be "The Raw Cooking Revolution: Learn to Prepare Delicious, Cancer-Fighting Raw Meals and Treats," taught by Carmen Torres, who discovered the transforming benefits of incorporating raw foods into her own diet after battling her own cancer-related health issues.

To interview Doug Phillips about the Food and the Family Conference, contact Wesley Strackbein by e-mail at wesley@visionforum.com or by phone at (210) 340-5250, ext. 222.