Wednesday, February 04, 2009

What will we eat when California Ag disappers?


The title is a serious question that should concern all Americans. California is the largest agriculture producer in the United States. According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture:
With 88,000 farms and ranches, California agriculture is nearly a $36.6 billion dollar industry that generates $100 billion in related economic activity.


In a story in today's LA Times, Energy Secretary Steven Chu is quoted as saying that "'We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California." This, in a state that can not even find enough money to pass a budget. When you take away the number one industry in the state, what future does it have?

What is our legislature doing about it? Not a damned thing. Even a normally progressive State Assemblymember, Jared Huffman (D - 6th AD) has introduced AB-39 that seeks to implement the very flawed Delta Vision Task Force Recommendations that, unfortunately, do not consider the impact of what Dr. Chu is saying.

I am too irate to write a plausible plan for what we should be doing. I just know it is not what we are doing now.



3 comments:

Alex Walker said...

Wes, I am floored, possitively floored. The level of political dysfunction across the whole big state of California today is breathtaking.

For a couple of years I've tried to document the horror-show of governance in the One-Party Democratic coastal cities and the One-Party Republican urban counties like San Diego. Now, everyone can plainly see the Republican "conservative" dominated rural areas are just as bad if not worse.

Where is the outrage?

Even people who agree with me are preoccupied with Washington gossip and foreign affairs on the other side of the world.

I confess. I don't know how we are going to get out of this mess. I really don't

Wes said...

Alex,
People will be people and are rarely rational. In politics and love I should say never rational.

There is a feeling that we can not really do anything about the big issues, so we comment on the small ones. It is much safer.

Philip H. said...

Wes & Alex,
The way forward is for each of us to own our own actions, and take steps every day to minimize our impact on the earth. Every CFL we use, every appliance we unplug, every canvas shopping bas we fill with local produce - these all add up to big changes that will have effects.

Likewise, every candidate we do not re-elect because they have not done their civic duty on the big issues is an opportunity to get it right. We made a tremendous break with the past in the most recent election - let's not loose sight if that momentum.