I’d love to see figures like how much water’d be saved in Cali farming if we simply only produced food for the U.S. Is it possible that we could be water-sufficient if we just stopped sending it via the virtual water trade to Europe and Asia?

mel — Thanks for the links to the resources! I’ve added them to my reading list :)

As far as grains go, wheat is a much better alternative here – and I don’t mean the wheat way we’re growing it now. 100 years ago, the San Fernando Valley was the largest dry wheat farming operation in the world. Dry farming techniques (http://tinyurl.com/mbgxna) are beginning to make something of a comeback – my apple grower farms this way and his apples are the tastiest around.

And of course, the grain going to feed livestock that don’t naturally eat gain and should really be pasture fed, grain that could otherwise feed humans more nutritionally – that’s an obscenity. But that’s another thread.

Eating locally produced grain should be easier in CA, but I’m concerned enough about GMO and pesticides to get my grain from the organic and/or small-scale farmers I trust like Bob’s Red Mill in OR, or even Anson Mills in SC.

As far as water goes, we all need to get serious about the realities of our means. Both urbanites and farmers can do much. much better in terms of conservation, but better habits will only take hold, I believe, if people really understand where our water comes from, what we do and don’t have to work with, and what the true costs of water are.

Desal is just another expensive engineering ‘fix’ that keeps us from confronting the truth.

Peter Gleick is the best resource on water in the state. Here’s a link to his blog: http://tinyurl.com/caftaf

Jill Richardson over at La Vida Locavore is an awesome resource on food issues: http://tinyurl.com/5b7v93

The farmers up there were always talking about how difficult it is to be a farmer. Amazingly, many of the rice farms are still family-owned or operated. They’re good people, though hardly what one would call environmentalists.

I don’t know if California should switch from rice to other less water-intensive crops or not. Perhaps. But as long as California is growing rice, it seems to me that we should be buying California rice. The only rice I could find at the supermarket last week was from India or Thailand–shipping it all the way here when there is rice already here doesn’t make any sense to me.

Danny Bradfield’s last blog post..Bridge to Nowhere

I know that no one wants to increase the cost of food, but we spend such a small percentage of our incomes on food, and it seems strange to me. At some point, we’re going to have to accept higher food prices, hopefully in exchange for food that is more sustainable.

Rachel (Heart of Light)’s last blog post..The weekend, briefly

Is there anywhere that rice is grown where they get enough water to make it sustainable or does it just use too much water?

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