Thanksgiving rethought: How grateful are we for this year's harvest?
A year full of natural disasters is coming to an end. Now, before winter sets in, it is time to be thankful for the harvest in almost all crops. This is somewhat difficult in 2024, especially as yields have fallen sharply. Perhaps an opportunity to rethink Thanksgiving.
Heavy rain, late frost and drought do not make it easy for the farming community to organize a festival that is lavishly bright in all colors and is intended to express gratitude for the harvest. Thanksgiving in 2024 is rather thought-provoking and one question comes to mind:
How should this continue?
The soil has had enough of us and our selfish tunnel vision for the highest possible yield per square centimeter. Together with the climate, they are presenting us with the bill for many decades of exploitation. Now is the time to rethink agriculture.
In Germany, the grain harvest yield has fallen from 42 million tons in the previous year to 39.3 million tons this year. However, the deterioration affects not only the quantity but also the quality. The sometimes heavy rainfall is considered the main factor behind this.
One thing is becoming increasingly clear: things will not and cannot stay as they are.
The latest climate report explains this with unprecedented clarity.
Current climate report: On the brink of an irreversible climate catastrophe
What to do now?
It would probably be almost exactly the opposite of what is happening in Europe at the moment.
Politicians are playing for time here - but it is time that we do not have at all.
The general situation demands quick and efficient action towards maximum emissions reduction, preservation of biodiversity, expansion of renewable energies, an immediate end to high-speed soil sealing, expansion of nature and marine conservation areas, etc. - unfortunately, a large collective keeps deciding against these measures and insists on tried and tested solutions.
It is time to recognize:
We are both the problem and the solution. Our purchasing decisions make the market, the crosses on our ballot papers make the future.
No more, but also no less.
