This is how the drought in California alone will affect you:

[dixiegrrrrl]

Do the numbers...

the percentage of our produce grown in the state...

-99 percent of the artichokes

-44 percent of asparagus

-two-thirds of carrots

-half of bell peppers

-89 percent of cauliflower

-94 percent of broccoli

-95 percent of celery

-90 percent of the leaf lettuce

-83 percent of Romaine lettuce

-83 percent of fresh spinach

-a third of the fresh tomatoes

-86 percent of lemons

-90 percent of avocados

-84 percent of peaches

-88 percent of fresh strawberries

-97 percent of fresh plums

Add that to the growing drought in the Western states, whcih already has created significantly reduced beef herds....
and milk..

The size of the U.S. cattle herd has been shrinking for seven years in a row, and it is now the smallest that it has been since 1951.
But our population has more than doubled since then.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-17/15-reasons-why-your-food-prices-are-about-start-soaring

Suddenly that half organic beef we just bought,as last year's prices, looks like pure gold. Can't think of a better return on a cash investment.

[Oscarmonster13]

1. well I'd better redouble my efforts

in the garden this year. Although if there's water rationing, it may be a little harder to water too

bad juju all around. And while I personally love the lack of snow, we are *SO* in need of it up here in the Sierras, it's scary. My lilacs actually have new sprouts and buds already! O.o

[Bennyboy]

3. Fruit trees are blooming......

all over today I noticed in grass Valley. We get another freeze and boom, no fruit.

[Oscarmonster13]

21. it's such a double-edged sword

on the one hand, we don't want a freeze to screw up things that may be trying to 'come back' early...but the need for water is really huge...maybe we'll keep getting these Pineapple Express type storms, which have a high snow level, but bring lots of H2O

[onethatcares]

44. try aquaponics

wasted water could be a thing of the past. the only thing is evaporation and transpiration.

I'm doing two test beds now with lettuce and strawberries and I'm three weeks into cycling the water

waiting for the nitratification to start but the plants are loving it. I'm using two 15 gal totes, and a 40 gallon

fish tank with gold fish in it.

When this progresses a bit more, I'm putting in two 2'x8' 12 foot long grow beds and switching to fresh water

catfish.

do some research, it's an amazing plan.

btw, I already do a little dirt gardening but with the drought here in west central coastal floriduh, I can't save enough

water to make it work the way it should.

Good luck.

[Oscarmonster13]

45. looked it up, interesting

But I live in the High Sierra...big time forest with lots of BEARS...they would probably come and eat my fish and destroy the system! LOL

I may have to check with our local utility and water people see if they have any suggestions. Our Community College up here has a big demonstration garden too and they offer advice on growing using native plants and low impact environmental ideas.

Thanks for the incentive to look deeper

[NYC_SKP]

2. Don't forget: 90% of US vino!

.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Now it is getting serious, I tell ya!

[KoKo]

12. Yep...when the KoKo household has to give up it's "Table Wine"

might as well just give it all up.

[pinboy3niner]

8. Okay--NOW I am outraged!

I have half a mind to fermently protest!

[MNBrewer]

28. I've heard the vines are doing ok.

they're a low-water-intensity/high value crop, right?

[Jenoch]

30. I read somewhere that this year's wine grape crop was outstanding.

I have also read that the quality of wine made from grapes that were grown under stress is quite high. Look for the wine from the most recent California grape harvest to be a great vintage.

[KoKo]

4. Seeing it already in Crops we East Coasters depend on for Winter Veggies

And our CSA supplier here in my Southern State got devastated by the cold and snow and lost her organic winter supply of Collards, Kale, brocolli which is staple Southern Greens which she depends on to get through the Winter.

So West Coast and East Coast are dependent on each other...and yet I see such huge influxes of food from Mexico with green beans, brocolli, peppers and Mixed Veggies with veggies from Mexico, China. I don't want to eat pesticide ridden veggies from Mexico and China...but, if that's all the stores have because of East coast/West Coast Weather Problems then that's what it is.

Thanks for your post! And..."Whole Foods" might push organic...but, much of their "365 Group Organic" Products come from Mexico or China if you are a cautious, diligent label reader...so that's not much help either.

But...we will probably become much MORE DEPENDENT on food sources outside America and not know what pesticides are used...but, will have to buy and eat because there will be no other resources when we have weather like we are having for the past few years which causes crop devastation and leads us to import from countries we don't regulate for pesticide use like what's still regulated here in USA.

Desperate times leads us to eat what we can to survive and not think about the consequences ....it seems. But, what else can we do?

[bluestate10]

16. Markets in my state get organic produce from Canada, Holland, Pennsylvania, and

recently, New York State. Most fruit, with the exception of Citrus comes from Peru. Unfortunately, my state farmers are lagging on Greenhouse and Hydrophonic production, but I see signs that is changing.

