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>if _banning the export of almonds_ would allow building another LA and SF, "does CA have enough water for its population" is not the right question to be askin

>if _banning the export of almonds_ would allow building another LA and SF, "does CA have enough water for its population" is not the right question to be asking. Serious question from someone who lives on the east coast and understands little about almonds. Why doesn't this happen? Is the almond industry a particularly strong lobbying force? I like almonds just fine, but I see them as more of a luxury food than a staple. Are the places in the world where almonds make up a significant percentage of calorie intake? I see that the U.S. is the world's biggest exporter of almonds. Is it a thing where if we stopped exporting almonds we'd have nothing to put on the boats leaving California for China and elsewhere?

dragonwriter 4y ago
> Serious question from someone who lives on the east coast and understands little about almonds. Why doesn't this happen? $21 billion in gross revenue and 100,000 jobs in the state. Plus, there is a risk that adopting such a ban would be found to be, for at least some affected property owners, a regulatory taking under the 5th Amendment, requiring compensation from the state for the loss imposed on top of the state costs for the reduced tax base and additional costs due to the number of people thrown out of work.
jelliclesfarm 4y ago
>Serious question from someone who lives on the east coast and understands little about almonds. Why doesn't this happen? Is the almond industry a particularly strong lobbying force?[..] Blue Diamond Growers who are the largest co-op outfit growing and processing almonds in CA does have a lot of clout. Their lobby is connected to the Climate Lobby. Others who are part of Climate Lobby include Campbell Soup company, many Silicon Valley tech companies and of course, the heaviest hitter of them all..Oil and Gas. Ag in California is intimately close with the fossil fuel/oil and gas sector. We convert fossil fuels to calories. Why do you think we still run tractors on diesel and we still haven’t gotten autonomous electric ag robots tending our fields. Also: https://slate.com/business/2010/10/what-a-california-almond-company-can-teach-us-about-the-globalization-of-american-agriculture.html https://slate.com/business/2010/10/what-a-california-almond-... : this is a good read and 12 years old. In 2020, Blue Diamond growers had 1.59 billion dollars in revenue. And it’s actually worth a lot more(value added products) because it’s a co-op that purchases and processes a lot of almonds and takes care of over 80% of worlds supply of almonds.

dragonwriter 4y ago

> Serious question from someone who lives on the east coast and understands little about almonds. Why doesn't this happen? $21 billion in gross revenue and 100,000 jobs in the state. Plus, there is a risk that adopting such a ban would be found to be, for at least some affected property owners, a regulatory taking under the 5th Amendment, requiring compensation from the state for the loss imposed on top of the state costs for the reduced tax base and additional costs due to the number of people thrown out of work.

jelliclesfarm 4y ago

>Serious question from someone who lives on the east coast and understands little about almonds. Why doesn't this happen? Is the almond industry a particularly strong lobbying force?[..] Blue Diamond Growers who are the largest co-op outfit growing and processing almonds in CA does have a lot of clout. Their lobby is connected to the Climate Lobby. Others who are part of Climate Lobby include Campbell Soup company, many Silicon Valley tech companies and of course, the heaviest hitter of them all..Oil and Gas. Ag in California is intimately close with the fossil fuel/oil and gas sector. We convert fossil fuels to calories. Why do you think we still run tractors on diesel and we still haven’t gotten autonomous electric ag robots tending our fields. Also: https://slate.com/business/2010/10/what-a-california-almond-company-can-teach-us-about-the-globalization-of-american-agriculture.html https://slate.com/business/2010/10/what-a-california-almond-... : this is a good read and 12 years old. In 2020, Blue Diamond growers had 1.59 billion dollars in revenue. And it’s actually worth a lot more(value added products) because it’s a co-op that purchases and processes a lot of almonds and takes care of over 80% of worlds supply of almonds.