During Thanksgiving, my family always talks about how thankful we are of typical things: family, good health, freedom. During grace, we give thanks to the food we are about to receive, but I never thought until now to thank the farmers responsible for this food.

Day in and day out, countless farmers work hard to make sure that the American people have healthy food to eat every night. Now that I am surrounded by agriculture every day because of my Animal Science major, I have become more aware at just how much effort goes into our food.

I am apart of the Avian Science Club here at MSU. During the whole semester, we had to take care of turkeys for a fundraiser for a convention in February. Since the beginning of the school year, it has been my job to sign up for turkey care days to make sure that they have clean water and food. This whole past week has been dedicated to processing and packaging these turkeys that we have spent so much time and money on. Members of my club and I have to participate in some aspect of the final product, a juicy turkey ready for any Thanksgiving table.

To some people, it might freak them out to be involved in handling dead birds, but to me, this is something that I have to do for my major. I have been involved in all aspects of these animals and it definitely has been an awesome learning experience. I have worked many hours with these turkeys and it is all worth it for the experience and for being able to go to the convention.

Don't just thank turkey farmers, but thank the corn growers, pig farmers, potato farmers, cranberry farmers, pumpkin growers, apple growers and anyone else involved in the tending and production of your food. And also thank your moms and dads for spending hours in the kitchen while you watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.