4 ms·

True, but that comes at the expense of local farmers in places like, say, Ohio where it's not economical to grow strawberries because California has so much sun

True, but that comes at the expense of local farmers in places like, say, Ohio where it's not economical to grow strawberries because California has so much sun and can grow them better - the whole proposition rests on cheap energy and water. If California farmers paid more in costs it's likely that other regions with perfectly fine growing climates could just restart production and then we'd solve a love of problems. California growing all of these fruits and vegetables is basically "the suburbs" in a nutshell.

kodah 5y ago
When people make the argument OP is making they're leaving out that they don't want agriculture to leave. If it did, the state would probably go through a very long recession due to home prices diving and the economy tanking. This story also has to do with California's centralization of economic power and influence, which is why so many water ways have been moved here.
bombcar 5y ago
Even if California had infinite water, there's something kind of "sad" about losing seasonality of various fruits and vegetables - it used to be that "strawberry time" was worthy of festivals (which still remain in many areas even though strawberries are available year-round at the store). And if you find a local place that does grow in season, you find that what we get at the stores aren't necessarily as good as they could be. Shipping produce across the country (and across the world) has been a net negative for taste.
- woevdbz 5y ago
  No. You should still be able to buy fresh strawberries from your local farmer at any time they are in season. Which might be almost never, same as it used to be. And sometimes more expensive, also same as it used to be. But you haven't lost that due to cheap strawberries coming in from another place in addition to the locally produced ones. People eating fresh avocado in Chicago haven't lost anything at all.
woevdbz 5y ago
Are you suggesting that we should move the sun to Ohio so that strawberries could be grown there? Water is an easier thing to move but maybe I'm not understanding.

kodah 5y ago

When people make the argument OP is making they're leaving out that they don't want agriculture to leave. If it did, the state would probably go through a very long recession due to home prices diving and the economy tanking. This story also has to do with California's centralization of economic power and influence, which is why so many water ways have been moved here.

bombcar 5y ago

Even if California had infinite water, there's something kind of "sad" about losing seasonality of various fruits and vegetables - it used to be that "strawberry time" was worthy of festivals (which still remain in many areas even though strawberries are available year-round at the store). And if you find a local place that does grow in season, you find that what we get at the stores aren't necessarily as good as they could be. Shipping produce across the country (and across the world) has been a net negative for taste.

woevdbz 5y ago
No. You should still be able to buy fresh strawberries from your local farmer at any time they are in season. Which might be almost never, same as it used to be. And sometimes more expensive, also same as it used to be. But you haven't lost that due to cheap strawberries coming in from another place in addition to the locally produced ones. People eating fresh avocado in Chicago haven't lost anything at all.

woevdbz 5y ago

Are you suggesting that we should move the sun to Ohio so that strawberries could be grown there? Water is an easier thing to move but maybe I'm not understanding.