In 1955, then-President Dwight Eisenhower proclaimed Thanksgiving Week as National Farm-City Week. Didn't know that? Read on...

If you have read any of my discussions on the origins and history of agriculture over the past 10,000 years or so, you understand that while farms can do very well without cities, urban communities wouldn't last very long without farms. In fact, it's pretty obvious that the rise of city-states and other complex forms of social and political organization – perhaps even civilization itself – was made possible only by the development of agriculture. Now, some folks disagree: for an alternative view of how an advanced civilization might have developed without agriculture, I recommend reading the Neanderthal Parallax by Canadian science-fiction author Robert J. Sawyer, who won the 2001 Hugo Award for the work.

The fact remains that we live in this dimension or reality, and without farms to feed them, cities wouldn't exist. It goes beyond food; if you wear cotton fabric clothing (or even hemp fiber), if you take supplemental herbs, if you have leather shoes or use any number of products between the time you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night, somewhere along the line a farmer had something to do with it.

The key to maintaining this for the long term is to support local agriculture. If most of your food comes from more than 200 miles away, you are putting yourself in a very precarious position. If fuel runs out, or roads and railways are out of commission, what are you going to do?

So...how best to give thanks to your local farmer?

One thing you need to do (and it's unnerving at how many people don't) is to start getting knowledgeable about the issues family farmers face. Keep track of Congress and find out what they're up to with legislation that affects farmers. Check out websites such as Snopes.com and TruthOut.org to learn who is really writing that legislation (hint: it's not usually the guy or gal you elected to do the job), who will benefit – and who will get hurt by it.

Two organizations that are on the side of family farmers are Farm Aid and the American Farmland Trust. They're lobbying groups that represent those who are part of the other 98% of us who make their living from the land. Get involved, if you can.

More immediate things you can do: skip the national-chain supermarket and buy from local farmers at the farmer's market or a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) organization whenever possible. If you do go to the supermarket, look foods that are grown in the region – including meat and poultry. If it doesn’t say where it’s from, it’s probably not close by.  Ask. Some chains, such as Safeway and Fred Meyer are starting to do this more frequently in response to customer demand. It costs extra, but it's worth it to keep those dollars in your community – and your local farmers in business.