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California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy
31–40 of 473 posts
Re: California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy
#32People underestimate how difficult it is to seek buyers for the amount of produce we are talking about here. Farmers are specialists at growing things, not at moving them across great distances, marketing them to dozens small buyers and or starting up packing plants from scratch. They don't have enough trucks, people or packaging machines to move them around. Maybe, they can take some portion for local use. But the r…
It's difficult for them because farmers are raised anti-union individualists that are at the mercy of middle-men. If they would cooperate, unionize even, they would be far more powerful than they are now.
Re: California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy
#33That's what happens when "family farms" rely on a large industrial complex and grow a mono-culture that doesn't have uses other than canning. It was an easy, steady cash-positive business until it wasn't. If those farmers thought what is final product and who benefits from it most, they'd grow diversified crops to sell locally, which many California family farms do.
Farmers care about making money.
Re: California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy
#34People underestimate how difficult it is to seek buyers for the amount of produce we are talking about here. Farmers are specialists at growing things, not at moving them across great distances, marketing them to dozens small buyers and or starting up packing plants from scratch. They don't have enough trucks, people or packaging machines to move them around. Maybe, they can take some portion for local use. But the r…
I agree that the tree destruction is a perfectly rationale reaction - but it is still an injustice. This quantity of waste is not free and not fully priced into the cost to produce the fruit.
I think the emotional misalignment most people will feel at this announcement is a signal that there's a large missed externality that allowed margins on this produce to get too thin.
Re: California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy
#35That's what happens when "family farms" rely on a large industrial complex and grow a mono-culture that doesn't have uses other than canning. It was an easy, steady cash-positive business until it wasn't. If those farmers thought what is final product and who benefits from it most, they'd grow diversified crops to sell locally, which many California family farms do.
> they'd grow diversified crops to sell locally
This is out of touch, many of these farmers are 100+ miles from a large population center. They can’t move enough produce at a local store to stay in business.
Re: California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy
#36So, they cut down the trees and do what? How is this supposed help anything?
Significantly reduced water usage for one. The water is the limiting factor.
Re: California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy
#37> When a processing facility closes and 55,000 acres of fruit suddenly have nowhere to go — that’s not something a family farm can just absorb Won't they at least sell the fruit to customers through grocery stores, where possible? I can see replacing the crops based on reduced future demand from the canneries, but surely the current fruit is usable.
It is common in agriculture that there is no existing market in which the price would cover the cost of moving the crop to that market. Destroying the crop minimizes the loss to the farmer.
Re: California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy
#38This is your fault for eating fewer canned peaches. The clingstone variety is bred for canning and not well suited to eating fresh.
My fault? I'm blaming The Presidents of the United States of America.
Millions of peaches, peaches for m̶e̶ no-one -> https://youtu.be/3GCrzjVdmSg
Re: California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy
#39That's what happens when "family farms" rely on a large industrial complex and grow a mono-culture that doesn't have uses other than canning. It was an easy, steady cash-positive business until it wasn't. If those farmers thought what is final product and who benefits from it most, they'd grow diversified crops to sell locally, which many California family farms do.
Farmers care about making money.
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