national farmer's day!
To celebrate, I'm sharing this sunrise selfie with bedhead! Does that feel more like a punishment than a celebration?
But for real. Take this opportunity to thank the farmers in your life! It makes my heart hurt when I hear negative stories in the news and media about farmers and farming. It's so easy for people to be disconnected from our food systems - and I totally understand why and how, but I urge people to get involved in some small way.
I'm not saying that there aren't farming practices that could use improvement, but you have a chance to vote with every dollar that you spend for farming that improves the environment rather than hurting it and that emphasizes humane treatment of the animals that enter our food system. Get to know a farmer via a farm market, or if you live in a rural area just look around!
I get that small producers (like us) are more expensive than the supermarket - doing a good job costs money. I know that many families struggle to keep the bills paid, but if you can swing it, even changing out one food item can go a long way in supporting a local farmer and voting with your dollars for better farming practices. If you have children, it also connects your kids to their food system in a way that all of the children's books about the farmyard won't.
I'm going to get off my soapbox now and officially go on record to thank all of the farmer's in my life - some who I know and others that I don't - for working hard, every single day, to grow my food. In particular the dairy farmers who get up way earlier than I do so that I can eat glorious cheese in all of its forms.