5 ms·

Do you eat money?

by kardianos 5y ago

Do you eat money?

rednerrus 5y ago
I get all my calories watching Doogie Howser reruns.
ramraj07 5y ago
We could all stand to eat fewer almonds though.
mullingitover 5y ago
California isn't big on dietary staple agricultural goods. The five biggest ag businesses are dairy, grapes, almonds, cattle, pistachios, and strawberries, none of which we really need to grow here. They're luxury foods generally. There's not that much that's grown here that couldn't be grown elsewhere.
- refurb 5y ago
  Exactly. We could all eat drought resistant oats for each meal with a shot of essential vitamins and minerals. Very efficient and green!
  - dqv 5y ago
    There's no need to bring the argument to this level of absurdity. The parent made a valid point about those food items being luxuries. Less fun is not the same thing as no fun.
  - nitwit005 5y ago
    Truly, how would we survive if wine and almonds were a bit more expensive. An unlivable horror.
- njarboe 5y ago
  The California central valley is probably the best climate on Earth for growing almonds and that is why about 70% of the world almond production happens there. If we don't really need to grow them here, then one does not really need almonds at all. But what singular food item does the world really need?
  - bsder 5y ago
    > The California central valley is probably the best climate on Earth for growing almonds Except for that whole pesky "lack of rain" thing--which was part of "climate" last I checked. That would seem to indicate that California's Central Valley really isn't the best climate for growing almonds.
  - georgeecollins 5y ago
    Rice
  - npsimons 5y ago
    > about 70% of the world almond production happens there 80% actually[0], and that only uses 8% of agricultural water in California. Given that dairy consumes 15% and only produces 1.4% of world yield (plus it can easily be done elsewhere), perhaps we should focus on that first. [0] - https://www.truthordrought.com/almond-milk-myths https://www.truthordrought.com/almond-milk-myths
  - rufus_foreman 5y ago
    I don't think the issue is that people are growing almonds in California or even that growing almonds in California takes a large amount of water. The issue as I understand it is that water rights in California (and everywhere else) are a mess and that there are no incentives that would allow water rights that are being used for relatively unproductive uses to be transferred to people using them for more productive uses.
BurningFrog 5y ago
Money can be exchanged for food. Same thing, for practical purposes.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  At the end of the day, someone has to produce it
spaced-out 5y ago
You would have a point if we were talking about farmers growing staples to feed the local community, but we're not. We're talking about farms that are growing luxury crops (such as grapes, pistachios, almonds) for export. It's perfectly reasonable to ask if this is wise to export water intensive luxury crops in a state that's experiencing shortages.

Do you eat money?

rednerrus 5y ago

I get all my calories watching Doogie Howser reruns.

ramraj07 5y ago

We could all stand to eat fewer almonds though.

mullingitover 5y ago

California isn't big on dietary staple agricultural goods. The five biggest ag businesses are dairy, grapes, almonds, cattle, pistachios, and strawberries, none of which we really need to grow here. They're luxury foods generally. There's not that much that's grown here that couldn't be grown elsewhere.

refurb 5y ago
Exactly. We could all eat drought resistant oats for each meal with a shot of essential vitamins and minerals. Very efficient and green!
- dqv 5y ago
  There's no need to bring the argument to this level of absurdity. The parent made a valid point about those food items being luxuries. Less fun is not the same thing as no fun.
- nitwit005 5y ago
  Truly, how would we survive if wine and almonds were a bit more expensive. An unlivable horror.
njarboe 5y ago
The California central valley is probably the best climate on Earth for growing almonds and that is why about 70% of the world almond production happens there. If we don't really need to grow them here, then one does not really need almonds at all. But what singular food item does the world really need?
- bsder 5y ago
  > The California central valley is probably the best climate on Earth for growing almonds Except for that whole pesky "lack of rain" thing--which was part of "climate" last I checked. That would seem to indicate that California's Central Valley really isn't the best climate for growing almonds.
- georgeecollins 5y ago
  Rice
- npsimons 5y ago
  > about 70% of the world almond production happens there 80% actually[0], and that only uses 8% of agricultural water in California. Given that dairy consumes 15% and only produces 1.4% of world yield (plus it can easily be done elsewhere), perhaps we should focus on that first. [0] - https://www.truthordrought.com/almond-milk-myths https://www.truthordrought.com/almond-milk-myths
- rufus_foreman 5y ago
  I don't think the issue is that people are growing almonds in California or even that growing almonds in California takes a large amount of water. The issue as I understand it is that water rights in California (and everywhere else) are a mess and that there are no incentives that would allow water rights that are being used for relatively unproductive uses to be transferred to people using them for more productive uses.

BurningFrog 5y ago

Money can be exchanged for food. Same thing, for practical purposes.

missedthecue 5y ago
At the end of the day, someone has to produce it

spaced-out 5y ago

You would have a point if we were talking about farmers growing staples to feed the local community, but we're not. We're talking about farms that are growing luxury crops (such as grapes, pistachios, almonds) for export. It's perfectly reasonable to ask if this is wise to export water intensive luxury crops in a state that's experiencing shortages.