Submitted by
S. Daly

Age Group
4-11

Aim
To appreciate the work of people who grow food for us
To thank God for the harvest

Resources
Bags/crates of sugar, large map of the world, two calendars, a toy tractor, two telephones

Time of Year
Autumn
Harvest time

Script
1. We are going to tell you a bit about sugar.

2. When you buy sugar in the shops, it is either white or brown.
Sugar comes from a plant or vegetable. When it is growing, it is a slightly different colour.

3. 60% of the world's sugar comes from sugar cane. This is a plant which grows in hot places, like the West Indies. (Point to map.) Sugar cane is a member of the grass family. It looks like bamboo, a yellowy-brown colour. It can grow to 20 feet, higher than the ceiling in this room. Tate and Lyle sugar is made from sugar cane.

4. 40% of the world's sugar comes from sugar beet. This is grown in Europe. (Point to map.) Sugar beet is related to the red beetroot which we have in salads. Sugar beet grows under the ground. It is about the size of a large parsnip and is a greyish-white colour. Silver Spoon sugar is made from sugar beet.

5. Most people in this room eat 40 bags of sugar a year.
We add sugar to tea, coffee and cereal to make it taste nicer.
We also eat lots of sweets. Some sweets are almost 100% sugar, with a little food colouring and flavouring.
We also eat a lot of hidden sugar, in things like: baked beans, tomato ketchup, soup, curry sauce, tinned peas and so on.

6. We enjoy sugar. That is good. But we should also remember that sugar is a harvest which comes to us from many miles away.
We should remember the people who work hard to grow the sugar for us - and we should share that harvest with people who are not as well off as we are. At this time of year, there are many harvest festivals where people can give some food to other people. God wants the whole world to share and enjoy the world's harvest.

7. The people who grow sugar cane in the West Indies are often very poor. Soon it will be CAFOD'S Family Fast Day. You are asked to give up eating something nice and then give the money to CAFOD. This money is used to help people such as the sugar growers.
Here is a short play to show you how the money could be used.

____

FARMER: We are hungry farmers. We grow sugar cane to sell.
On the poorer land, we grow some food for our own families. But we are still hungry. The soil is bad and we do not have enough tools.
Our wives have to buy some of our food in the Plantation Shop.
The prices there are very high.
It would help us a lot if we had a tractor. We could share it.
We would be able to make the soil better and grow more food for our families.

FARMER 2: I know. Let's ring the tractor company and see how much a tractor would cost. We could work hard and save up for one together.

FARMER 3: Okay. I'll telephone.
Good morning, sir. How much would a tractor cost? We haven't much money, but we could pay you in sugar cane.

DIRECTOR: A tractor will cost you 3 crates of sugar cane.

FARMER 3: Thank you. We will visit you when we have 3 crates of sugar cane.

TIME: Time passes ... (Turn over two calendars.) one year ... two years ... then at last ...

FARMER: We have 3 crates of sugar cane to spare. Let's go to the tractor factory.

FARMER 2: Good morning, sir. Here are the 3 crates of sugar cane.
Will you give us a tractor in return?

DIRECTOR: No. I have to pay my factory workers higher wages now.
A tractor now costs 9 crates of sugar cane.

TIME: Time passes ... (Turn over two calendars.) one year ... two years ... then at last ...

FARMER 3: Good morning, sir. Here are the 9 crates of sugar cane.
Will you give us a tractor in return?

DIRECTOR: No. The price of tractor parts has gone up. A tractor now costs 15 crates of sugar cane.

FARMER: But our sugar must be worth more now as well.

DIRECTOR: No. There is too much sugar in the world. The price of sugar has come down. It's 15 crates, or no tractor.

FARMER 2: It's not fair. Everything goes up in price, but nobody pays us more for our sugar. We are always going to be poor and hungry. I wish somebody would help us.

CAFOD WORKER: Good morning. I am from CAFOD. We will give you the
money to buy a tractor.

FARMER 3: Thank God. Now we can feed our families.

____

8. Lord, thank you for the food we have - the food we need and the food we enjoy.
Help us to remember the people who work hard to grow that food. Amen.
We will now sing "Autumn Days" by Estelle White. (Celebration Hymnal for Everyone number 61)