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OP here, noticed that we now have California grown, relatively inexpensive blueberries that I don't recall seeing when I was a kid. Turns out it's another exam

OP here, noticed that we now have California grown, relatively inexpensive blueberries that I don't recall seeing when I was a kid. Turns out it's another example of how markets can be disrupted by hacking. In this case, the 'hack' was breeding blueberry plants that can grow in California. Farmers find gaps in the growing periods to deliver their more expensive product when growers in other states can't deliver.

rasz_pl 11y ago
and by hack you mean exploiting subsidised water?
- Aloha 11y ago
  All of California is exploiting cheap water - normally this isn't a problem, there's more than enough to go around - now, not so much. (it's not subsidized, the costs to bring it to the users are pretty evenly passed along to the users of the water) Los Angeles relies on water brought from the Owens valley, the California water project, and the Colorado river, San Francisco from water brought from Hetch Hetchy, and so on, really, the entire west, and the settlement of the American West is frequently a story of water. Most large cities across the world import water, NYC, Rome, London, etc - agriculture is no exception to this trend.
  - reality_czech 11y ago
    Not all of California is exploiting cheap water. Some of us (the ones who live in cities) are paying a high price for it and using it sparingly. City water use is less than 20% of the total California water use. The almond crop alone uses more water than all the city residents in the state. It's hard to make a blanket statement about how much California farmers pay for water since it varies a lot. Some pay literally nothing, due to antiquated water rights laws. Others pay per acre-foot, but usually less than a tenth of what city residents pay. Still others can't get water at any price, because giving water at artificially cheap prices to the first two groups has left nothing to spare. And most agricultural water supplies aren't metered or monitored except at the very roughest level. However, due to widespread public ignorance and the agricultural lobby, the conversation about growing rice in the middle of a desert (by flooding the fields) will never be had. Instead we get bans on restaurants serving people glasses of water unless they request it, and similar stupidity.
    - Aloha 11y ago
      In fairness - I'd suggest that the water delivered to a farm for irrigation is of a vastly different quality than that which is delivered in the city for drinking, the distribution systems are also much cheaper for irrigation as well.
- dang 11y ago
  That's obviously not what he meant. Please don't post drive-by swipes like this.

rasz_pl 11y ago

and by hack you mean exploiting subsidised water?

Aloha 11y ago
All of California is exploiting cheap water - normally this isn't a problem, there's more than enough to go around - now, not so much. (it's not subsidized, the costs to bring it to the users are pretty evenly passed along to the users of the water) Los Angeles relies on water brought from the Owens valley, the California water project, and the Colorado river, San Francisco from water brought from Hetch Hetchy, and so on, really, the entire west, and the settlement of the American West is frequently a story of water. Most large cities across the world import water, NYC, Rome, London, etc - agriculture is no exception to this trend.
- reality_czech 11y ago
  Not all of California is exploiting cheap water. Some of us (the ones who live in cities) are paying a high price for it and using it sparingly. City water use is less than 20% of the total California water use. The almond crop alone uses more water than all the city residents in the state. It's hard to make a blanket statement about how much California farmers pay for water since it varies a lot. Some pay literally nothing, due to antiquated water rights laws. Others pay per acre-foot, but usually less than a tenth of what city residents pay. Still others can't get water at any price, because giving water at artificially cheap prices to the first two groups has left nothing to spare. And most agricultural water supplies aren't metered or monitored except at the very roughest level. However, due to widespread public ignorance and the agricultural lobby, the conversation about growing rice in the middle of a desert (by flooding the fields) will never be had. Instead we get bans on restaurants serving people glasses of water unless they request it, and similar stupidity.
  - Aloha 11y ago
    In fairness - I'd suggest that the water delivered to a farm for irrigation is of a vastly different quality than that which is delivered in the city for drinking, the distribution systems are also much cheaper for irrigation as well.
dang 11y ago
That's obviously not what he meant. Please don't post drive-by swipes like this.