Why is marijuana still California's largest cash crop from year to year to year? Will California's largest cash crop ever change to another harvest? And people are still asking whether California's largest cash crop even is organic? Can this category be classified under the heading, smart is the new rich? Or is it more like supply and demand?
In fact, California's largest cash crop is listed on pages 246-253 of the book, Field Guide to California Agriculture (California Natural History Guides) [Paperback]. And it's still marijuana...weed. The green wild thing. Authors of the book, Field Guide to California Agriculture, are Paul Starrs and Peter Goin.
The book also is reviewed in the November 22, 2010 Sacramento Bee article by Carlos Alcalá, "Guidebook takes new approach to California agriculture." Most people thought California's largest cash crop pertaining to agriculture was tomatoes and rice, at least in The Big Tomato area of California's Central Valley, around Sacramento.
Others thought citrus fruits was the biggest in agriculture....and some pointed out rice in the Sacramento area. But marijuana as California's largest cash crop for another year? Why the wild green weed and not livestock or spinach, rice, or blueberries or all varieties of tomatoes or the new type of green rice? No. It's still Mary Jane by any other name....marijuana.
Who buys California's largest cash crop? Certainly not supermarkets or hospitals. It's time to take a new approach to California agriculture, which this guide book does. The news angle is economic significance. Note the emphasis on the word 'cash' and crop. This is no ordinary farmers' market cash for tomatoes transaction. It's about spatial distribution as well as issues of demand. Perhaps labor is easy to find for cash crops of any nature in these economic times when jobs are scarcer.
The Field Guide to California Agriculture covers the crops and livestock, from bok choi and oysters to marijuana. Each entry covers economic significance, spatial distribution, historical background, and issues of labor demand and farm management. The book is packed with photos including concise, clear, and sharp maps.
The book is published by the University of California Press. It's more of a field guide than a textbook on agriculture. Check out the section, "Colors of California Agriculture." In the Sacramento region, rice and tomatoes are big cash crops in various months. The book covers state farm output listed by each region and noted by each crop.
What's excellent in this book is the listed regions for each type of crop and agriculture. Maybe you want to know where you can pick blueberries or figs. It's all there. The book has a basic primer on agriculture. Students at UC Davis would be interested in this book with their food science and winemaking degree and/or certificate programs of study.
What area of California is called the Emerald Triangle? What areas are best for growing walnuts? You have a large dairy feed crop business ongoing in Sacramento. Check out what grows in Winters, walnut trees and other tree nuts.
The photos are helpful and the research was tedious. According to the Sacramento Bee article, the authors spent more than four years driving 25,000 miles around California talking to people about their farms. They had to talk to a lot of people in Spanish, according to the Sacramento Bee article. The book runs about 500 pages with 125 photos and maps.
It's a learning experience. The book is categorized by region and by crop. So, if you're an urban Sacramentan, you may not realize how large the rice-growing business is here in the Sacramento regional area. But basically three-fourths of California has some type of agriculture going on.
It boils down to everyone buys produce and eats food whether that food is grains, meat, fish, or plant-based. Check out this book if you want to know what crops grow in California and in this Sacramento region as well. It makes a great gift also for someone in the various agricultural or horticultural related courses at UC Davis. Don't you wish, though that Sacramento's biggest crop was organic produce sold in markets near bus stops, locally, fresh, and at an affordable price?
Check out my other Examiner.com columns
National Children's Nutrition Examiner
National One-Pot-Meals Examiner
Sacramento Healthy Trends Examiner
Sacramento Women's Issues Examiner
Sacramento Media & Culture Examiner
Sacramento Holistic Family Health Examiner
Follow Anne Hart's various Examiner articles on nutrition, health, and culture on this Facebook site and/or this Twitter site. Also see some of Anne Hart's 91 paperback books at: iUniverse, and Career Press.
Comments