Publisher’s Story Summary: The summer a great drought sweeps across the county, the only crop Sadie’s family is able to save is the sweet potatoes. Money is tight, and if Papa doesn’t pay back his loan soon, the bank will take away the farm.

Suddenly Mama comes up with an idea—sweet potato pies! The family can sell her pies at the Harvest Celebration that starts the very next day. There’s not much time to get ready, but as Sadie and her brother enlist the cooperation of their old cow, squawking chickens, and half-blind goat, the family rises to the challenge. And in the end it’s Sadie who comes up with just the right recipe for success.

Sweet Potato Pie is a delicious affirmation of strong family ties and creative problem solving. This lively story will capture your heart, as well as your taste buds.

LESSON: SWEET POTATO PIE

Lesson Summary: 

Papa tells the family to come to the kitchen one morning to receive some bad news - the bank is about to take away the family farm unless Papa repays a $75 loan. Because of a severe drought, all the family had left was a crop of sweet potatoes. Through ingenuity and hard work, the family works together to bake and sell Mama’s special sweet potato pies at the Harvest Celebration Fair. But could they bake enough pies to save the farm?

Definition: Producers are people who make goods or provide services.

Comprehension Questions

Why did the family decide to produce sweet potato pies?
The family had borrowed money from the bank. The bank loan was due, but Papa didn’t have enough money. They needed to produce pies to earn enough income to pay back the loan.

What productive resources did it take to produce the sweet potato pies?
Raw materials (that come from natural resources): Sweet potatoes, flour, eggs, milk, spices

Human Resources: all the family members who worked. Also, It took Mama’s special skill and knowledge (human capital) to make quality pies!
Capital Resources: bowls, oven, spoons, pie tins, butter churn, wagon to transport pies

It took a lot of hard work to produce the sweet potato pies. Does production always involve hard work?
Yes! It is not easy to collect productive resources and use them to produce a product.

What problem did the family encounter when trying to sell their pies?
The band was playing very loudly so people couldn’t hear them cry, “Pies for sale!”

How did they solve that problem?
Jake and his sister took two pies and “danced through the crowd” advertising the pies. It worked and soon lots of people came to buy the pies.

Is it important for producers to think of creative ways to market their goods or services?
Yes! Producers may have good products, but it is very important to make sure that consumers know about them! This is why advertising is important. 

Why was selling pies at the General Store important for their pie business?
Lots of people came to the General Store each day, so it was a perfect place to market the pies. They didn’t need a special Harvest Celebration to have a steady supply of customers.

How could winning the blue ribbon at the Harvest Celebration help their business?
They could advertise that these were “blue ribbon” pies. It showed that they were of very high quality. When products get awards, this is very helpful to producers.

Why was Mama sure that there would always be pies to sell?
She was sure because everyone was willing to help work hard to produce the pies.

Could there be a guarantee that the pie selling would always be successful?
No. If they worked hard there was a good chance they would continue to have success, but there are always unforeseen risks in any business. Mama could get very sick. The sweet potato crop could fail. Some germs could get into a batch of pies and people could get sick so that sales would drop.  Producers always face risk.

Other Concepts: Productive Resources

  Producers