[KoKo]

5. BTW! The Celery Sucks...tastes awful...from the regular to the organic...

which leads me to believe that CA is using alternate water sources that seem to ruin the "distinctive" celery flavor and aroma that we are used to. The last three bunches I've bought have had no taste..but some watery sweet taste which was useless in salads that I make. From Organic to Regular...the same lack of "celery flavor" we are used to.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. and hollow cored inside.

I have a dear friend, who has a 10 acre empty pasture, she was asking for thoughts, I suggested a garden using row covers, cause you know how the birds and bugs are down here.
She tried it last year about this time, it worked great guns, she is delighted, and best of all, brings me a ton of vegies.
In turn, she gets my baked goods and all the organic eggs she can eat.
Today we discussed swiss chard and sugar snaps, its planting time!

Win-win....my favorite outcome.

[KoKo]

9. Have you seen the new Restaurant "Food to Table" stuff going on in SC?

Everytime I think of that state as the wasteland of corruption in the Southeast...there are a few who still try to fight back.

The restaurants down there (indies) are really making an effort to get in farm fresh produce...and many of the landowners (who haven't sold out to developers) are leasing land to train younger people who want to learn how to farm. It's sort of like old "tenant farming" but, the older farmers are teaching the young ones as they try to bring back "Truck Farming" from farm to table like the old days.

"Charleston City Paper" has some resources for what's going on in the Lowcountry of SC where I grew up...but, left. Still some is encouraging. But, given the Climate Change...I wonder how long any of this "grassroots up revitalizing" can go...with the craziness of weather these days.

We support whatever we can. Our place here is not suitable for much veggie gardening...so we can get some cherry tomatoes and herbs...but, not much else we can grow our own.

[dixiegrrrrl]

40. I am aware of several cities and towns that are doing that..

It is pretty big in SF, and elsewehre, last I heard.

Even our little town has a semi-decent produce stand, sorta between private and commercial sellers, most stuff is local.
Much better prices than the grocery stores.

[corkhead]

10. who cares; I'm a strict carnivore

seriously, I am having a hard time not getting totally depressed contemplating how we are held hostage by the mouth breathin' dumbass greedy selfish climate-denying self-feleating republicons

[truedelphi]

11. I was tracking dairy farm situation back in 2009

Over 100,000 dairy cows being raised on small family farms in three northern California counties were slaughtered back in Summer of 2009. Economy was disastrous, and there was no money floated by the Fed government to help out.
'
But not to really worry - Fed government was able to meet all demands for weaponry from UAE states and Israel.

[KoKo]

17. Over a 100,000 dairy cows...that's horrible.

I grew up on an island off coast of SC and we had dairy farming ...the best milk I've ever tasted...and we had local processor who sold it in all our grocery stores. They lasted as Family farm from before I was born in the 1920's through the late 80's and finally the Developers took over and offered big bucks for part of the farm...(it was resort area location) and then the younger kids just didn't have the interest and so they sold it all off.

There aren't many places local like that, anymore. Some in Vermont , I hear...but most are big Agri-Business these days.

Then there was that horrible Beef Cattle loss in the Dakota's (I think) this Fall where an Early Snow Storm took out a thousand or so (they said) and the bodies were all frozen and ranchers didn't know how to bury them.

Apparently they bring the herds in closer to feed in the Fall but this snowstorm caught them all off guard and the cattle were way out still grazing. So they died (frozen) and that's why our beef prices are going way up...along with probably more deaths from this Winter with the extra feed costs from this hard Winter on the Plains in Mid-West.

[prairierose]

31. Yes, I never saw a final count but...

the estimates of loss were about 100,000 dead cattle. And you are correct, if it had been a few weeks later (2-3) the cattle would have been moved up closer to the home place and had some shelter.

But the dairy cattle loss is going to be a serious problem. I used to be a dairy farmer and the government has never done anything substantive to help family dairy farmers just the big corporate farms.

[truedelphi]

42. Here in California, the government should have helped out.

The big corporate dairy farms had no problems, as they can always leverage another loan if they need one.

But why would the people installed in the Fed government help out? They are totally allied with Monsanto, and Monsanto hates the smaller farmers that refuse to poison the citizens of our country with the Bovine Growth hormone. And I bet Wall Street commodities gamblers were also happy to see small farmers go down as the removal of so many farmers at once increases the price on the product.

[prairierose]

46. Exactly, our corporate controlled government...

does little or nothing for any business that is not a big corporation. It doers not matter whether it is small family farms that need help or a small business on Main st, they will get no help.

[Berlum]

13. Plant an organic garden. This year.

Do not delay. Good for so many reasons for family & planet.

[bluestate10]

14. I disagree.

The drought in California and other farming states will accelerate the move to technological advanced vegetable and fruit production in places like Canada (the king in this area), New York State (a recent entry with some early, impressive results), Pennsylvania (a new participant with some impressive Hydrophonic results), and other advanced northeastern states. Production from countries like Mexico, several Central American countries and two to three South American countries will fill the gap until Northeastern production comes more online to supplement Canadian production. Advances in renewable energy is making the transition more and more cost competitive, droughts in traditional farm states will eliminate any residual cost advantages held by traditional farming states. The advantages that Northeastern states have are big reserves of water, a small percentage of which can be used for advanced agriculture. Plus, advanced agriculture already use dramatically less water per ton of production.

