“Forks up for Canadian Ag” goes the slogan from this esoteric (but mindful) “Canada’s Agriculture Day.”
Bessie works with farms—and we love our suppliers—and because of that we want to go deeper than sharing “Thank a Farmer” memes.
Agriculture is a tough industry and is too often associated with manual labour. The true story is much grander. Modern regenerative agriculture requires cutting-edge software, data-driven forecasting, dedicated animal care, and of course large trucks and tractors. There’s so many necessary skills that it’s mind-boggling when small farms can compete with the multinational corporations. But they do.
And Bessie is proud to work with farmers that put their passion back into their land, animals, and communities.
Having a single day to “Thank a Farmer” is an unfair brevity. It is important to highlight and honour our Agriculture workers (and Bessie suppliers). But if you ask a farmer they will say “Agriculture workers go to work, just like any retail worker, nurse, stylist, or engineer.” And instead of using a single day to thank them, it’s more meaningful to mindfully enjoy and relish in the food that we are eating that is made in Canada. It takes months to years for animals to grow up to be ready for consumption. But it only takes a short while to buy, cook, and eat these animals.
The farmers we work with are happy in their work. We can honour them and their livelihood by being mindful and appreciative of the food we consume, knowing that hours, days, months, and years of work and passion went into our food.