FOOD FIGHT FOR WATER

Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson

Mike Wade, Executive Director, California Farm Water Coalition

What will happen to our food supply if politicians buy up farmers' rights to water?

The good Lord blessed the Golden State of California with the perfect environment– for growing food!

The State was given 28 million acres of arable farmland, a benevolent Mediterranean climate, and a spectacular north to south range of mountains to catch and hold the drift of precipitation from the Pacific Ocean.

The State was also given people with the strong hands and good minds for growing food. And grow they do.

The farmers of the Golden State grow over 400 different crops, including two-thirds of America’s fruits and nuts and one-third of all its vegetables. And by growing this food, farmers earn $50 billion dollars a year for the state.

But, as those farmers are fond of saying, “Food grows where water flows.”

California is once again in the midst of a drought. These droughts are an unfortunate part of the Golden State’s history. Those who look deep into that history say that some California droughts have lasted over 200 years. How long will this one last?

When water stops flowing to the extent everyone wants it to flow people must fight for the water that does flow. Because unlike money, which can be borrowed from the future, tomorrow’s water cannot be used to grow today’s food. When water does not flow, food does not grow.

Today, not enough water is flowing in the Golden State of California, and so those who want the water must fight for it. One place Californians fight for water is in Sacramento, where the government is currently sitting on a budget surplus of $100 billion dollars, give or take!.

Some in Sacramento want to use this pool of surplus money to buy up the rights of California’s farmers to the state’s water.

This fight for water leads us to ask…

What will happen to our food supply if politicians buy up farmers' right to water?