No Worries

All three of our boys play the piano.  In order to fit all of the family's activities into a manageable schedule they take piano lessons in the morning before school.  With three kids that means that three days out of the week we need to be on the road to town by 7:10 am in order to be at the teacher's home by 7:30 so that the lessons are done by 8:15 and the kids are in school by 8:25.  I know - a typical morning for any family. 

The Shibrouns are not morning people.  OK, I should say three of the five Shirbrouns are not morning people - me being one of them.  However, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I want my boys to have a great start to every day so like every other morning I made breakfast.  Breakfast consisted of Eggo Whole Grain waffles - thank you wheat farmers, Hungry Jack syrup made with fructose - thank you Iowa corn growers, red seedless grapes produced by California farmers, bacon from a hog raised by one of our employees, and 2% milk produced by several of our neighbors and bottled in Dubuque, not too far from our home.

Two happy boys just waiting to start their day.. 

Like millions of Americans this morning I didn't even think about what we were going to have for breakfast until I got to the kitchen.  Within 5 minutes I had a nutritious meal on the table for my budding, concert pianists.  What I did not do was grind the grain to make the flour to make the waffles, milk a cow to put fresh milk on the table, be worried that the food I was giving my children was contaminated or spoiled do to poor production practices, or worry about the treatment of the animals that supplied a portion of this breakfast.  I did none of these things because of the confidence I have in the farmers, food and transportation companies that helped me put breakfast on the table this morning. 

Food Day is coming up on October 24th.  On this day I will be thinking about how fortunate we are in the US to have a safe, economical, nutritious, and reliable supply of food.  I have had the opportunity to travel to various parts of the world and I can honestly say that we in the US have the best food system in the world!