Do you know where your food comes from?

Went to my folks this week. A young couple is working the farm now. My girls stayed longer than I could stay and they heard this story. I thought it was rather amazing.

Apparently the young couple's 7 year old son was the only child in his small rural class who knew where their food came from - meat comes from animals, eggs come from chickens, milk comes from cows. Bread-flour-grain. Vegetables come from gardens...BECAUSE he helps his grandma in the garden and he's on the farm with his parents while they're working when he isn't in school. They probably do other things, too but they work incredibly hard to make ends meet and I'm not even sure how often ends meet. Anyway ... it's not like he read it in a book although he might have. Is this no longer critical information? Is it enough to know that our food comes from the grocery store? What does it say about our relationship with all that God has made and made available to us?

I can't seem to find it but I read somewhere a great quote. The heart of it was that Native Americans respected the land they lived on because they depended on it for their survival. Yes, they hunted. Yes, they gathered, but they didn't waste. They only used what they needed. They had a visible, tangeable, practical day to day relationship with God's creation. Anyone who lives off the land . . . and knows that their livelihood depends on it on a day to day basis learns to respect it. There's give and take.

I found the story rather amazing, especially in a very rural - once farm community - very small town. If kids in the country don't know where their food comes from I can't imagine other kids do. It was just interesting. Yes, God is creator and source of our food and all that we need but it's about understanding and respect and appreciation. It's all tied together.