When the first forty-niners began to trickle into California in search of gold, the Central Valley was a fertile expanse of grasslands and marshes home to thousands of deer, tule elk, and grizzly bears — an American Serengeti. Within a century, the region radically transformed into a cornucopia of industrial agriculture to feed the state’s […]
Tag: farming
California’s Other Water Problem
Carolina Garcia and her family live in a vibrant, close-knit community about a mile outside of Sanger, California. She has fresh fruit trees flourishing in her backyard, chickens and sheep frolicking outside her house, and four beautiful children with another on the way. She seems just like you or any other Californian; except for the […]
California’s Prolonged Drought And Its Effects On Economic Inequality: A Case Study On East Porterville
Though California’s recent El Nino weather pattern has lessened the severity of the drought and quelled concerns about its effects, water rights are still highly correlated with economic inequality, especially in an agriculture-heavy Central Valley. Many policy actions fail to address or include inequality, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s [D-CA] California Drought Relief Act of 2015, […]
A Beefed Up Industry
Petaluma, California once boasted the title of Egg Capital of the World, and every spring the residents flock into downtown to celebrate the main event of the year: the Butter and Eggs parade. While I do appreciate tractor processions and cow-pie tossing contests, the festivities were never for me. But being a Sonoma County resident […]