There are myriad ways to experience the Thanksgiving holiday. For some, it is a joyous celebration and sharing of thanks with family or chosen family; for others, a time when interpersonal or familial tensions bubble to the surface. Oftentimes, our experience falls somewhere along this spectrum, and we have to hold multiple realities at the same time. This is true of how we at Farmers To You are approaching Thanksgiving this year.

As a predominantly white, for-profit food organization, it is not our place to provide instruction on how to experience Thanksgiving. We can, however, share our own experience, process, and vision for the future. Deep change happens slowly, with care and intention, and we are grateful to be in this work with one another and with you, our community.

We are learning from Indigenous leaders and thinkers that Thanksgiving is at once a holiday centered on gratitude, and at the same time one that perpetuates harmful cultural myths about the colonization of the land now known as the United States. We as a staff are discerning our role in holding the gratitude while dispelling the falsehoods. This is an ongoing process, and one that won’t yield any easy or quick answers—likely more and more questions will emerge.

We look forward to sharing our process with you, in the hopes that we can all make space for these questions and begin repairing the harm done to Indigenous communities—from the founding of American society up to present day issues around land access and environmental justice. Thank you for being on this journey with us.

The Food Justice Committee at Farmers To You