Often times, we become so busy with our work and with our daily responsibilities, it’s easy for us to forget to stop and to reflect on all of good things we have in our lives. It’s also easy for us to go long periods of time without seeing our family members. Hence, I think it has become important for us to have this annual tradition—the Thanksgiving holiday—so that we can remember to celebrate all that we have to be thankful for.
Because the American Thanksgiving holiday is so easily equated with food, I think absolutely!—Thanksgiving Day traditions are connected to the environment. In America, we are accustomed to having easily accessible supermarkets, where we can buy pretty much any food we desire, no matter what time of year it is. This means that we are often flying in produce from other parts of the world and stockpiling meat, dry goods, fruits, and vegetables on big trucks to drive across the country. We are very fortunate because our country has the infrastructure to make eating and shopping like this possible. But on the other hand, shipping our food across such great distances negatively contributes to our country’s carbon footprint.
The great thing about most Thanksgiving meal items, however, is that they are seasonal! Corn, potatoes, pumpkins, and green beans can all be grown and bought locally. This means that these items keep longer, and we don’t have to ship them into our supermarkets from faraway destinations.
