What many of us think when we eat our food is about the grocery store where we bought it or the way in which it was prepared, but we rarely think about all of the work that went into growing the food, or the people who spent time laboring in the fields to pick or cultivate it. This is what professors Vanden Heuval and Dudley explained to us. We often times forget the most important aspect of bringing a meal to the table is the farm work that went into creating it. Much of this work is done by migrant farm workers, many who are here illegally and are undocumented. The biggest eye opener for me with this talk was that these migrant families live in fear of being deported or being caught, companies who employ them keep them from working near the road during certain hours, just so that they stay out of sight. I never really understood the process or the type of work that went into cultivating various fruits and vegetables and I never really knew how dependent we were on people that we rarely think twice about. This talk really helped me to realize ways in which I can help these farm families, a little can go a long way.

This talk also dealt with grapes and how they are made into wine. I found it interesting to hear how different grapes grow better in different climates. It was also interesting to hear about how the different types of grapes were brought to the United States. Overall, I do not think I would find an entire class on this subject matter to be super interesting, I think it was very interesting to hear some background on the farming industry.