By Mike Barnett
I hate grocery shopping. But sometimes you have to bite the bullet and buy some food.
 
I guess Thanksgiving is a good excuse as any. My wife passed away in June so this is the first Thanksgiving I've tackled by myself.
 
My sister, her husband, and my children and grandchildren will be at the house to give thanks this Thursday. We all miss Becky. The table that afternoon will seem empty without her. But I'm so thankful for the 30 years we had together. I was truly blessed. She was a wonderful mother, a doting grandmother and the love of my life.
 
I shopped with Becky for years but always followed her around in the supermarket like a little puppy dog. I have no idea where specific items are.
 
What an eye-opener this Thanksgiving shopping trip was. The meat section I'm familiar with because I always bought the meat.
 
But the canned onion ring things that you use in green bean casserole? They might as well be on another planet. Never did find them. Guess we'll have plain old green beans. Trying to find jellied cranberries was a similar challenge. I don't like cranberries anyway. And the canned cherry pie filling…shouldn't it be with the canned fruit? Two futile passes and I finally found it with the baking stuff.
 
But shopping on that Saturday morning with the crush of people blocking the aisles and filling their baskets with good things to eat opened my eyes.
 
Most shoppers wandered up one aisle and down the other, never noticing much in the store but the particular items that were on their grocery list. Not me. Not knowing where anything was made me realize the truly spectacular variety of food Americans enjoy and so many times take for granted. Counters and counters were full of fresh fruits and vegetables. Cases held most any kind of meat you would ever want. Aisle after aisle of canned fruits and vegetables in every brand, style and size greeted shoppers. Baked goods, both fresh and packaged, were spread throughout the store. The choices of dairy products could meet any need.

If you choose to be a vegetarian, you’re in heaven in the produce section. If you choose to be an organic vegetarian, a tremendous variety is right there for the taking. If you choose "natural" beef that's available too. You like prime, choice or select corn fed beef, just pick out a package. Grab some cage free eggs if that's what you want. There's kosher food, Asian food, Mexican food. There's something to satisfy every palate. I wonder what all the food fuss is about, where people are adamant that you eat to their off-the-wall standards. There’s plenty of food in the United States to meet any persuasion. Eat what you want and stop the propaganda.

As I stumbled down aisle after aisle—muttering about the idiot blocking the middle of the aisle with her cart as she read the nutrition information on a box of cereal; wishing discipline on the five screaming kids as their mother helplessly pushed her cart, staring vacantly at a box of Cheerios; glaring daggers at the two old guys who decide they needed to catch up over the past five years right in front of the spices I needed—I had a lot of time to think.

And my thoughts centered on how fortunate Americans are. I wondered how many of those shoppers ever thought of food beyond buying it in the grocery store. I speculated that not one out of ten ever thought about that farmer or rancher who grew that food. I doubt that they considered the sweat and the risk and the hardship and the care and the long hours that it took to grow whatever they were putting in their basket.  And I wondered—as those huge feasts are laid on the table this Thursday and families gather to give thanks for what's is good in their lives—what kind of dinner they'd be eating if it we didn't have those farmers and ranchers who are so few in numbers but have such a huge impact on our lives.

Those in agriculture hold a special place in my heart. I'll thank God first for life and giving us the ability to make choices and for placing on this earth the variety of plants and animals we use to feed and clothe ourselves. And I'll thank those hard working men and women who God has chosen to work the land, providing the safe, wholesome and an abundant assortment of food that is truly amazing.

Farmers and ranchers will receive a special blessing from my family as we gather for dinner Thursday afternoon. I hope you and yours have a special prayer for them too.