Green Week in Berlin: Depressed cows as silent protest?

Chancellor Scholz also spoke to farmers this week. But he didn't have to worry about being booed or attacked. The meeting took place during Green Week, and this Berlin event has always not been a place for a battle of interests, but rather a “performance show”, where all sectors of the industry compete to show themselves in the most pleasant way, in a feeling atmosphere. the tastier side. Scholz did not want to disturb this harmony too much, he said that he would do everything to ensure that “agriculture will continue to be part of our image in the future”. Only then did he say: “it’s part of our economy.”

And indeed: the fact that Green Week is at least as much about images as about the economy itself is clear from the giant banner at the south entrance, which says not exactly subtly but clearly: “Omnivores welcome!” The technical term for this is “Gourmet Fair”. It combats a world of geopolitical polarization, right-wing extremist threats, protests and wars with a world of benevolence with which purveyors of Thuringian dumplings, smoked Hungarian sausages, Uzbek schnapps (age limit 18) and Iranian dates equally treat their end consumers.

A haze of somewhat heavy satisfaction hangs over these corridors full of chewing and swallowing visitors. Somewhat intriguingly, even the permanent snack bars between the halls are well stocked, where, like any other fair, you can meet your emergency needs for white sausage, knuckles and pretzels.

This text comes from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

The halls along the world tour with international exhibitors and the halls where the federal states perform differ mainly in that the German halls always provide space for speeches. A stand where you can get fish fillets in curry sauce for free is called “Fish Information Center” in the Lower Saxony presentation. The speech on stage is attended by only seven visitors, but it is as professional and polished as if it were intended for a television audience of millions. It’s about “raising awareness” and “creating awareness”: “People have to recognize that good things come from the house next door”.

Three of the seven listeners put themselves forward as candidates to try three types of liver sausage, whether from Bentheimer Landschwein, Angler Sattelschwein from Wendland or wild boar. Unfortunately, none of the candidates provided the correct answer. Other countries like Brandenburg skilfully allowed musical combos to perform before moving on to discussions about structural change in Lusatia.

Pleasure and abstraction

The difference is the halls where embassy suppliers compete with each other and only exceptionally there is something to eat. Abstraction predominates here: if the motto in the amusement halls is “Poland tastes good” or “MV (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) is good”, the message in the halls is: “The future tastes good”.

In Hall 3.2, “Experience Farm”, you can climb on tractors that run on vegetable oil; You can learn about their sustainability at Rewe, Penny, Kaufland and McDonald's and get “6 Tips for Mindful Snacking” (Tip 1: “Be aware of what you want (emotional and functional needs)”). A person speaks on stage “Cabeça”. of Farmer Relations” employed at a start-up talks about regenerative agriculture in a discreet way.

In Hall 23.1, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture presents a mirror installation with artificial cows on an artificial green meadow in front of which you can take photos. But “green experience” can also mean something completely different, as you will discover in Hall 27, which has this motto. There, a little away from the moorland, forest and hound tents, the Bundeswehr displays an Eagle IV from Logistics Battalion 172. It was probably green camouflage paint, not renewable energy, that brought the six-cylinder turbodiesel to prominence. this place.

However, you can also find out about the Bundeswehr menu here, which is the same for all barracks; Some packaged food packaging is available for illustrative purposes. And for younger visitors, the Bundeswehr offers a craft booklet with butterflies, frogs and fire engines that they can fold themselves. Will the gourmet fair still be surpassed by the harsh present committed to “fighting war”? Not necessarily, the Bundeswehr has been part of Green Week for years for reasons that are not entirely clear.

The cows and horses in the so-called animal hall stay there even longer. Unfortunately, some of them seem less happy than their human visitors, to whom they turn their backs with depressive immobility. Or is this a silent protest?