hollowpilot13 said:More, at least from what I gather, California is packed with underground rivers, so water shouldn't really be the issue. The real headache is the actual terrain. They ought to start building terraces like they used to back in the day—that way, you could actually make use of even the rockiest patches. Banderas, thanks for the link.😉
Clearly, none of you guys have ever tried building dry stone walls. It’s slow, back-breaking work, and honestly, the ROI is pretty questionable at best. Plus, any kind of terracing just makes it impossible to get machinery in there, which obviously drives up the price of whatever you're growing.
Look, some things we just have to import. Bananas, citrus—that's just how it works. Sure, we *could* grow oranges and lemons here, but we aren't doing it at a price that won't break the bank. Ask yourself when was the last time you grabbed an orange for 13 cents instead of one for $2.25. Well, ours would've been 15. The only real thing we can do is teach people throughout California to plant these things in their own backyards to cut down on imports, but as far as large-scale production goes? We're way too small, too fragmented, and frankly, we don't have enough sun or water to compete.
But then there's the other question—do we even need to be eating this imported stuff anyway? It's obvious that over centuries, our bodies have adapted to certain types of food. Nowadays, we're basically shocking our systems with stuff we've never even tasted before: papaya, persimmons, avocados, feijoas, bananas, seaweed, Himalayan salt.... Whether that's actually dangerous or somehow good for us, only time will tell. One thing's for sure, it's definitely not "natural" for the body.