2021: A Year in Review
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

  • Voices
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Covenant Partners
    • Issue Statements
    • Governing Board
    • Careers
  • Programs
    • NC Interfaith Power & Light
      • NCIPL Overview
      • Faith in Action NCIPL
      • NCIPL Articles
      • NCIPL Resources
      • Upcoming Events for NCIPL
      • Contact NCIPL
    • Partners in Health & Wholeness
      • PHW Staff
      • Mini-Grants
      • PHW Collaborative Pledge
      • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
      • Mental Health Advocacy
      • BIPOC Mental Health Grant
      • Growing Communities of Inclusion: A Faithful Response to HIV
      • Healthy Aging
      • Citizen Science
      • PHW Articles
      • FAQs
  • Priorities
    • Racial Justice
    • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
    • Gun Violence Prevention
    • Criminal Justice
    • Immigrant Rights
    • Public Education
    • Farmworkers
    • Legislative Advocacy
    • Christian Unity
    • Peace
  • Events
  • Resources
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Publications & Reports
    • Raleigh Report
    • Lectionary
    • Sermons
  • Donate
  • Council Store
  • Show Search

Search NC Council of Churches

Hide Search

Giving Thanks for Christmas Trees

Jennie Belle, Former Immigration and Farmworkers Director · December 10, 2014 · Leave a Comment

This time of year we give thanks for many things — including our families, our health, and our churches. We often overlook our decorations, however. Putting up the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, stringing the lights and hanging the ornaments can seem like a daunting task rather than a blessing. However, if you choose a real tree, remember that someone worked hard to grow and harvest it. Growing Christmas trees requires a considerable amount of work, and the people who are hired to do this work are often seasonal laborers from the Guest Worker program supported by the North Carolina Grower’s Association. Christmas tree production and sales comprise more than a $100 million industry in North Carolina with five to six million trees harvested annually, Therefore, North Carolina has come to depend on the H2A visa program to provide seasonal laborers, the majority of whom are Latino.

Christmas tree production is very labor intensive. It includes planting, mowing, weeding, applying insect and disease control, shearing (or shaping), and packaging for marketing. First, a worker must walk around the mountains and mark which trees will be cut down, after which a crew of eight cuts down the tree with chainsaws and drag the tree to the sides of the field. Then the bailing begins, a process in which twine is wrapped around the trees so they are easier to transport. Finally, as many as 600 trees are loaded into trailers and driven to the loading yard to be unloaded, counted, and sorted. Obviously this is very difficult, heavy work that occurs in cold, wet conditions. Workers work 12- to 14-hour days during peak season, stooping down, lifting heavy trees, and carrying them in the fierce cold of the North Carolina mountains. Much of the work is seasonal, so the workers must find new employment after the holidays. Moreover, there are 25 different pesticides used in Christmas tree farming that can have adverse health effects for workers who apply them, if pesticide standards and trainings are not enforced.

One way to help farmworkers this holiday season is by being a socially conscious consumer and purchasing a Christmas tree that is grown in a sustainable manner, as well as investigating the living and working conditions of farmworkers on farms where your tree is grown. Toxic Free NC provides a list of retailers that sell organic or low-spray Christmas trees and wreaths in order to help you support local growers who respect their workers and our environment. Finally, if you do choose a real tree this Christmas, be sure to recycle it. Real Christmas trees are biodegradable and can easily be reused or recycled for mulch or other purposes. During this season of giving, let us be conscientious consumers and give back to those who are stewards of our environment.

Filed Under: Blog, Homepage Featured Tagged With: Environment, Farmworkers, Rural Life

About Jennie Belle, Former Immigration and Farmworkers Director

Jennie was born and raised in Savannah, GA. She moved to Texas for her undergraduate education at Rice University, during which time she studied in Mexico, Peru and Argentina and participated in service projects in Central America. After graduation she moved to Spain for a year to teach English. Jennie then came to North Carolina for a dual degree MDiv/MSW graduate program at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill where her work focused on advocating for farmworkers and organizing churches for social justice. Recently graduated, Jennie is excited to use these skills in her role at the Council of Churches as she works to help improve conditions for immigrants and farmworkers in the state.

Jennie lives in Durham and attends First Presbyterian Church. In her free time she enjoys dancing, distance running, traveling, walking her dog, and planning her upcoming wedding. Jennie can be reached at: jennie@ncchurches.org.

