Title:
At Thanksgiving, the Makings of a National Feast
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
See text below
Text:
In sixteen twenty-one, a big celebration took place
at Plymouth Colony in what is now the state of
Massachusetts. European settlers known as the
Pilgrims were celebrating their autumn harvest after
a winter of struggle. Other colonists held earlier
ceremonies of thanks. But the Pilgrims' three-day
feast is often called the nation's first
Thanksgiving. President Abraham Lincoln declared a
national holiday in eighteen sixty-three during the
Civil War. Today families and friends gather on the
fourth Thursday in November. And, thanks to the
United States Census Bureau, here are some facts
about where their Thanksgiving meal comes from. The
main dish is traditionally a turkey. About
two-thirds of the nation's turkeys are produced in
Minnesota and five other states. Producers are
expected to raise two hundred forty-eight million
birds this year, two percent more than last year.
Popular side dishes include cranberries and sweet
potatoes. Last year North Carolina grew more sweet
potatoes than any other state. Wisconsin is expected
to be the top cranberry producer this year. People
often finish the meal with pumpkin pie. Last year
Illinois grew the most pumpkins. California, New
York and Ohio were also major pumpkin
producers.Thanksgiving is a big event, but buying a
traditional holiday meal can be a struggle for the
poor. so charity groups often hold food drives. In
Denver, Colorado, volunteers were collecting donated
items to fill fifteen hundred Thanksgiving baskets.
Rodney Cunningham has been helping the group
Volunteers of America for three years. He says this
year the demand was greater than ever: "One of the
reasons why it's really important is because the
economy is pretty bad and a lot of people have a
need for extra food. They don't have any food at
all."Jim White, community affairs director at
Volunteers of America, says people donated a lot of
food. "These individuals donated over one hundred
forty-eight tons of food, but it takes a huge amount
of food as you can imagine to do fifteen hundred
food baskets complete with stuffing and cranberries
and pumpkin and fresh produce, and then they are all
topped off with a fifteen-pound frozen turkey."Mr.
White says volunteers come from all over Denver to
help. "Thanksgiving should be viewed as a verb not a
noun, and what better way to give thanks than to
help somebody out that you know is struggling right
now?" For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
To post a comment:
• Click "Comment using..." in
the window below
• Click your favorite service: Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail
• Login to the service
• Click "Add a comment..."
• Post your comment in the window
Students: Please post a
comment stating what you found interesting about this video. You are
welcome to include links to your English study blogs and any
other materials you think might be useful for learning
English.
Teachers: Please post your
thoughts about this video. You are welcome to include links to
your sites, blogs, and any other materials you think might
be useful for learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
