Former Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith Speeches

For the Bounty of the Earth: Celebrating Thanksgiving Day in Moldova

by Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith

November 28, 2002

Thanksgiving Day, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, is my favorite American holiday. It’s not a time for gift giving or fireworks. It’s quieter. And it is special.

It’s a holiday to be spent with family and friends, gathered around a table covered with some of the bounty of the world’s agriculture. It’s a time to reflect on the many gifts we have – family, friends, and the food served upon our tables. Historically, the concept of Thanksgiving Day is said to have originated in 1621, when the Pilgrims, early immigrants in America, joined together with Native Americans for a harvest-time feast.

This year, Thanksgiving Day is Thursday, 28 November, only a few days after Moldova’s Agricultural Day on 23 November. This deep appreciation of agriculture is something Americans and Moldovans share. Both my country and yours are fortunate to have a rich land that allows us to reap bountiful harvests.

Today, in my celebration of Thanksgiving, I will be thankful for being able to work in Moldova and sample the fine results of farmers’ hard work here. Moldovan agriculture has an important role in the continued development of this country. I am continually impressed with the efforts of the private farmers I have visited in Moldova. Private land ownership is a necessary and positive move, enabling the growth of agriculture in a market economy. Approximately one million people became landowners through privatization.

When people ask if land in Moldova is ‘fragmented’ and if, as a result, the future of farming is hurt, I am pleased to reply that the future of Moldovan agriculture is very positive. Farms in Moldova operate in many ways. Seventy-five percent of landowners choose to lease out their land to others who manage farms ranging in size from a few hectares to thousands of hectares. Land being farmed is not fragmented, but joined cooperatively for maximum productivity, with the benefits shared among many landowners.

The U.S. Government is committed to helping Moldova increase the economic potential of agriculture, and in helping individual farmers succeed. One program supported by the U.S. helps to create farm stores, which offer the inputs, credit options, and training needed by small and medium farmers. We are also helping to develop value-added agriculture, in other words, helping to find ways for Moldovan farmers to use more advanced technology to enhance the value of their produce. For example, U.S. assistance helped one processor obtain and apply ‘quick-frozen’ technology and another company implement a ‘controlled atmosphere’ storage program, both of which will allow Moldovan food products to be marketed during the off season, thus garnering higher prices.

Private farmers and business cooperatives have also been offered financial grants to expand their machinery services. In 2002, 43 grants from the U.S. Government, combined with substantial contributions from the businesses themselves, resulted in 130 pieces of new equipment now being available to Moldovan farmers.

Farmers have also received training in a multitude of subjects, from how to register a business cooperative to basic accounting to marketing. One U.S. government sponsored program sent a group of Moldovans, including private farmers, managers of agricultural marketing cooperatives, and representatives of farm associates, on a visit to Belarus to meet with potential buyers. On this visit alone, $761,735 worth of Moldovan cereals, fresh and canned fruits, vegetables, and juices were sold.

In his recent declaration for Thanksgiving Day, President George W. Bush said, “As the Pilgrims did almost four centuries ago, we gratefully give thanks this year for the beauty, abundance, and opportunity this great land offers … Throughout the Thanksgiving holiday, let us renew our commitment to make our country and our world better.”

I believe U.S. Government programs can help enhance Moldovan farmers’ success. And I think our world is better, and will be better still in the future, thanks to the hard work of Moldovan farmers and the warm and productive relationship between our two countries. This Thanksgiving Day let us all remember the rich soils of this beautiful land and the hard work of the farmers, and be grateful.