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0 pointsCthulhu_7y ago0 comments

> They also killed off most of the forests.

Yeah, keep this in mind; big parts of Europe are hundreds of years after a gradual deforestation. Europe, mostly Western, is highly cultivated. Mind you, thanks to that we're also very efficient in agriculture - NL, despite being one of the smallest countries in the world, is also the second biggest agricultural export country in the world.

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gph7y ago

>NL, despite being one of the smallest countries in the world, is also the second biggest agricultural export country in the world.

That stat while true is very misleading. First of all that's based on money not volume. On top of that the majority of NL's agricultural export is due to the fact that Amsterdam is home to the largest flower/live plant market/exchange in the world. Most of those billions of dollars of exports are in the form of highly expensive decorative plants and/or their seeds/bulbs, not staple crops.

I guess that's all to say if the Netherlands sunk below the sea tomorrow the world would not suddenly be starving. Rich people just wouldn't get their flowers.

gimmeThaBeet7y ago

That combination doesn't make a lot of sense. The CBS shows that ornamental horticulture has a plurality, but even if you strip away all the prepared products, and most of the fruits (first imported), and then cut that number in half, it's more than the flowers/nursery products, assuming they're all domestic.

https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2019/03/agricultural-export-va...

nostromo7y ago

I love farm tech but found the endless greenhouses I saw in NL and neighboring countries kind of depressing.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/righ...

The fact that we're putting acres and acres of farmland indoors leaves no room for wildlife of any kind -- including animals like birds that can happily exist alongside outdoor farms -- or migratory animals like deer, wolves, etc.

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