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Be careful with this line of "utilitarian" thinking. Food production is not easily replaced. California produces 95% of tomatoes grown in the USA.[0] 18.5% of

Be careful with this line of "utilitarian" thinking. Food production is not easily replaced. California produces 95% of tomatoes grown in the USA.[0] 18.5% of milk.[1] These volumes can't be readily replaced by other states' production. California is an agriculture powerhouse. Certainly luxury export crops like the oft-vilified almond might not be sorely missed, but staples like tomatoes, lettuces, dairy, and beef would be in shortage at sky-high prices without California's production. [0]https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/02870v86p/0r967m63g/sn00bf58x/vegean20.pdf https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/... [1]https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/DataFiles/48685/milkcowsandprod.xlsx?v=1810.1 https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/DataFiles/48685/milkcowsand...

throw0101a 5y ago
> California produces 95% of tomatoes grown in the USA.[0] 18.5% of milk.[1] The US overproduces milk from what I've read. Reducing some output may actually be a good thing: * https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2019/07/29/milk-too-much-of-a-good-thing/ https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2019/07/29/milk-too-much-of-a-... More generally, perhaps measuring dollar-of-GDP-per-gallon-of-water or some such may be of some use to prioritize which crops should be discouraged may be worth examining.
- i_am_proteus 5y ago
  That's an opinion piece you linked there. I'll reiterate that dollars are not a good way to measure the value to society of agricultural products, especially necessary vegetables like tomatoes. How do you measure the second- and third-order effects of the population having access to an affordable nutritious diet?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- YokoZar 5y ago
  > More generally, perhaps measuring dollar-of-GDP-per-gallon-of-water or some such may be of some use to prioritize which crops should be discouraged may be worth examining. The normal way to "measure" and "discourage" such inefficient things is by prices. However, the price of California water is inordinately cheap so long as you are dumping it on the ground in the desert.
jareklupinski 5y ago
> California produces 95% of tomatoes grown in the USA. Live in the US. About 5 years ago I got into the habit of leaving tomato off my sandwiches because they just started tasting bad across the board, no matter where I got them from. I wouldn't mind trying some other places tomatoes.
- nerdponx 5y ago
  Come to the northeast. In season, we have great tomatoes. You can even grow your own! There is nothing like a thick slice of a home-grown beefsteak tomato sprinkled with good quality salt. Out of season, don't even bother. But Americans need to get used to eating seasonally anyway.
- fencepost 5y ago
  I wouldn't mind trying some other places tomatoes. I believe a lot of grocery store heirloom tomatoes these days are hydroponic from Canada, might be worth looking into and sampling.

throw0101a 5y ago

> California produces 95% of tomatoes grown in the USA.[0] 18.5% of milk.[1] The US overproduces milk from what I've read. Reducing some output may actually be a good thing: * https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2019/07/29/milk-too-much-of-a-good-thing/ https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2019/07/29/milk-too-much-of-a-... More generally, perhaps measuring dollar-of-GDP-per-gallon-of-water or some such may be of some use to prioritize which crops should be discouraged may be worth examining.

i_am_proteus 5y ago
That's an opinion piece you linked there. I'll reiterate that dollars are not a good way to measure the value to society of agricultural products, especially necessary vegetables like tomatoes. How do you measure the second- and third-order effects of the population having access to an affordable nutritious diet?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
YokoZar 5y ago
> More generally, perhaps measuring dollar-of-GDP-per-gallon-of-water or some such may be of some use to prioritize which crops should be discouraged may be worth examining. The normal way to "measure" and "discourage" such inefficient things is by prices. However, the price of California water is inordinately cheap so long as you are dumping it on the ground in the desert.

jareklupinski 5y ago

> California produces 95% of tomatoes grown in the USA. Live in the US. About 5 years ago I got into the habit of leaving tomato off my sandwiches because they just started tasting bad across the board, no matter where I got them from. I wouldn't mind trying some other places tomatoes.

nerdponx 5y ago
Come to the northeast. In season, we have great tomatoes. You can even grow your own! There is nothing like a thick slice of a home-grown beefsteak tomato sprinkled with good quality salt. Out of season, don't even bother. But Americans need to get used to eating seasonally anyway.
fencepost 5y ago
I wouldn't mind trying some other places tomatoes. I believe a lot of grocery store heirloom tomatoes these days are hydroponic from Canada, might be worth looking into and sampling.