“He that laboureth laboureth for himself; for his mouth craveth it of him.”
Proverbs 16:26
This verse means that the threat of hunger keeps us working, even when we may not want to work. Our appetite for food and shelter works for us by urging us forward unto labor.
But, what happens when people who are able to work can get food, shelter, and clothing without working? They become lazy, spending their time on gossip, quarrels, games, and trouble. The Apostle Paul instructed the new Church in Thessalonica not to feed people who would not work,
“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.”
II Thessalonians 3:10-12
Welfare, whether from family, church, or civil government, that does not urgently encourage work, or that is structured so as to make it irrational to earn more money, sabotages the connection God made between work, and eating. It keeps a person’s appetite from working for him.
Some people, of course, cannot work, and should be voluntarily helped with food, clothing, and shelter by those who can. But, wise moms and dads, along with wise churches and societies, will not sever the relationship between work and eating that God has established. A worker’s appetite should be allowed to work for him, his belly urging him on to work.
Most of our food today is not grown on our own property so it becomes easy to disassociate food with work. But, make no mistake about it, someone had to work to put food on our tables. Someone, usually a lot of some ones, picked up the tab.
As I looked around our kitchen the other day, I tried to identify where all the food came from. The easiest answer to that, of course, is the supermarket; and for many people that’s the beginning and end of the thought process. Most of the canned foods came from a factory here in America. The bananas probably came from South or Central America. Olive oil came from Spain and spices came from different places around the world. Vanilla extract comes from the island of Madagascar. Coffee probably came from Peru and the tea came from India. My Diet Dr. Pepper must have come from heaven itself.
Every time I sit down for a meal we should take a moment to be thankful. Often, from places far away the food has been harvested by people often earning very little money. Our food has been transported by rail, trucks, ships, or cargo planes. If any of those chains were to be broken by drought, war, strikes, or economic collapse then, the food might not be on my plate at all.
In fact, we know that there are going to be shortages from time to time and prices are going to go up. We may think food prices here in America are going up too much but what about the poorest countries? We have recently read of impossible price rises in places where people have the least money to pay. The point is, no one eats for free. Even if you grow your own food, you still have to pay for it with labor. If you are on welfare, you still need to understand that someone still has to pick up the check.
Someone Had to Invest
Farmers invest a lot of money each year just to prepare the soil and then buy seed and fertilizer for the crops. The rancher invests a lot of time and money to purchase or breed livestock that will one day be placed on your table. Two million farms dot America’s rural landscape, and 98% are operated by families – individuals, family partnerships or family corporations. One U.S. farm feeds 166 people annually in the U.S. and abroad. The global population is expected to increase by 2.2 billion by 2050, which means the world’s farmers will have to grow about 70% more food than what is now produced. That is going to take a lot of investment of money and hard work. But, someone does it and because someone does it, I can have food on my table.
Someone Had to Nurture
Only heroic efforts by farmers and ranchers have kept American supermarket shelves supplied. In many ways, buying our food from the supermarkets has made us forget how much work is involved. The harvest is also a bit of a gamble. Truth be told, failed harvests happen somewhere in the world all the time. Remember the blight that wiped out the potato crop in Ireland in 1845. One million Irish people died and another two million emigrated to the United States and elsewhere; and the memory still lingers on.
Even today, floods, drought, and disease can wipe out the farmer’s investment long before the harvest ever comes. It takes a lot of work and money to keep the food flowing to your table.
Someone Had to Harvest
A peach, a strawberry, a tomato that is good today may not good tomorrow. That’s how quick things can ripen. Even more forgiving crops, like bell peppers, have a short harvesting window of two to five days. The harvest is critical for the farmer. They need skilled and unskilled laborers to work their fields, and a reliable supply chain to deliver their goods. Increased fuel costs have made operating harvesting equipment more expensive than ever. It took a lot of work to put that food on your table.
Someone Had to Process
It’s always been tough to get people to work in a food plant, but recently empty grocery store shelves reflect how labor scarcity is now the major issue for many food processors. It is often the cause of the kinks that upset the entire food supply chain. Grocers are having trouble getting orders filled. One manager of a local chain store indicated that he was only receiving about 40% of what he ordered from many of his suppliers. Indeed, without workers to process the food there would not be food on your table.
Someone Had to Transport
Even if the farmers and ranchers produce the food, the food supply chain relies on a complex web of interconnected infrastructure to get it to your table. For example, a lot of grain produced throughout the Midwest is transported to the Port of New Orleans for export. The infrastructure along these waterways has not been overhauled since their construction in 1929. They represent a serious bottleneck, slowing down innumerable supply chains nationwide, including that of grain. If they were to fail entirely, then commodity transport and supply chains would be completely disrupted for months. Railroads are also important for moving grain. Fresh produce, on the other hand, is often moved around the country by refrigerated truck.
The point is, you and I routinely purchase food that was grown more than 1000 miles away and transported to our local grocery store. The cost of transporting our food is often very high. Trucks, trains, and ships, all of which consume fossil fuels, are the primary methods for transporting large quantities of food around the world. It costs these shippers a lot of labor and money to put food on your table. No, you are not eating free. You never have.
Someone Had to Merchandise
Food companies and supermarket chains’ costs are rising as they struggle to operate with fewer employees. We should be thankful for all the people unloading the trucks, stocking the shelves, cleaning and helping us purchase our food. It takes a lot of money and a lot of work to keep the doors open at our local market.
If You Are on Private or Government Assistance, Someone is Working For You
The last report I saw, showed that an estimated 52 percent of American households received benefits from one or more government programs. It is probably higher than that now.
Rational people have long dreaded the day when we crossed the halfway mark because of all the implications for individual and fiscal responsibility. As Benjamin Franklin reportedly said, “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” The country has crossed the entitlement tipping point. The only hope is to try to get millions of Americans off the government benefits roll.
So, I challenge you, especially during this harvest season that when we look at the food on our plates, remember those who cooked it, but remember too where the food came from; who planted it, who nurtured it, who harvested it and who brought it to market. And if you are on some form of government welfare, remember who paid for it, because someone always has to pick up the check.
And let us be thankful, that when we look at how complicated it is just to get me a banana, yet in God’s goodness most of us have never been unintentionally hungry. Those plates of food that you have for lunch today, have overcome the uncertainties of the weather, politics of the market, and shortages of labor and fuel to find its way on to our tables. For that we should be thankful. You see, it was not easy. Someone had to work very hard. Nor was it free because someone always has to pick up the check.
Dr. Worthington has been in the ministry for over forty five years and serves as President of Pathway Ministries and Christian Bible College.