Thanksgiving has come and gone, hopefully you had a lot to be thankful for this year, but did you remember to give thanks for everyone involved in providing for your Thanksgiving meal. Farmers from around the country and in some cases around the world were all involved in producing the food that we had on our tables. Sure, you get food from the grocery store, but that is not were it comes from. Take a sweet potato for example, the ones we had this year came from North Carolina. Person A, had to plant it. Person B, grew it through the year. Person C, picked the crop. Person D, packed and shipped the crop. Person E, trucked that crop to the grocery store warehouse were Person F, sorted and put away the order. Later Person G, put that crop on another truck to deliver it to your local store. Person H dropped off that delivery where Person I, put that sweet potato out on the shelf for you to buy. Nine people had direct involvement with just that one item and even more had indirect involvement. Our baked potatoes came from Canada and our Birdseye Baby Carrots came from Bakersfield, California. 

I’m sure there was even more people involved in producing and transporting those crops. We are lucky to live in a country where grocery stores are abundant and well stocked, but Covid gave us a glimpse of what can happen when that supply chain gets disrupted. Look what happened with the baby food shortage just this past winter all caused by one production plant shutting down. Consumers were shocked that the products they needed were not on the shelf when they went to the store, because we are accustomed to just going to the store and getting what we need, when we need it. To that end, we need to be thankful to everyone who makes that possible on a daily basis, but it is just too easy to forget about this. Most young people today have no idea what it takes to grow the food we eat and that is a shame. 

My aunt still has some paper WWII food ration stamps, that were given out when stores had to ration goods when things were scarce during the war. These stamps are worthless today, except as a reminder that what we enjoy today shouldn’t be taken for granted. We need to be thankful for what we have and educate our children what it takes to go from farm to table. There are organizations that provide education for our youth on just how vital farming is. FFA, Future Farmers of America, was organized in the 1920’s by young farmers to help future generations. Even earlier than that, a group called the Tomato Club was formed in 1902 that later became 4-H. These organizations are great sources of knowledge for all youth to know. I have known some students that participated in 4-H groups in Sullivan County and besides getting the knowledge from these clubs, they also excelled in school. One boy I knew was in 4-H as well as a straight A student in school, and I knew him because he was in our Boy Scout troop where he excelled as well. 

A basic knowledge of farming, caring for animals and growing a future are key elements of a well rounded education, but sadly these things are not taught in a traditional public education. So supplemental education, that is readily available, should be considered by all parents. To find out more information on 4-H programs around the county call the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Liberty at 845-292-6180. Now there used to be an FFA program run out of the Grahamsville High School, I am not sure if it is still there, but a phone call is all it takes to find out. Scouting programs for both boys and girls are available all around the county and, if you can’t find a troop near you, call me at the store and I’ll help you find them.