Connecting to your food isn’t just about knowing how your food was grown, if it is organic or local or if your animals were raised humanely. Connecting to your food also means having appreciation and connecting to the lives of and for the people harvesting it and in many cases, they are immigrants. They are eager and willing to do the strenuous hard work that unemployed American citizens don’t want to do. No one is taking away the jobs of American citizens if those Americans don’t want to do the work.
Shoppping at the farmer’s markets is a gem of an experience because you get to engage with your farmers and ask them questions and some of them should always be “so, what can you tell me about the people working your land? Are they happy? What are your struggles considering so many of the workers are undocumented? How are they treated on your land?” – This is important and this is how you connect to your food and to the plight of the people involved in getting it to your plate. Many farm workers are exploited, paid below minimum wages and charged for room and board, meaning they never make enough to not work.
Know your food. Know your food policy. This is no time in our history for apathy! If you eat, you are involved in agriculture so know more and be more. No excuses!
Expect great things.