Lives We Eat in our Bread

There is the farmer 
who raised and harvested the grain;
also the miller 
who ground 
the grain into flour;

the baker who made flour into dough, 
dough into loaves;

the grocer selling loaves
who sold loaves in paper
you and I could hold
and carry home... 

a forgotten lesson, 
nonetheless, that should be remembered,
but does not end there.

Who is it provides the yeast,
the source for heat?
Who built the stoves,
the tractors, 
harvesters, and trucks?

Who supplied the shelving, built the grocery,
dug processed ore
out of which machinery is made? 

What can we say except we are eating lives?

If it's lives we eat and 
the value of lives lies in labor,
our thanks must be in labor.

 Otherwise, no thanks.