Working on the farm isn't always about handling vegetables and dealing with customers.
When your boss asks you to clean out the fridge in the party barn for the family reunion, that's what you do. She asked me to give it quick wipe down and not to spend too much time on it. It was raining that day, not many customers, so I had time to make that refrigerator sparkle.
When I got to the freezer, it was full of frozen whole tomatoes, eggplant casseroles in individual servings, roasted red peppers, diced green peppers...all from 2020.
Memories of the supply chain shortages came flooding back: toilet paper and paper towels, hand sanitizer, Clorox Wipes, all those ships loaded with whatever sitting in ports waiting to be unloaded, and food.
And so much more.
People canned (Ball canning jars were nowhere to be found) and people froze food just to make sure there was food in the house just in case. Food prices soared and people figure out ways to use every last bit of food. It reminded me of back in the day when my grandma canned and kept those jars in her musty basement and my mom froze food to put in our big freezer to take us through the winter.
Survival mode is all about getting through uncertain times. 2020 sure was an uncertain time. You do what you can to survive and to keep sane.
It was tough to throw all that food away but it became a cleansing moment to say good bye to all the uncertainty of that time. It was a reminder that we made it, that we are resilient, that we are strong, and a note to self to appreciate where we are today.
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