Food

I just finished watching the movie "Food, Inc." For those of you that are unfamiliar with the movie, it is a documentary that gives a long hard look at what actually goes into the production of food. After viewing the movie, I have to say I feel quite blessed that we have had a large garden every year for the past 25 years. We usually plant a 5 acre plot of land and have everything from tomatoes to popcorn. Last year we planted 97 tomato plants. It is a lot of work. I spend a lot of my summer picking, canning and freezing our vegetables. You know it is going to be a long day when you have picked 4 or 5 laundry baskets full of beans before 10am! We usually can 104 quarts of tomatoes, freeze 50 pints of corn, 50 quarts of green beans, and then varying numbers of beets, zucchini, eggplant, peas, pea pods, Lima beans and popcorn. Sometimes I will spend 8 straight hours just peeling tomatoes! I am accustomed to hearing "you know you can get a can of tomatoes at the store for $1.00" but I just shake my head and know that mine taste MUCH better. Incredibly - all our dogs love our garden too. They love fresh green beans and zucchini and tomatoes. We have a couple of dogs that like to pick their own green beans. They are pretty good at it too! I think when it comes to putting food on our plates, we should do more than open a can. Invest just a little more time and put some love into the dish. Know where your food comes from and you might just find you feed more than your tummies, you nourish your soul as well.