San Juoaquin Valley fruit & Veg production

17 years ago

Hi, Today we took a trip from Fresno to Porterville, not by horse as I would but by auto. All the great vineyards, cornfields, stonefruit, almonds, alfalfa, citrus, wheat/barley, beans etc., lush & overloaded crops, it was a great wonder to behold. Hundreds of miles of it. Almost all of this land is fertilized, weeded & depested chemically. Last winter I ate some of the best oranges I have ever tasted from a grove nearby, they foliar feed the trees & use drip irrigation. I am sure a large amount of corn is genetically engineered so it can withstand roundup. The corn is grown for ensilage for the enormous dairies around there. Genetically engineered fruit & vine ads can be heard if one listens to the radio a little. We are using 'natural' methods to raise our veg garden here, though. Would have to do a little hustling to come up with organic matter on a large scale I think. This must be why chem. relied on so, convenience. What do you think?

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Comments (10)

loodean
17 years ago
And therein lies the rub Â industrial agriculture looks so good on the surface Â high yields, unblemished fruits, and cheap veggies. It is this first impression that keeps the policies that benefit agribiz on top. So howÂs the water quality in your neck of the woods? In fact, how much water is there? Any of these farmer actually making a good profit? The answers, of course, are terrible, very little, and next to nothing. For a good read about the agriculture in the Fresno area, read Victor David HansenÂs Fields Without Dreams. On the other hand, very little corn grown in California is genetically engineered. You have to head in to my neighborhood Â the Midwest Â to find most of it. South Dakota leads the pack with 83% of it corn acres planted to GMOs. Only 2% of all crops grown in California are GMOs and most of that is rice.
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Heathen1
17 years ago
yeah... and that's in MY neighborhood of Sacramento! Riceville.
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kabuti
Original Author
17 years ago
Since the Industrial Revolution our entire exhistence IS based on artificial fertilizer whether we who try or do grow otherwise wish to face that or not. At that epoch it was either artificial fertilizer or starvation. Populations moved off the land during that time & ever since. Now we are in a VERY precarious situation, becoming more & more reliant upon imported food, etc. the way I see it.
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Heathen1
17 years ago
Kabuti, I couldn't agree more.
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pablo_nh
17 years ago
loodean : " It is this first impression that keeps the policies that benefit agribiz on top."

My guess is that it's big ag chemical business that set the machine in motion, and lobbying etc. that keeps the policies in place. There's real money and jobs in it- so states are all for it.

kabuti- it's amazing to think that if a major issue with loss of farmland to overproduction or climate change does come to pass- that "victory gardens" may be our saving grace once again. Grow a variety of your own food.
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hamiltongardener
17 years ago
Pablo,

I'm more inclined to think that peak oil will force a return to the home garden, or at least much more localized agriculture.
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pablo_nh
17 years ago
You're probably right- oil prices drive up the cost of everything. It sort of reminds me of friends and relatives that you only see at funerals: "It's terrible that it takes such a tragedy..."
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Heathen1
17 years ago
AND with the push for ethanol, milk, meat and all sorts of things will become even more expensive... I wonder how MUCH of a tragedy will have to happen before people wake up?
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kabuti
Original Author
17 years ago
I dont believe many people would grow their own food no matter what. We need be able to go back to small farming, making a living off the land, not paying the gov't for nothing.
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pnbrown
17 years ago
Not many would have the faintest idea how to begin, not to mention have anything prepared.
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San Juoaquin Valley fruit & Veg production

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