The Thanksgiving holiday weekend embodies a few big themes: a festive meal with family, perhaps a long car trip to get there, and time to reflect - sometimes uncomfortably - on our founding history that gave rise to Thanksgiving. Wednesday on Vermont Edition, we're taking all of it on! From food to travel to history to culture, we'll get your Thanksgiving weekend started right.
Anthropology of a shared meal
Rebecca Rupp is an award-winning author and food historian based in Vermont. She's written more than 20 books, including How Carrots Won The Trojan War. This month, she has an online article for National Geographic Food called “Eat, Drink and Be Merry” that examines the cultural significance of food and the power of food to bring people ?together.? We talk with Rupp about the many ways that food has shaped society.
Novelist Tim Weed, Will Poole's Island
During our recent Fall Book Show, we heard from many of you about wonderful local authors whose novels are on your reading lists. One Vermont writer who was recommended by a few listeners is Tim Weed. Weed's new novel, Will Poole's Island, is a perfect fit for the Thanksgiving season. It's historical fiction set in the colonial era, and it tells the story of an English boy who becomes immersed in a native community. VPR's Peter Biello talked with Weed about the inspiration behind the story, and the author's interest in bringing accuracy to our understanding of how English and Native cultures collided.
Best price per gallon?
If your Thanksgiving plans include a long drive to visit family or friends, you are not alone. Thanksgiving is traditionally a weekend where Americans drive long distances, and they'll spend at least part of that driving time scouting the prices for a gallon of gas. Pat Moody is manager of public affairs for AAA of Northern New England, and he helps us understand and compare gas prices that drivers are seeing in our region.
Walking your turkeys to Boston
We have heard for years that Vermont-grown food products have a certain caché, and with Thanksgiving in sight, we’re also reminded of how turkeys are getting from farm to table in our region. Well, that modern conversation is significantly different than it was nearly 200 years ago, when Vermont farmers took their turkeys to market in Boston. By walking them there. From Vermont. Peter Gilbert, chair of the Vermont Humanities Council, explains this unique piece of Vermont farm history.
You've got mail!
Or at least, we have mail -- we read from your messages to the show. You can always contact us at vermontedition@vpr.net on our Facebook page.
This pre-taped program will air on Wed., Nov. 26, at noon and 7 p.m.
