I like the sentiment, but the winter months aren’t when you need to worry about starving: the hunger gap occurs in spring. Obviously this is highly climate dependent, but in much of the non-tropical northern hemisphere most crops don’t produce a first harvest until May at the earliest, and the calorically dense crops usually aren’t harvestable until midsummer or later (often much later). We can push that date earlier nowadays thanks to advancements like polytunnels, satellite weather forecasts, and specialized crop breeding, but even nowadays something like an abnormally wet spring can delay sowing by a month (which in agriculture terms is basically that “This Little Maneuver’s Gonna Cost Us 51 Years” meme).
pray our autumn harvest will last us through the Dark Months
I was referencing that wording specifically, and clarifying that those prayers needed to worry much more about lasting well past the “dark months” into the brightest months of the year. In other words if your harvest only lasts through winter, you’re hosed.
You’re technically correct that the phrase “the winter months aren’t when you need to worry about starving” could mean “it’s not during winter that you need to worry,” however context should make it fairly obvious that what’s actually meant is “it’s not during winter that starvation is a threat.”
I like the sentiment, but the winter months aren’t when you need to worry about starving: the hunger gap occurs in spring. Obviously this is highly climate dependent, but in much of the non-tropical northern hemisphere most crops don’t produce a first harvest until May at the earliest, and the calorically dense crops usually aren’t harvestable until midsummer or later (often much later). We can push that date earlier nowadays thanks to advancements like polytunnels, satellite weather forecasts, and specialized crop breeding, but even nowadays something like an abnormally wet spring can delay sowing by a month (which in agriculture terms is basically that “This Little Maneuver’s Gonna Cost Us 51 Years” meme).
Why wouldn’t you worry in Winter about starving in the Spring? Seems like a good way to starve.
The original line is
I was referencing that wording specifically, and clarifying that those prayers needed to worry much more about lasting well past the “dark months” into the brightest months of the year. In other words if your harvest only lasts through winter, you’re hosed.
You’re technically correct that the phrase “the winter months aren’t when you need to worry about starving” could mean “it’s not during winter that you need to worry,” however context should make it fairly obvious that what’s actually meant is “it’s not during winter that starvation is a threat.”