Submitted by the Whitfield County Farm Bureau

At Thanksgiving, Americans often celebrate their blessings with family and friends. Because food plays an integral part of holiday gatherings, the week of Thanksgiving makes the perfect time to celebrate Farm-City Week, Nov. 21 through Thanksgiving Day, and reflect on the cooperative relationship between farmers and their urban colleagues who help process, market and retail the food farmers grow to the American consumer.

Rural and urban residents are partners who produce the products, consume the products and make them readily available through an efficient production and marketing chain. Farmers and ranchers are just the beginning of that chain. Farm workers, researchers, processors, shippers, truck drivers, inspectors, wholesalers, agribusinesses, marketers, advertisers, retailers and consumers all play important roles in the incredible productivity that has made our nation’s food and fiber system the envy of the world.

This is the 53rd anniversary of Farm-City Week. National Farm-City Week was begun in 1955 by Kiwanis International to increase the understanding of the partnership between urban and rural residents. Farm days at schools, farm tours, banquets and mayoral proclamations are just a few of the observances that will be held in communities across the country to mark this annual event.

“What better time to think about agriculture and Georgia’s farmers than at Thanksgiving when we gather around the table with our families,” said Willard Redwine, Whitfield County Farm Bureau president. “Farmers depend on consumers to purchase the crops they produce and consumers depend on farmers to provide an abundant and safe food supply.”

According to a report published by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Statistics Service, Georgia farmers lead the nation in producing broilers, pecans, peanuts and watermelon, and are second in the production of fresh market cucumbers, spring onions and rye. In 2007, the top 10 commodities grown in Georgia were broilers, cotton, timber, beef, eggs, horses, peanuts, greenhouse plants, dairy and container nursery plants. The 2007 Georgia Farm Gate Report from the University of Georgia Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development indicates that Georgia agricultural production value was about $1.2 billion more in 2007 than in 2006, or just over $11.5 billion.

Georgia farm and timber owners also provide environmental benefits to the state by preserving natural habitats for native plants and animals. According to the Georgia Forestry Commission, of Georgia’s 37 million acres of land area, 24.8 million acres is forestland.

As you dig into your Thanksgiving feast, take time to say a prayer of thanks for the farmers who grew the food you will eat this holiday season and all the hands that played a role in getting that food to your table. They have proudly labored all year to produce, process and deliver food to feed not just our families in the U.S., but also the rest of the world.

Founded in 1937, Georgia Farm Bureau is the state’s largest general farm organization.