Monday, September 14, 2009

Congress Caused Dust Bowl

Driving up Interstate 5 through a sea of farms one sees these signs primarily to the right of Interstate 5 in California between the Grapevine and the San Francisco Bay area.

Now, when I look at this sign because I live in California I know something about what the farmers are upset about as I watched acre after acre looking like it was blowing away interspersed with acreage in which orchards and other plants growing looked like they had about 1/2 to 3/4 of the water they needed for the plants and trees to be healthy.

This year for the first time our state water table because of drought dropped so low that our Governor state mandated that only about 10% to 20 percent of the water farmers asked for this year they would actually get.

The problem I have with this is that it seems like farmers livelihood needs to take precedence over watering front yards, back yards and golf courses. It seems like the Sacramento,and San Juaquin valleys(connected) should get enough water to grow food for the rest of the nation since California is one of the only places in the U.S. that has up to 4 growing seasons per year and the best soil in the Salinas Valley and Central Valleys of California in the entire world for growing food.

That growing food for the rest of the nation and world isn't prioritized is puzzling to me. But then I guess the world is kind of crazy and its priorities are all off like when developers are allowed to buy the best farmland on earth and turn it into track houses over and over again. It just doesn't make any sense. Who is going to raise the food for America? I know ever other state grows food too but not in the quantity of California when the farmers are provided enough water by the state to actually grow food. What do you think?

No comments: