Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Agriculture Category
Click here to view all posts

Changing history of San Joaquin Valley

Posted by: Maven on March 9, 2010 at 9:07 am

From the Western Farm Press:

“Second-generation San Joaquin Valley farmer John Diener refuses to accept the adage that history repeats itself. History repeating itself will eventually mean the demise of the richest agricultural valley in America.

Diener, 58, farms on the West Side of the San Joaquin where he and his neighbors are fighting with one hand for fresh irrigation water to grow crops, while with the other they are challenged to economically dispose of subsurface, perched water.

Diener farms out of Five Points, Calif. He is doing everything he can think of to survive two opposing dilemmas that are like a vise squeezing him and his peers in the middle. However, is it more than personal. At stake is a major food source for a nation, and he is passionate there is no alternative but to successfully meet both challenges.

“Thirty percent of the all the processing tomatoes grown in the U.S. are produced in Fresno County; 30 percent of the country’s grapes are produced here,” he says, listing two of the myriad of facts that make Fresno County the No. 1 agricultural county in the nation.

He bristles at the notion that somehow growing food in the San Joaquin Valley is bad. Without its bounty, people will take to the streets and riot for food, he believes. … “


Read more from the Western Farm Press by clicking here.

March 9, 2010 · Filed Under Agriculture

Comments

Leave a Reply