Up and Going
Up and Going members and guests boarded the St. Jacob’s Express, with Gerald driving, to spend the day at the SC Farmer’s Market. Helen gave the devotions based on the surprising gifts from the farm.
A short business meeting was held before we left for the Market.
Arrangements were made by Tracy for us to visit the labs at the Consumer Protection Lab and Metrology Lab located at the Market. The laboratories are under the direction of the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.
At the Consumer Protection Lab, we toured the Petroleum Lab, the Pesticide Residue Lab, The Seed Lab, Planting and Germination Rooms, the Dog, Cat, Horse Feed Lab and the Food Lab. Each individual lab provided a knowledgeable person to explain the workings of the lab and to answer any questions.
The tour continued to another building which houses the Metrology Lab, there we visited the Precision Weights Lab, the Grain Lab, Small Volume Lab, the Large Volume Lab and Small Mass Lab. These are the most fascinating labs. These labs ensure that the food items, animal foods, fuels, seeds and other items are the correct weights, items as listed, germinations of seeds are correct and in general are as labeled on the pack. Gas Station fuel pumps are checked for weight per gallon and contents as marked. The fuel pumps are labeled with a sticker stating the month and year that it was inspected. Each gas station should be checked once per year. We were overwhelmed with information but thankfully assured that someone was checking things that we all consume. We left the Labs with a huge appreciation for the work that these wonderful people perform daily. A special thank you to all who made this trip so enjoyable.
Lunch was enjoyed by all at the Market Restaurant. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. We spent a few minutes in The Tea Room browsing around and checking out all of the items made in SC.
Our tour of the Farmer’s Market concluded with a walk-on bus tour with Brad. We toured the fruit and vegetable sheds, the commercial sheds, the out of state vendors shed and other sheds in that area. Gerald then took us into the fruit/vegetable shed, parked the bus and gave us time to shop. Favorite items purchased were tomatoes, peaches, watermelons and cantaloupes. We stopped at the flower sheds and some purchased flowers. What a wonderful day we enjoyed together!
The August meeting will be the 4 Churches Meeting. It will be held on Thursday, August 22nd at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New Life Center at 11 AM. We each are asked to bring a side dish or dessert. The meat, drinks, etc. will be provided by Holy Trinity. Please arrive at Holy Trinity by 11am. This is surely to be an enjoyable meeting.
