Fall Harvest Time!

Have fun with the following activities relating to the fall harvest.

When the harvest moon looms big and bright in the sky and a chill enters the air, it is time in North America to harvest the last of the crops. On different days in Canada and United States, people hold harvest festivals to give thanks for what we have.

Agriculture and the process of harvesting crops have changed greatly over the years. In the past, food was grown locally, and a community’s survival often depended on the size of its harvest. Each person in a community was needed to help bring in the food by hand, right down to the children who gathered up any last bits of grain that had been left behind by the adult workers.

With modern developments in technology and transportation, fewer people are needed to grow much greater amounts of food. Better yet, food can now be grown and harvested all year round and then packaged and stored to keep fresh for a long time. Best of all, countries can provide food to one another so that a bad local harvest no longer means that a community will starve.

Even though fewer of us are involved in the actual growing and harvesting of crops anymore, people still take the time to stop and gather together for harvest festivals. At these times we give thanks for the food we collect from the earth and the work we and other people have put into cultivating, preparing, and serving this food.