DW: Grmans Told to Pick Their Asparagus Themselves

Germans love their asparagus, but they tend to leave the picking to the Poles. But now, a new law encouraging Germany’s long-term unemployed to find work has left the East Europeans out of a job.

My dad loves spargel, which is white asparagus. When the shoots are getting ready to break through surface of the soil, more dirt is put on top, so that they never are exposed to the sun, so no photosynthesis and no green, just succulent white goodness. May and June is spargel season in central Europe, and it is ubiquitous: even the McDonald’s at Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna serves it. One of my favorite restaurants here, Charivari, flies it in each spring and has a special spargel menu.