Surprising holiday favorites brought to you by farmers

We all know that farmers are growing and raising our food, but it can be easy to forget that they also have a hand in providing us with things besides food. In fact, many of our favorite holiday items begin on a farm.

Ugly Sweaters

That’s right, just like many of your other clothes those ugly sweaters are made possible by cotton farmers providing the raw material. The jingle bells and glitter are all you.

Gingerbread Cookies

All food starts on a farm! In this case the flour and eggs probably come from a local Illinois farm. Even the gumdrop buttons have corn syrup and starch!

Spirits

Illinois farmers fuel your holiday spirits – namely in the form of corn whiskey and dairy-based eggnog. In fact, this local farmer grows and distills corn all right there on his farm!

Stockings

Santa wouldn’t be able to fill your stocking if farmers didn’t provide the fibers needed to make the fabric. If your stocking is made from cotton or wool, you can bet it came from a farm.

Candles

The go-to gift for that “hard to shop for” person in your life. Opt for soy candles for a cleaner burn and to support Midwest soybean farmers!

No matter what you’re celebrating the holidays with, chances are it ultimately started on a farm. Put an extra shout out to farmers in your note to Santa this year, because they definitely deserve to be on the “nice” list!