Big Mess
Global warming, climate crisis—whatever you want to call it, it’s screwing with my mood this holiday season. Bing Crosby isn’t the only one who has been dreaming about a white Christmas. Heck, I’ll take a frozen solid New Years Eve. But no, it’s a Charlie BROWN season. Every farmer out there is dealing with the mud right now and there’s no end in sight.
Maybe the Capital Weather Gang was trying to make us all feel better with their tally of snowfall, ice accumulation, cancelled flights, and closed highways in the mid-west over the busy travel season for the holidays. I’m certain those ranchers are using lots of colorful language, too, and wishing they were in my muck boots with only rain and temperatures above freezing.
Unless there’s a major weather-related event occurring, holidays tend to not be as memorable. Thanksgivings of my childhood all blur into each other except the one where we had a blizzard and the electricity went out. The only people who could cook their turkey was the neighbors who had a propane oven in their camper.
No one who travels for the holidays wants weather. We like our highways clear, the roads dry, and just enough chill in the air to make wearing cashmere sweaters and tweed coats comfortable. At least make it cold enough that all the leftovers that don’t fit in the refrigerator can be put out on the porch or at the very least, the beer and bubbly.
At the rate we’re going, instead of snowball fights kids will have to take up mud wrestling when all the cousins get together. One of the leading climate scientists in the world published a paper last month that expects the rate of global warming to increase by as much as 50% in the coming decades, citing the unprecedented increases over the last 15 years.
White Christmas was released in 1954, before the rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Growing up in the 60’s & 70’s, Thanksgiving was the kickoff for sledding season. A few times we even Trick-or-Treated in our snow suits. This year I can’t tell you how many people came to market in shorts and sandals on Christmas Eve! I opted for insulated coveralls since the forecast called for feels like temperatures in the low 40’s. Once again, the weatherman lied, but I was not about to stand in the warm rain in my long underwear no matter how much they looked like yoga pants.
If you’ve been a reader of Dishing the Dirt for any length of time you know I gripe about weather and climate quite a bit. There’s a reason. I’ve been farming for nearly 40 years and have a bit of perspective on how a warming planet impacts our food system. Every time we have burps and hiccups in the supply chain for one reason or another consumers loose their collective biscuits when they can’t get what they want when they want it at a price they’re willing to pay.
Where’s the silver lining? At the farmers market, of course! We’ve kept everyone fed during the pandemic, an egg shortage, heat waves, and polar vortices. We’re the agile innovators willing to give new crops and farming practices a go when mega-operations must stick with what big box stores have ordered. We’re more willing to take risks and pivot when things go awry. Market farmers will be the first ones to say I can’t grow this anymore, but I bet I can grow that.
While pundits argue about food security for a growing population, young farmers are planting trees—fruit trees and nut trees—for the future. They’re excited to try new methods and varieties that will tolerate a warmer environment. One of the questions I always ask when visiting young farmers is what they are doing to produce food in a changing climate and they’re always excited about their science and agricultural practices. While I have a big ugly muddy mess this week, they have hope…hope for a new year and many more.
Happy New Year everyone.