The Hand that Feeds U.S.

November 23, 2009

Now Featuring: Peanuts

By Samantha - First time at a peanut harvest

I arrived in Seminole after a long drive from Dallas along a dark, two-lane highway in the rain. I'd been warned all along that if it rained, there would be no harvest—and though I'd been planning the trip for months, I couldn't predict the weather. I stopped to get some rest, and hoped for the best.

When I woke in the morning, the weather was overcast. I figured that in this profession, you take what you can get, and I started the car. It was harvest time.

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Whole Foods Thanksgiving

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We all know Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate family. Of course, it's also a time to realize a number of people can't have the holiday they really want. The last year has made that abundantly clear to all of us.

So, we went to a kitchen in Washington, DC. Brian MacNair of the DC Central Kitchen told us the need is great all the time.

"Hunger knows no holiday," MacNair said. "Everyone wants to volunteer around Thanksgiving, but we need help 365 days a year".

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Giving Thanks to an Extraordinary Example for Us All

Beth Clanton

I met many wonderful people on my journey through the West Texas farmlands, but few as remarkable as Beth Clanton.

Eleven years ago, Clanton was a second grade school teacher in Seminole, Texas. Her husband was a peanut and cotton farmer, and together, they had two daughters.

Towards the end of the school year, Clanton decided to take a leave of absence from teaching—a break she viewed as an opportunity to spend more time with her girls, and her husband John.

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