Yet, I did not stop to take photos. I continued to drive in the slow lane as vehicles sped past me as they always do.
The dead, you see, were almond trees. In California's San Joaquin Valley.
Like in this photograph from the Washington Post:
Usually when I near Coalinga, I prepare myself for the stink from the mega-dairies. And I was prepared for that. Acres of dead almond trees was new. California's drought has dramatically altered its landscape already. Yet, life goes on in California and elsewhere.
What a contrast to conditions in the old country!
Back when we were kids, watching a movie meant sitting through a government propaganda documentary as well. Invariably, those documentaries--News Reels, they were called--were about hardships that farmers faced. Almost always, they seemed to be about Bihar where if it was not floods it was a drought!
Even now, the prospect of a serious monsoon failure in South Asia is a nightmarish scenario--for the countries there and for the rest of the world too. Because, unlike in California, half the population relies on agriculture for their existence. Their livelihoods are dependent on a prosperous agriculture sector. And unlike almonds, which are luxuries, rice and wheat are staples that sustain the hundreds of millions.
The fact that nobody really worries about California's drought is by itself a measure of the affluence in this country. Of course, almond trees are down. Lawns are brown. But, life is otherwise unchanged. The only noticeable difference is this: water is no longer served at restaurants. Water is served only if the diner requests it. To paraphrase Harry Truman's mother who reportedly told him "if that's your biggest problem, Harry, consider yourself lucky," here in the land of affluence if water by request is the biggest problem in California, well, we are lucky beyond our wildest imaginations!
3 comments:
Hey, give them some credit ... this time around, almost all the Californians, who are notoriously superficial, seem to be ok with the lawns being brown ... not like the past when some maniacs painted their lawns green ... they are growing up, though a tad slowly ;)
As for the cost of the ag produce going up, I think they should. For decades we have highly subsidized every aspect of ag operations in CA, which is why they crazily grow alfalfa and almonds and rice, all of which need LOTS of water, which comes from somewhere else and for which they don't pay the true cost at all.
Two Oregonians dissing the Californians ???? Shachi; where are you ??
You lot serve water in restaurants ??? Really ??? Really really ???
Ramesh - come visit and see for yourself about water in restaurants.
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