California water bank planned

Like all ag producers in the arid Western U.S., Californians are no strangers to drought.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced plans to form a "water bank" to avoid shortages.

From a Sept. 5 Reuters report:

"California's state government is forming a "water bank" to buy water for local water agencies at risk of shortages next year should a current drought persist, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Thursday.

Schwarzenegger in June declared the most populous U.S. state to officially be in drought and declared nine counties in its farm-rich Central Valley to be in a state of emergency because water supplies were so low after two years of below-average rainfall.

California's water shortages have been compounded by a federal court order to limit pumping water from the state's San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to protect a species of fish. ..."

"California's 2009 Drought Water Bank will buy water primarily from local water agencies and farmers upstream of the delta and make it available for sale to public and private water systems expecting to run short of water next year.

The last time California's Department of Water Resources set up a water bank was in the early 1990s and the agency plans much more strict guidelines for its new effort, said Wendy Martin, the statewide drought coordinator for the agency."

Information tech down on the farm

One of my favorite bloggers, Big Gav (an Australian engineer whose site covers energy production and environmental issues), today has a post from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review site about Michigan apple growers using wireless networks to access weather data and how the process leads to more efficient use of fertilizer, pesticides and other inputs:

"For apple growers like Abby Jacobson, making or losing money depends as much on what they don't do as what they do. So when data from Michigan State University's high-tech weather monitoring network helped her decide to skip four costly chemical sprayings this spring, she considered it an unqualified success.
..."

"... Technicians installed the station in March in an open field near fruit trees at the 188-acre orchard near Romeo. The station checks wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, leaf wetness, and soil moisture and temperature at two depths. A modem links the station -- one of 57 statewide -- to Verizon Wireless' broadband wireless network, which feeds the data every five minutes to Michigan State's Enviro-weather computer programs. They, in turn, crunch the numbers and give farmers up-to-the-minute advice on when to plant; apply fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides; irrigate and harvest their crops. The information is instantly available free to farmers by logging in to Enviro-weather's Web site."

The Web's use as a promotional tool (for business and/or self) deservedly gets much attention and praise. But its real dividends for business (and society as a whole) may come from enabling smarter use of increasingly expensive production inputs and other process efficiencies.

New life for 'Frankenfoods?'

Europeans' skepticism toward genetically modified crops and food products is well documented.

However, The International Herald Tribune reports rising food prices worldwide have European Union officials rethinking their position on GMOs:

"Climate change and increasing concern about fresh water supplies are helping to fuel interest in new seed varieties likely to be more resistant to drought and able to produce reasonable yields with significantly less water. GM technology still has many opponents, who fear that genetically modified crops can create health problems for animals and humans, wreak havoc on the environment, and give far-reaching control over the world's food to a few corporate masters."

The article goes on to report the average European's view of GMOs hasn't changed -- well, actually it has: for the worse.

"In a Eurobarometer opinion poll in March, ... 58 percent were apprehensive about the use of such crop technology and just 21 percent were in favor, down from 26 percent in a 2006 Eurobarometer survey on biotechnology."

GMOs haven't been much of factor in fresh produce yet. Few remember the Flavr Savr tomato and its ill-fated short run on U.S. grocers' shelves.

Americans eat GM food products daily (often corn or soy in processed foods), most without knowing it.

Marketed correctly, GMO seeds and foods hold potential to alleviate hunger and ensure food security.

GMO marketers should stand by their products, spelling out the benefits and dispelling misconceptions.

I don't envy them having to educate a public that is largely ignorant concerning food science and safety in a 24-hour media environment where scare stories that are short on facts receive all too much attention.

Sad nanner

I've heard it said that emotionally, people are like bananas -- they bruise on the inside.

I always thought that was a sappy (though true) sentiment.

Nevertheless, this banana could use a hug.

Cookie Monster on 'Colbert Report'

A recent segment of Comedy Central news-ertainer Stephen Colbert's Colbert Report saw the host take Cookie Monster to task for pushing balanced diets and fruits' and vegetables' role in them in lieu of his traditional, one-plank "COOKIES!" position.

Colbert assails the muppet's mission creep, at one point calling fruit "un-American" and saying he eats fruit only in "loop or pebble form."



Maybe Produce for Better Health president and CEO Elizabeth Pivonka should have her people call Colbert's people.