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From "The Packer" newspaper, 2/19 edition, column by Don Schrack, staff writer ...
"Industry must tell the story often, loudy.
For those who haven't visited, take it from a native. This California's a big place. It's loaded with natural attractions. There's the highest mountain peak in the lower 48, the biggest desert, miles and miles of seashore, the biggest and oldest trees on the planet, and, well, trust me. There's a whole bunch.
The work eureka appears on the state seal. 'I've found it !' And so have about 35,000,000 other Californians. No surprise, then, that in a just-released report, the California Department of Conservation's Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program found that the state lost 26 acres of rich, fertile San Joaquin Valley farmland each and every day from 2002 to 2004.
Actually, we didn't lose that farmland. We just covered it with blacktop and sidewalks and driveways and houses and apartment buildings.
The disappearing farmland totaled 18,801 acres - or about 29 square miles. That chunk of dirt is half again larger than the city of Albany, the state capitol of New York.
The foregoing may generate a barely stifled yawn from the general public. In the produce industry, it should send red flags atop poles nationwide. You see, all of that disappearing farmland was in five counties: Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, and Tulare. The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists Fresno as the nation's No. 1 agriculture county in production value. Tulare County is a close second. The others, not far behind.
Vanishing farmland: The report was followed by word from the American Farm Bureau Federation that the average American had earned by Feb. 10 enough income to pay for his or her food supply for the entire year.
The Farm Bureau, using Department of Agriculture data, reported just 9.9% of the average American's disposable 2007 income would pay for a year's supply of food. Some perspective: The Tax Foundation says the average American will work until late April to pay all of his or her taxes.
The obvious question is how will California farmers continue to produce the lion's share of the nation's produce if their farmland is going the way of the dodo bird ?
Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League, Fresno, said the country's lawmakers need to maintain a domestic food supply.
'It boils down to a national security issue,' Bedwell said.
James Howard, vice president of the California Table Grape Commission, Fresno, said the country could learn a lesson from the nation's crude oil dilemma.
'What if 20 years down the road, the majority of our food was imported ?' Howard pondered.
Bedwell said the general public doesn't understand the consequences of moving our food supply offshore.
Tug of war: Of course, the variable neither side of the equation can control is a species known as the deep-pocketed developer, who offers thousands upon thousands of dollars for farmland.
More money than just about any grower could expect to earn from the land in his lifetime.
'My growers in the Stockton and Sacramento delta areas and along the coast are faced with that tug-of-war every day,' said Cherie Watte, executive director of the California Asparagus Commission, Stockton.
The bottom line, it seems, is that all branches of the produce industry tree - growers, packers, shippers, and retailers - have a vested interest in making certain California's farmers stay in business.
For many of them, it's not that easy.
John Forry, vice president of D.J. Forry Co. Inc., Novato, put it in very simple terms: 'A lot of those guys are losing their butts !'
Forry doesn't see the matter as one-sided.
He said growers must appreciate the huge costs on the retailer's profit and loss ledger.
Capital investments, freight costs, union wages to name just a few.
'I believe deeply in my growers,' Forry said, 'but retailers have hearts, too.'
No sympathy: Bedwell is less convinced that retailers are sympathetic to the plight of California farmers.
'Due to expanding sources around the globe, retailers tend to look only at demand and value,' Bedwell said.
Forry admits that farmers are last on the produce industry food chain. It doesn't have to be that way, he said.
'All of us must learn to sell the whole tree - not just the big and pretty pieces of fruit,' Forry said.
Makes sense.
The industry knows that wind-scarred navel oranges taste just as good as its unblemished relative.
It's most consumers who think produce beauty is just skin deep.
But there are signs some of those consumers are getting the message.
Howard said he was stunned to hear some of the comments at focus groups in three locations around the country last year.
He said the participants were discussing buying locally-grown produce, buying those items that were high in nutritional value. More recent research, he said, found a surprising percentage of American consumers describe themselves a food enthusiasts.
Howard said the dialogue between growers and consumers must continue and intensify. Perhaps retailers should serve as amplifiers.
That American farmers produce the best, most nutritious, safest, and, yes, the prettiest produce is a given.
Those farmers and those who sell their products, however, represent less than 1% of the American population.
So when the produce industry talks to consumers, it must talk loudly. You have a great story to tell."
That's twice this week I've been on a soapbox ... I promise to get off and stay off for a while ...
Clink !
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