It is that time of year again in the UK. Harvest festival. Actually, despite the modern trend to link this activity with the Church and Christianity, the origin of this festival goes back further into history.

In olden days, way before the Christian faith got involved, farmers use to offer the first of the crops to their Gods, so that a successful crop would be safeguarded for the following year. Of course, it did not always work, but the idea was that if the Gods blessed the crop one stood a chance of making money next year.

It is only since 1843 (a few decades before I was born) that Harvest Festival has become a religious event. Now at this time of year, when all the harvest has been collected, Churches are filled to overflowing with vegetables, fruit and, of course, sheaves of wheat, corn and barley. To be fair to the Churches, once the ceremony is over these produce are distributed, normally to the elderly or needy.

The one thing about this festival is that everyone attending will be thankful for something. For the drinker, the oat, yeast, and barley are the core of their drink’s make-up. For the diet conscious, fruit and vegetables provide the core to their staple diet. For the vegetarians, without the harvest they would not be able survive, as all that would be left is meat. Even for the carnivores amongst us, without the colour and flavour of these crops we would be lost and our food bland and uninviting. However, unlike your countrymen Grit, we do not place much emphasis on the meat. Thus turkey is not a traditional part of the UK festival.

In reality, the main element we should be thankful for, bearing in mind the poverty that exists in this world, is that the harvest puts food on our table and, hopefully, provides for all of those in need in less fortunate parts of the world.

The brit