Behind all the plates of food we eat, there is a farmer that made it possible!

Introduction

Each time you wake up and becomes hungry, you go straight ahead and lay your hands on the food to satisfy your hunger. Have you ever try to think about the person who made the food you are eating available and possible?

Now take a thought on the plate of rice, yam, Garri, eggs, vegetable, plantain and many more food that people eat. We focus on how delicious the food is and the person who prepared or crooked the food. But, little attention is given to the farmers who worked hard in his farm to ensure the food would be available in the kitchen.

Sometime, someday, and somewhere, somebody did plant that seed, went into the bush and cleared the land, weeded away the weeds, defied the weather conditions and then , had to patiently wait for the harvest season.

In my writing Today, I would be looking far beyond just the food we see on our table daily, but would be discussing about the farmer who who is behind the availability of the food we eat.

The Journey Begins From The Farm To The Plate

There is no way food will just appear in the market and on top of the tables. Before those bags of food commodities like rice, tubers of yam or even bunches of vegetable gets to consumers, there is always a long distance journey that happens before it.

The farmer goes to prepare the land, gather the planting materials needed, goes ahead to plant the crops and continuously care for the growing plants. The efforts made in this regard May be weeding, applying fertilizer or manures, control the pests and diseases while monitoring the the farm without a break.

For those involved in livestock farming, it would be another different task or responsibility. The farmer has to make sure that the animals are fed well, given clean water, good housing system and giving the animals regular attention. From the two scenarios above, it is now obvious that that farmers contribute to the food that are available for us to eat.

All Our Meals Has a Source

In my own experiences in agriculture, it has taught me that every food we eat, is traceable to a source — that is history behind food we eat.

During my work on my farm, it could when I am planting, weeding or at the point of checking the crops that I planted, I clearly know and understand that agriculture is a practice that requires the farmer to exercise patience.
This implies that a crop does not just grow because we just wish for it to grow. All necessary efforts has to be put into the work and support nature with what it requires.

Now going forward, any time we eat food, it is worth noting and appreciate the people that worked hard to make the food possible and available.

Conclusion

That farmer that is behind every plate of food that we eat may be someone we may never come across. We may never know the farmer who planted that cassava processed to become that garri we eat or drink are drink; the farmer that cultivated those vegetables used in making the soup we eat, and the farmer who raised the chickens that supplies us with the meat we need. These farmers, their work is connected to everything that our lives depends on.

The next time you sit down to eat, remember that your food has a story—and somewhere along that story is a farmer who made it possible.

Here now, farmers should be appreciated, be supported and encouraged more like never before. Most especially in this line of appreciation are the young persons making meaningful and productive part of their lives in agriculture.

When next that you take look at the next plate of food that you have, always have it in mind that there is a farmer who could be traced to it.