Food has brought us together for thousands of years, whether it was cave people cooking over an open fire or farming communities celebrating the harvest or families gathered for the ritual of dinner together each night.

Food has featured prominently in the highlight reels of our lives: birthday cakes, hot dogs at ballgames, holiday meals with the family, barbecues on the Fourth of July, the season’s first cone from the ice cream truck, turkey and stuffing for Thanksgiving.

As we all discovered this year, access to that food – whether having dinner out at our favorite restaurants, grabbing coffee and a pastry from “our” place or picking up whatever’s fresh from a grocery on the way home – is something we can’t take for granted.

And yet, when the world turned dark, it was many of those same eateries that kept us tethered to our “old” lives, as food workers switched from eat-in to takeout and delivery. While they kept us fed, so many of them were hurting, having to lay off employees, limit their menus or close their doors altogether.

Now more than ever before our restaurants and other eateries need our support. So I’d like to declare this EAT THE KENNEBUNKS YEAR, and encourage you to do a few things: Eat out. Grab a meal at your favorite spot or try a new one. This will help owners keep the doors open and employees paid. Also,