I guess Sacramento is a dividing line of sorts. South of the city is the San Joaquin Valley which straddles each side of U.S. 99, irrigated flatland with one season – growing season. The Valley is the the most agriculturally productive place on the planet – the breadbasket to the world. A partial list of its bounty include, tomatoes, almonds, grapes, dairy products, asparagus, herbs of every variety, peaches, lettuce, and on and on. Today my attention was on walnut orchards just below Modesto. The crop this year is a little smaller than anyone would want it to be, but the quality is excellent, and soon these tree nuts will be shipped all over the globe as the best available.
North of Sacramento begins the green rolling precursor to the Pacific Northwest; non-deciduous forestation that houses black bears, condors, all manner of outdoorsman and the occasional medicinal hemp farmer. South of Sacramento is nature tamed for the use of man; north of Sacramento is nature left alone, it can be said without making any judgement regarding the relative value of either region.
Sacramento is also the capital of the state, and host for that special type of human called the California politician. Actually, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and every other burg of any size in the state is teeming with the species. California politicians generally frown upon the concept of limited government, but rather see themselves as, not just America’s, but Earth’s last, best chance to save mankind from itself. Bless their confused but well-meaning hearts. There must be an unspoken understanding among politicians here that you haven’t arrived politically until you’ve sponsored a bill that has put a warning declaration on a consumer package.
Meanwhile, in the rural parts of the state, agriculture carries on in global style, not with the help of the machinations of the state, but in spite of them. In many ways, little has changed since Steinbeck observed the hard-working crop industries here four generations ago. Self-sufficiency is the name of the game if you want to survive the assistance of the California government. Food processors of any magnitude would never dream of not generating their own electricity, or fail to have overlapping contingency plans to keep the crops irrigated, for to rely on an uninterrupted supply of these basic services from the State of California would spell certain doom. Still, the quality of the goods grown here are the benchmark for every other country, and the agricultural industry quietly plods along, keeping grocery produce shelves stocked and revenue coffers jingling so that California politicians can continue to have the ever-diminishing resources required to heap further regulation and taxation on the hand that feeds it. If you ever have the opportunity to drive U.S. 99 between Modesto and Bakersfield, take the time to list the number of food items you see growing. You’ll be impressed.
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