Part 6

In the last 100 years, agriculture and horticulture have changed dramatically. The shift from an agrarian to industrial state led to economization and intensification. Fewer and fewer farmers produced more and more food per area, while a growing working class was needed for the economic boom. Agriculture became an economic branch in international competition.

The effects are apparent today. Intensive cultivation of rapeseed, wheat and corn in monocultures brings heavy environmental damage. The vegetable species and varieties grown have been reduced to those suited to industrial cultivation. Therefore, approximately 75% of the cultivars have been lost up to now.

Homegardens have widely become sites for low-maintenance flowers and are no longer places of useful plant diversity. Many species have completely disappeared from the garden.

Nevertheless, new crops are finding their way into gardens and fields. Soy and sweet potatoes have emerged quite recently, and perhaps tigernut and celtus will follow soon.