It’s hard to believe that it is already fall and the holiday season is upon us. The holiday season is my most favorite time of the year – a time to gather with family and catch up or reflect on the previous year.

According to the Statista Research Department, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the most popular holidays in the United States. According to a survey conducted in 2021, Thanksgiving had a popularity rating of 81%, followed by Christmas with 77%. The poll indicated that the spirit of Thanksgiving is one of family, friends, love, being grateful and, last but not least, fabulous food. The holiday is a favorite for so many people because it isn’t focused on presents or extravagant decorations – it’s about sitting down for a delicious meal surrounded by friends and family. The holiday gives us time to reflect on our lives, appreciate what we have, who we are, and where we are right now. Lastly, it gives us the time and opportunity to be thankful.

Thanksgiving became an official holiday on October 3, 1863, first declared by President Abraham Lincoln. The holiday is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonist and Wampanoag people. That feast featured poultry, venison, fish, vegetables, and fruits. Our Thanksgiving feast today features some of these same foods. You will typically find turkey, chicken, ham, dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and pecan pie on our Thanksgiving tables. In the early Thanksgiving celebrations, people either hunted or gathered their own food. Today, a quick trip to the local grocery store supplies all our needs and more. But where does all this food come from?

Sampson County is ranked the number 1 county in crop production and the number 2 county in livestock production in North Carolina. We are the 20th ranked county in the United States in total agriculture production. 53% of our workforce is employed in some type of agriculture endeavor, and 93% of our farms are family-owned farms. Much of the food that you will see on your table originates in our home county.

Sampson County farmers grew 7.2 million turkeys and 40 million chickens in 2021. Poultry production is predominantly a vertically integrated system in Sampson County. Production companies (integrators) contract with growers to produce birds or eggs. In general, the integrator supplies the birds, feed, medications, and other necessities of growth. The grower builds and maintains the houses, installs and maintains equipment, handles daily flock management and welfare, and disposes of dead birds and waste. It typically takes 6-7 weeks to grow out chickens and 20-24 weeks to grow out turkeys.

Sampson County farmers grew 1.9 million hogs last year, which may show up at your Thanksgiving feast in the form of ham. Hogs are also grown using vertical integration similar to the poultry model with your local farmer providing housing, maintaining equipment, handling herd health, and disposing of waste. It typically takes 22-26 weeks to grow out hogs.

Sampson County is the number one county in the nation for sweet potato production. In 2021, Sampson County farmers harvested nearly 300 million pounds of sweet potatoes from our fields. The main sweet potato variety, ‘Covington’ was developed by the NC State sweet potato breeding program at the Horticulture Crops Research Station in Clinton in 2008. ‘Covington’ is a farm favorite due to its yield and grade, storage ability, taste, and nutritional analysis.

Dressing, or stuffing is typically made with some type of bread or bread crumbs. Bread’s main ingredient is wheat, and Sampson County grows a lot of it. We rank 5th in NC in wheat production, and harvested over 675,000 bushels in 2021.

The sweet corn on your table may have also originated from Sampson County. Sampson County farmers planted and harvested 228 acres of sweet corn in 2021, making us the #2 ranked county for sweet corn production. There are many different varieties and colors grown in Sampson County by local farmers.

Where did the pecan pie come from? Well, maybe they originated from Sampson County as well. Sampson County was ranked #1 in tree fruit production in 2017. Since that time, many small pecan orchards have begun to produce pecans across the county.

It’s amazing when you think of everything our local farmers grow in Sampson County. Almost the entire holiday feast can be traced backed to Sampson County, and maybe one of your neighbors’ farms. Make sure when you are giving thanks or reflecting on all your blessings this holiday season, that you remember the hands that helped to provide them. James Lamb, one of my favorite local farmers from Sampson County, may have said it best when he said, “In America, unlike some other parts of the world, we don’t wake up every morning wondering how we are going to eat. Instead, it’s a matter of what we want to eat. That’s because our farmers work hard and are dedicated to providing people with healthy, safe, and abundant food.”

If you’d like to learn more about your local farmer, or where you can find local foods, download the Visit NC Farms app from the Google play store or the apple app store.

Brad Hardison is the director of the Sampson County Cooperative Extension and has served as an agricultural extension agent specializing in horticulture. Contact him by calling the Sampson County Extension Center at 910-592-7161 or by emailing [email protected].