Monday, October 11, 2010

With Thanks

Our local grocery chain celebrates Thanksgiving
For those of you who aren't aware it's Canadian Thanksgiving today.  We like to get our turkey on a little earlier than most folks.  There's been a lot of talk this past week about pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes, turkey and cranberries and it got me to thinking about the food we consume on a daily basis.  We are so lucky to be able to experience such largess, sitting down to a meal with family and friends and eating until we cannot eat any more.  This year I have grown much of my own food in my little vegetable plot and our freezer is full of items like apple pie, carrot soup, and tomato sauce.  But I know that when my stockpile runs out mid-winter I only need to drive to the grocery store to get whatever I need.  Who supplies that food?  Farmers.

I do not grow my own meat.  I have no chickens or cows roaming my yard.  I don't grow wheat for bread or the straw that I use as my mulch.  Without farmers my table would be quite empty despite my vegetable garden.  And yet how often do we thank these people that contribute so much?  Unlike my 9 - 5 job, farming requires you to be in the fields from sun up to sun down and as evidenced at this time of year when potatoes are being collected, into the wee hours of the night with only a spotlight to guide you.  It's also a dangerous job with numerous injuries and fatalities each year.  It's a difficult job that many of us would never consider doing yet we expect our food to look good, taste good and cost us very little.  For all that they do, for the food they provide us, I'd like to say thank you.

10 comments:

Bub said...

What a lovely, thoughtful post. We do indeed take many things for granted these days.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Floridagirl said...

Beautiful tribute to the farming community. We are so blessed in our part of the world, and it is so important that we do not take our daily sustenance for granted...nor disparage those farmers who make it possible.

The Witch said...

Beautiful tribute to the everyday farmer. They truly do work their hearts out at early sunrise to sunset to provide us with the best produce imaginable.
We our very fortunate.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Marguerite said...

Thanks very much for all your lovely comments and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. And a big welcome to The Witch.

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Well said! And a happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. :)

One said...

What you say is really true. Farming requires long hours and a lot of energy and sweat. Happy Belated Thanksgiving.

SeaBlush said...

Awesomeness. Farmers are often left out of the grocery store experience we have. Once you actually get out there and try to grow tons and tons of "perfect" food, you realize how hard (and underpaid) of a job it is. Thanks for the post Marguerite.

Melanie J Watts said...

A lovely tribute Marguerite. I used to have a sheep farm when my children were little, as well as a vegetable garden. I traded my lamb with other farmers and friends for beef, chicken and sometimes moose meat. Farming is a great lifestyle.

Marguerite said...

Happy Thanksgiving to Ms.S and One.

SeaBlush - The sad thing is that the food we find in grocery stores doesn't even come from local farms generally. But then that's a whole other topic. By the way, you got me thinking I will do an updated landscaping post soon.

Melanie - I miss moose! I haven't eaten any since I lived in your part of the world many years ago. I love the idea of trading food. I believe there are people working towards a food trade system here on PEI which would be great.

jane said...

and thank you .. for the reminder ..