Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumThere's a Place That's Nearly Perfect for Growing Food. It's Not California.
Do we need a new plan?
California is by far the dominant US produce-growing statesource of (large PDF) 81 percent of US-grown carrots, 95 percent of broccoli, 86 percent of cauliflower, 74 percent of raspberries, 91 percent of strawberries, etc.
But all three of its main veggie growing regionsthe Imperial Valley, the Central Valley, and the Salinas Valleyface serious short- and long-term water challenges. As I recently argued in a New York Times debate, it's time to "de-Californify" the nation's supply of fruits and vegetable supply, to make it more diversified, resilient, and ready for a changing climate.
Here are maps of US fruit and vegetable production:
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/04/decalifornify-cotton-vegetables-fruit-south
NV Whino
(20,886 posts)Or would that take too much sense?
Lodestar
(2,388 posts)The argument that hemp looks too much like marijuana plants will lose its teeth.
Hemp is sustainable, economical and in every other way an excellent investment for this country.
NV Whino
(20,886 posts)Almost every part of the plant can be used. Clothes made of hemp outlast those made of cotton, too.
postulater
(5,075 posts)This weekend I heard an apple grower tell about a project he was involved in with the USDA.
They asked him to provide buds from some of the 1500 apple varieties he grows so they could freeze them.
They are working on storage and re-vitalizing the buds so they can grow apples without trees.
He wasn't too happy about the 'without trees' part.
SoLeftIAmRight
(4,883 posts)more local - seasonal - sustainable - ...
n2doc
(47,953 posts)And the locals aren't going to like that.