Reader Interactions

More Like This

A Season of Renewal
Together: Wholly Sacred and Beautifully Ordinary
Ken Lund | Flickr
NCIPL Director’s Testimony on EPA Methane Rules

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Anonymous comments or comments that target individuals will not be posted (please include your first and last name). All comments must be on topic and respectful. Comments will not be posted until they have been reviewed by a moderator. Comments do not reflect the positions of the NC Council of Churches.

Footer

Contact

NC Council of Churches
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

Facebook

Partners in Health and Wholeness

Featured

Giving Thanks for Christmas Trees

Latest Tweets

#SCOTUS has overturned Roe v. Wade, making it crystal clear how much #CourtsMatter. Reproductive choice is a healthcare decision and women should make those decisions about their own bodies. We stand by those words today.

About 2 days ago

We affirmed in 1970 that reproductive choice is a healthcare decision and women should make those decisions “without embarrassment, excessive cost, and unwarranted delay.” We stand by those words today.

About 2 days ago

Grant opportunity for BIPOC faith communities in North Carolina to apply towards COVID-19 mental health efforts. Follow the link for more details! ncchurches.org/bipoc…

About 2 days ago

Join us this Sunday! twitter.com/Christin…

About 2 days ago

"All people of faith and spirituality with a role in the financial system have a responsibility to create action immediately, to put the world on a path to a just and sustainable future." publicnewsservice.or…

About 3 days ago

Follow @ncchurches

Latest Tweets

Greetings! Be sure to stop by our table at the Western NC Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church at Lake Junaluska this weekend! We hope to see you there! pic.twitter.com/30bk…

Last week

Hello twitter family! Be sure to stop by our table at the NC Conference of the United Methodist Church in Greenville, NC starting today! We hope to see you there! pic.twitter.com/l6X3…

Last week

Our mini grant cycle is now open!!! pic.twitter.com/eyRp…

About 3 weeks ago

RT @faithleadership Faith coalitions are addressing the opioid crisis by providing resources, connections and a destigmatizing vision. lght.ly/45iam80 Featuring: @okconfchurches | @ODMHSASINFO | @healthandfaith | @ncchurches | @DukeTMCI | @shannon_fleck

About 3 weeks ago

Join us for Sacred Conversations: Older Adults - Fraud & Scams on Friday, June 24th from 11 AM to 12 PM and learn to recognize common scams targeted towards older adults and how to protect yourself and those in your faith communities. ncchurches.ourpowerb…

About a month ago

Follow @healthandfaith

Latest Tweets

Faith Leaders Call on U.S. to Pay Fair Share for Climate Related Loss #USFairShare Click to listen - 2min w/Rev. Malcom @mtmalcom & Rev. @Susannah_Tuttle: shar.es/afbjPy @scennetwork1 @uscan @WEDO_worldwide @ActionAidUSA @AlabamaPJC @foe_us @UCSUSA @ClimateNexus

About 6 days ago

RT @mocleanair Climate change affects everything: investments, agriculture, health, factories, transportation, the electric grid. Fossil fuels cause climate change, and @LloydsofLondon needs to stop insuring fossil fuels. Climate change is wreaking havoc with the economy and our health. Enough! twitter.com/parents4…

About 6 days ago

RT @mocleanair Today @mocleanair, @GeorgiaIPL and @CleanAirMoms_GA delivered postcards to @SenatorWarnock asking for more funding for #EVschoolbuses! #EV schoolbuses are better for kids health and learning! #post4theplanet #cleanair4kids #CleanAir #ClimateAction pic.twitter.com/ztzI…

About 2 weeks ago

RT @mocleanair #EVschoolbuses: better for health, better for education, better for climate, and good for Georgia’s economy. A real win-win-win! #post4theplanet #CleanAir #HealthyAirIsHealthCare #ClimateAction #ClimateActionNow @GeorgiaIPL @NCIPL @uwomenfaith @AlabamaPJC @eldersclimate twitter.com/mocleana…

About 2 weeks ago

RT @alinterfaithpl You don’t want to miss this! Register RIGHT NOW with this link: us02web.zoom.us/meet… twitter.com/alabamap…

About 2 weeks ago

Follow @ncipl

Latest Tweets

Copyright © 2022 NC Council of Churches · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design · Hosted by WP Engine