Dr. Heike Kuhnert

What does that have to do with Witzenhausen? I came to Witzenhausen in 1984 because I wanted to learn more about organic farming. And I wanted to find out how ecology and economy could be brought together. I was already in good company back then with my interest in organic farming, but my interest in economics was rather limited. Was there a hint of ideology in our student ranks, that ecology was "good" and economics "bad"? I was obviously lucky to have had exciting sociology and economics lessons at school, so the first business lecture by a Witzenhausen university lecturer didn't really put me off. The (sometimes) provocative articles he brought with him always had a deeper meaning. People and discussions took me further when I was able to allow my uncertainty and change of perspective.

My diploma thesis on marketing issues in direct marketing with Professor Bernd Wirthgen was "the key" to Villa Hügel in Nordbahnhofstraße, where some of the economics professors were sitting at the time. I followed up my agricultural studies with a degree in ecological environmental protection and completed my doctorate on the basis of research projects on on-farm processing and direct marketing in organic and conventional agriculture. During this time, I was able to lay a solid foundation for my professional network. In 1998, I went to the Saxon State Institute for Agriculture in Dresden for two and a half years to work as a consultant for organic marketing. Having previously applied for research funding as a scientist, I was now able to get to know the other side: how to manage money and spend it as wisely as possible. The Elbe has been with me ever since, and I have been living and working in Hamburg since 2001. I moved to the north for a research position at the University of Hamburg. We spent four years researching the expansion of organic farming in Germany and were right in the middle of the BSE crisis and the "agricultural turnaround". We contributed our experience to the development of the Federal Organic Farming Program, which was an exciting and fruitful time for organic farming. During this time, I also learned how difficult it is to formulate measurable political goals and develop the "right" measures to achieve them. The deeper you delve into topics, the more complex they become and you realize how little we actually (still) know about the causal relationships.

I have been working as a freelancer since 2006, combining my scientific and agricultural expertise with communication services for clients in the agricultural and food sector. Over the past nine years, I have experienced first-hand how challenging it is, for example, to record and evaluate dairy farms with regard to sustainability aspects: Together with the Thünen Institute of Farm Economics and QM-Milch e.V., we have developed a concept for this. Most of us want simple answers that we can use to guide our actions. Unfortunately, the reality is more complicated: organic is not always better, small farms are not per se more sustainable than large enterprises and so on. This brings us back to "staying curious" and having the courage to question our own truths. If we succeed in doing this, we can openly discuss goals and measures for a sustainable agriculture and food industry worldwide and honestly identify existing conflicts of objectives. Making a contribution to this with my work is both a matter close to my heart and a source of motivation.

Saro Gerd Ratter: Thank you very much, dear Heike, for your contribution. I particularly like your sentence: "The deeper you delve into topics, the more their complexity becomes apparent and you realize how little we actually (still) know about the causal relationships." I think recognizing this fact should make us more humble about wanting to "manipulate" nature.