How Do We Get Our Bread?

Do you ever wonder how we get things? The things we buy have to come from somewhere. Food doesn't just magically appear on the shelves of the grocery store, clothes don't sew themselves out of nothing, and toys aren't just wished into shape, as much as we might like them to be. Each of those things take something called resourcesto become what they are.

A resource is an available source of wealth that can be accessed when it's needed. Wealth isn't just the paper or coin money that you have in your pocket. It is also other things that have value to a person or community. There are three main types of resources that we rely on: human resources, natural resources, and capital resources. Human resources are the people who are part of making things and providing services. Natural resources are the resources that we get from the earth. Capital resources are the ways that we get money to make things.

Let's think of things in terms of our local grocery store. Have you ever wondered what it takes for us to get bread from the bakery? There's a lot that goes into the process that puts the bread, cakes, and donuts that we like so much on the shelves. Each step needs the help of each of the three resources before we can have our finished result.

Before we can ever have our bread, we have to have the grain, eggs, sugar, and other things to make it with. These things are all natural resources, things that come from the earth. But in order to make the grain grow properly, and make sure that the eggs are collected, we have to have the farmers who grow the grain and care for the chickens. These people are human resources. The farmers also need the farm machinery, seeds, and chickens so that we can have the grain and eggs, and to get these things, they need money. That money is the capital resource that they are using.

The bakery obviously needs the natural resources of the grain, eggs, and other ingredients to make our bread. It also needs the human resources of the bakers who put those ingredients together to make the bread. But before any of that can be done, the bakery needs the capital resources to work in the first place. If there is no money backing up the bakery, and buying the equipment and ingredients, and hiring the people who make the bread, then there would be no bakery.

This same process is involved in any of the things that you are used to buying and using every day. Your toys need human, natural, and capital resources to be put together, and your clothes need all of those things as well. All of these are used together to make the things that we use, and without one type of resource, we would have a hard time getting things.