Even though it seems like we keep hearing the word ‘organic’ wherever we go these days, I think many people still don’t think too much about where their food comes from when they’re at the supermarket or dining at a restaurant.
I for one am guilty of this.
Another confession is that I never really thought much about the farmers who get up at the crack of dawn every day and work long and hard on the fields.
Many of these farmers have a passion for being able to produce quality products that are not just good for us but also for the planet.
At what cost though?
Katie Spence Pugh is married to a farmer and knows all too well what life on a farm can be like.
After a long day of hard work, she comes home to take care of her children and do her regular household chores. Meanwhile, her husband, Eugene, would still have several hours of work left to do out on the fields, The Daily Mail reports.
One day, overcome with frustration, she sent an angry message to her husband — she wanted Eugene to know how fed up she was of the way they were living.
They almost never saw each other and she was left to take care of the kids and the house on her own.
When Eugene came home that evening, however, he surprised his wife. He simply sat down in the kitchen to have something to eat.
After a while, their daughter came and sat down next to her dad. Although most likely starving after being on the fields all day, Eugene was happy to share his meal with his daughter.
That’s when Katie had her revelation.
She took to her Facebook page where she shared that moment that had made her understand and appreciate the life they had.
I snapped this picture the other night at the end of a long day. I was tired. I was irritated. I had sent my husband a text telling him that I knew it wouldn’t make a difference, but I wanted him to know that I was feeling fed up with how much he works and with all that I have to do everyday by myself. The full time job, cooking dinner, bathing kids, weekend trips without him, keeping up a home, you name it I was resenting it. I have to have these little moments once (ok several times) throughout planting and harvest season. Then this happened.
He came in, fixed his plate and sat down to eat all alone. He was tired. He was hot. He was exhausted. Rather than complain, he said he was sorry I was tired and felt that way. Charlotte joined him and talked his head off and even ate most of his dinner. He didn’t complain. He shared, and it hit me.
Do I wish that we saw him more than an hour or so a day? Yes. But, the love he has for his craft is something to envy.
Farmers work in a thankless profession. It’s always non GMO this and organic that, and let’s not even talk about the stress from Mother Nature. This is a man who is working to uphold 4 generations of blood sweat and tears and showing his children the value of hard work and discipline.
So while I felt frustrated, I really should have felt thankful.
I got to sit down to dinner and hear all the stories from the day with the kids. I got to give them a bath and hear their squeals and giggles.
I got to snuggle and love on them for 3 hours more than he did. He is the one sacrificing, not me. We will keep on keeping on until the next rainy day when we get a few extra hours with our hard worker. In the meantime, the next time you slip into that comfy cotton shirt or eat delicious farm fresh food, thank a farmer.
Where would we be without them?
Below you can see and read Katie’s full post.
https://www.facebook.com/katie.s.pugh/posts/10154379426242460:0
If it weren’t for families like this one, we most likely wouldn’t have decent crops to make meals out of to put on our dining tables. There’s not many farmer families left in the world and we need to appreciate them.
Please share this article to pay tribute to all our farmers — they really deserve praise for their hard work.
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