Are we really giving thanks?

Pictured above: Friends and family gather around a meal to give thanks.

Thanksgiving is going to be a hot topic for the upcoming week. Thanksgiving, like many holidays, ironically can come and go without any thanks given. In fact only forty percent for Americans plan to talk about what they are thankful for before Thanksgiving dinner. Fifty-two percent say they plan to say a prayer before the annual feast. I think that most of us can agree that by the time we are sitting down at the dinner table together with our family, we are ready to eat and we are not thinking about the preparations or the origins of the feast. All we care about is getting that turkey and stuffing on our plates as fast as possible. The same goes for the meals that we eat everyday.

Pictured above: A family enjoys a fast
food meal

We could at least be thankful for the person that prepared it, but lets face the facts, numbers don't lie. In recent years, less than sixty percent of meals were prepared in the home.
Only thirty years ago, meals prepared in the home was more than seventy-five percent. The rate that people are cooking less in the home has been dropping at a steady pace. If we were to prepare our own food, there would be more "Thanksgiving" involved.  This year 14 million people are planning to dine in restaurants for the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are the reasons why:

Pictured above: Results from a poll asking reasons for
people eating out on Thanksgiving day. 

Thanksgiving is an annual reminder so we can remember to give thanks for what we have, especially the food on our plates. We should be thankful for what we have not only on November 26th, but every day of the year.
People who advocate and educate on the behalf on agriculture want consumers to be properly informed about where their food comes from and how it got to their plate. Isn't that what giving thanks is?
A survey of everyone's favorite food for a Thanksgiving meals was conducted. Here are the results: 49% like turkey, 14% like stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie all tied at 5%. Here is a graph to see where the other favorite foods fell into place.

This graph has a lot of diversity of favorite foods. This statistic may surprise you though; 100% of everyone's favorite foods comes from farmers. Keep that in mind everyday of the year, not just on Thanksgiving.
Happy Holidays!