[truedelphi]

43. Very good information. I was also surprised to find out

That Dylan Rattigan, a MSNBC host who went off the air, is now a hydroponic gardener, here in California.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/22/dylan-ratigan-unplugged-ex-msnbc-host-turns-hydroponic-entrepreneur.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. But, but, but, what about the George Washington Bridge?

It matters, but damn, this drought will affect the rest of the country like something furious. (And the shower police will come after the 20 minute showers and baths, hey we need SOME levity here)

[pinboy3niner]

22. We shall have less asparagus to cast at the GWB fiasco

So we will have to be more parsleymonious with our produce-casting.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. LMAO

Now where did I put that parsley?

[jtuck004]

18. Beer is ok though, right? And there's new alternative agriculture sprouting in CO and WA.

Maybe it will turn out that Soylent Green is best made from the tender leaves of the marijuana plant, and the breadbasket of the nation moves North and West

But perhaps Mexico can grow other varieties. Make up for how we NAFTA'd many of them.

You are right on the freezer beef.

[RainDog]

19. k&r n/t

[defacto7]

20. Although I like meat

I'm not too disappointed to hear that cattle are on the decline. It's ironic since cattle farming is one of the worst sources of pollution and erosion in America yet they are part of their own demise. If cattle farming continues, their method of production will have to undergo massive changes and I have no idea what those changes would be.

[bluestate10]

24. One change would be increasing the efficiency of growth if feeds like Alfalfa and grains.

Multi-tiered Greenhouses can be used to increase the production of an acre to as much as 10x the yield of traditional farming for that acre. Less land will be required for farming and water use will be lower due to water re-cycling.

[Javaman]

25. Good to know. Now I know what to plant. nt

[Nanjing to Seoul]

26. What. . .we're going to have a food shortage caused by soil exhaustion, drought conditions and

climate change? wow, my geography class isn't bullshit.

[WCLinolVir]

27. I bought a house for the garden area alone, it is a corner lot with southern exposure.

But putting in another garden will be a lot of work. At least this time I won't be hand digging the soil. Boy is that hard work. I'm going to rent a tiller. I am increasingly glad I moved to Virginia where we are not having problems. Virginia also grows a lot of produce with plenty of farmers markets. 90% of my plants will be edible, supports the family, supports the wildlife and the bees. Can you believe that there is not one plant for landscaping, only grass. Weird. A completely blank canvas. I am having the soil tested just to check for pesticides. I just hope the soil is not a thick layer of clay on top of an old stream bed.
I do miss my home state, hopefully with McCauliffe we will get at least a medical mj bill through. I would love to grow my own legally.

[ErikJ]

29. Rush says its not Climate change-just Calif using too much water

Heard him say that on the radio today.

[Retrograde]

33. Grabbing it right out of the sky before it has a chance to fall?

Neat trick - wish I knew how to do it.

(Is he really that stupid? Or does he just get paid to act like it?)

[ErikJ]

41. The idiot can say ANYTHING and his idiots will believe it

[mackerel]

32. Thanks for posting!

[obxhead]

34. I doubt these numbers.

I don't have anything to refute them, but I doubt them just the same.

My reasoning is based solely on growing seasons. A great deal of produce we receive comes from South America due to growing seasons, so simply can't believe 90%+ of some of our produce comes solely from CA farms.

I'm skeptical without additional sources.

That does not take away from the importance of CA farming though.

[Vashta Nerada]

35. This is what everyone should be talking about.

Not worrying about the GWB 24/7. Or the SI swimsuit issue.

Drought and climate change is something that affects all of us NOW.

[hedgehog]

36. I've been waiting to hear about this on the news. I guess it's too subtle to fit into TV news.

[Zorro]

37. Necessity is the mother of invention

Graphene’s Great Water-Filtration Potential Unveiled By New Research

The great potential that graphene has shown with regard to electronics and energy technologies is well known, but there’s quite a bit more to graphene than ‘just’ that…. In particular, the material possesses a number of strange qualities with regard to its interactions with water — qualities that are now ripe for exploitation, according to new research from the University of Manchester.

Previous work had shown that thin membranes made from graphene oxide laminates were impermeable to all gases and vapours, except for water. And now, new research has built on this discovery by testing the effectiveness of these membranes with regard to water filtration — producing findings that show that they have an astonishingly accurate mesh that allows “them to distinguish between atomic species that are only a few percent different in size,” and that they’re ultrafast, filtering with a speed similar to that of warm liquid passing through a coffee filter.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/02/17/graphenes-great-water-filtration-potential-unveiled-new-research

[DeSwiss]

38. I anticipated this....

- So I put my son to work!



Here's where I got the idea:

If we want to eat, we'll have to grow it ourselves folks:

K&R

[berni_mccoy]

39. Maybe we won't waste so much

Fill the Rose Bowl Stadium completely full of fresh produce. That is how much the U.S. wastes per *day*.