As I’m preparing food for thanksgiving, a thought came into my head about food. So many families are gathering today around food. I’m betting that most families will not be having a full on organic meal this year because at Thanksgiving, that really doesn’t matter.

Food brings people together as it did at the beginning of mankind. When a hunt was completed, people gathered together to consume it. We do the very same thing that our ancestors did years ago.

It strikes me as odd that once we leave our tables and get into the political arenas, food is not bringing us together. Whether it is in Europe or the US, a food war is going on. Some shouting that we must only go organic and no one can use pesticides. Politics is adding more regulations on farmers that are not based in scientific evidence but rather on feel good rules. Imported activism is keeping developing world farmers from improved plants also. In the end, our ability access food becomes hindered when science is pushed aside in favor of emotion-based regulations.

Most of us will have an abundance of food to enjoy today because of science and technology that few will ever see to appreciate. Everything we eat, whether it is organic or conventional, has been grown with science. Even the recipes we consume has precise measurements for taste and satisfaction in each recipe. Science is everywhere but so easily rejected by the non-farmer.

If only politics of food could start at the Thanksgiving table where we call all share in the effort of a great meal. If everyone stopped to think about the food on that table, we may be able to find a common ground to move forward upon. Sadly, the food wars take place in a sanitized room far from a farm and after well-fed people who are out of touch with the reality of farming.

This Thanksgiving, truly think about that food when you eat it and know that someone worked very hard to get it there.

I am on a plane flying home from a whirlwind of a trip in Germany and Brussels. It is something I never thought I’d do but am so glad that I did. I realize that the world is much smaller than most of us can imagine.

I learned a lot about German policy around agriculture through the German Farmers Association. Like American farmers, we face similar challenges with implementing policies not based in science due to consumer pressure funded by non-governmental organizations.

These feel-good ideas are placed upon farmers with no consideration of the consequences of its impacts. This has resulted in the closures or consolidation of farms due to the costs. It is even more sad to know that the German farms in the west are mostly small, multigenerational farms with some dating back over 300 years.

Development is also impacting farmers where some areas are losing acres of agricultural lands to development. Buildings and homes are filling prime farmland and stopping all farming forever. New developments move in and farms are kicked out or face constant complaints.

There is also an image by Europeans that American agriculture is something bad. The perception is that we are harming the environment and endangering people. That tale has its roots in Hawaii unfortunately. Thanks to fear mongering, this idea affects trade of U.S. goods and is hitting the farmers.

As much as we want to talk facts, facts clearly do not matter. Whomever has the best story is heard the loudest despite any evidence. This angers me to no end because farmers have a powerful story that is constantly drowned by activists’ manipulation. Minds are shut with fear and all critical thinking is gone.

While touring the EU Parliament, I came upon a fascinating sculpture. Each part touches each other even though they seem distant. I find it quite ironic that policymakers can walk past this with no consideration of what their work is doing to the developing world. Europe’s inconsistent laws on GMOs have made it extremely hard for their own farmers and others worlds away.

When the well-fed reject advancements in science and technology, we affect people that we never see or hear their stories. We never feel hunger pangs from the lack of food. We live in comfort everyday and minor issues become big deals in our lives. The complaints of the hunger-free have huge repercussions around the globe.

Farmers in the US and Germany may be thousands of miles from each other but there is a common link. Many German farms have a long family history that keeps them going for centuries. The same applies to the US farmers I met on this trip who want to see their farming legacies passed on. Farmers want to keep continuing their work. It is universal. However, if society chooses to makes their lives harder, we will lose more of them.

At a time when the climate is changing around us, society is rejecting the evidence that farmers operate upon. Farmers need to be able to adapt but are having their hands tied by the loudest minority. We need innovation and technology to survive. Without it, we will see more farmers become less sustainable.

If you want to have open spaces, we need farmers. If you want an abundance of fresh foods, we need farmers. If you want to have comfortable clothing, we need farmers. Want farmers? Support them in word and action.