PUMPKIN SHORTAGE

"You can't find a can of pumpkin in the country,"  the manager grocery-man explained to the older woman.

She was at the check-out across from mine and that sentence caught my attention.  My cashier girl was busy scanning and bagging, and when I laughed at the idea of no canned pumpkin she just smiled at me.

Manager-man went on telling her she wouldn't find a can in the area and wasn't sure when they were going to get any in...and I stood there thinking it had to be a joke.

No canned pumpkin?
Insane in the membrane.
And also--who wants to make pumpkin pie when it's 95 degrees right now?  Well--older people do.  And maybe those who love pumpkin pie for breakfast, yummmmm....

But then I thought, really who says those kind of things unless there's a bit of truth behind them.  So I went to play librarian and googled pumpkin shortage...and
low and behold--there's some truth behind it.




Craziness!
What about Halloween?
What about Thanksgiving?

And then I started considering our farming.  Our American farming.  According to The Washington Post, in central Illinois their farming pumpkinlands make for 95% of the US's canned pumpkins--and then when you read on further you see that Libby's which is affiliated with Nestle is responsible for 87% of pumpkin sales from Sept. to Dec. 
Ok.....
that's alot of math and I generally suck at statistics, but I definitely see that the average farmer isn't in the loop on pumpkin sales.  I find that hard to comprehend, having pumpkin farms in my hometown area--but after watching the movie
Food, Inc. I believe it.  And if you haven't seen it--I recommend it.

So really to save Halloween and Thanksgiving I say we all start growing and canning our own pumpkin -- sharing it with each other:)..especially the old people.



Comments

Anonymous said…
poor poor pumpkins! What would fall be without them? We must all do our part. Haha. Personally, my family and I always plant pumpkins in our garden. The regular and the jack-be-littles (those teeny tiny cuties). I can't stand pumpkin pie but I love having them around the house at fall. :-)
Just Believe said…
I started reading your blog and I just love it! It's so down to earth!
you said 'insane in the membrane' which made me giggle like a school girl. other than that, i'm still not sure i comprehend this but i'm putting my cans of pumpkin on ebay tomorrow.
Alicia said…
I actually recall there being a shortage last year too. Where have all the pumpkins gone? (sing it like Paula Cole... it'll make you laugh).

Interesting little bit of trivia... a box of chocolate cake mix and a 15 oz can of pumpkin makes a delicious, moist low-cal, low-fat cake. Seriously. So good. The batter is thick as hell, and the cake is dense, but it's delish.
Jewels--ahh...lucky you having pumpkins. I always try, but somehow they never make it to the full pumpkin stage!

Life goes on...thanks!

Claire--and now i'm laughing too..can we start the bidding at
.99?

Alicia...you know I mentioned the pumpkin shortage to someone at work today and they acted like i had been living in a hole! I guess it's time to venture out..and now I can't stop singing!! :))))))) Thanks!
This is why I am stocking up early on canned pumpkin, so I can make plenty of pumpkin empanadas, without delay or shortage getting in the way.
Pumpkins = Autumn. Plain and simple!! I love that jackolantern--amazing!
Sarah said…
Ha Ha ha wow that's interesting! lol
Thanks for sharing! Feel free to check out my blog!

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