Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland - Goodbye Germany

My final thoughts on agriculture in Germany is that despite being separated by an ocean we're not that different.

In almost every meeting we attended during our trip through Germany and it's agricultural industry we could compare an organization to one we have in America. The BMEL is the German equivalent of the USDA and they have some of the same focus areas that the USDA does. The Farmers Association in Baden-Wuerttemberg is what we would call a Farm Bureau.

While the others don't have direct equivalents their missions are one we can all relate to. The Berlin Food Policy Council is concerned about feeding the people of Berlin, Pro Agro seeks to help small businesses and producers, Braumanufaktur Forsthaus Templin is keeping tradition alive with their brewing practices, Farmly is working on eliminating food deserts using vertical gardening and brining communities together through their meetings. On a larger scale the German government is putting a larger focus on the health and nutrition and are investing in organic farmers and educating the public on healthy eating. The BMEL has a community education center with the purpose of teaching the people of Berlin healthy eating habits as well as offering healthy recipes, and organic farmers receive an extra stipend for growing organic food.

While we have the same bright hopes for the future, we seem to also make some of the same mistakes. Large organizations are given priority over smaller and local producers. Both countries import many products that are often sold cheaper than products made locally. This leads to people choosing to purchase the cheaper imported products. No matter how much they want to shop locally, rising costs will make them choose whatever they're able to afford.

One major difference we have with Germany is one how they view agricultural education. In the US kids can enter an agricultural class or organization as early as elementary school. In Germany, unless they were raised on a farm, their citizens won't receive any agricultural focused education unless they enter a vocational program in their late teens. While I think both countries understand the importance of agriculture and farming it seems only the US sees the value in starting children down the path of agriculture as early as possible.

In conclusion, we're not so different from our European cousins and I believe there is a lot we can teach each other. We should all seek to understand other cultures and learn from them if we hope to continue to grow as a global society.

A bag full of water used to water a tree

Old tractors in German the museum of agriculture

A collage of childrens' drawings at the John Deere Forum

A plaace at the University of Hohenheim

The cows at feeding time

John Deere Tractors

A list of some of the key problems they are working to solve

Another fermenter