We were asked to pass this along - and we highly recommend that you do so too.
dozens of times.
Quite honestly, it's as boring as it gets. with only the usual gas stations, mini-marts, fast-food, home-cookin' restaurants, and strangely a
newer batch of Starbuck's Coffee shops sprouting up everywhere.
In between... farms, orchards, cattle, and dirt. On July 15th, as I began my trip to Utah, I came off the Grapevine decline and hit the flat 250 or so mile stretch of interstate which begins the farming belt
in the valley.
Almost immediately I noticed what I had only heard about on the
radio and in the papers.
Where once there were vast fields of green, now there where empty, barely recognizable rows of unplanted dirt and growing weeds. Only sporadically at first, but once I passed Bakersfield and for about a 200 mile
stretch, I could not believe my eyes.
Field after field laid fallow. And not really fallow, but unattended... as if it was not going to be planted in the near future either.
Signs were staked in the ground on almost every patch of barren farmland.
The most common one, which was yellow and obviously a group effort to wake up the sleeping travelers of thier future plight, read: "CONGRESS CREATED DUST BOWL"
Others, which looked more homemade were posted on non-operational farm equipment parked as close to the freeway as possible, stated things like: "FOOD ONLY GROWS WHERE WATER FLOWS" -and- "NO WATER = NO JOBS = NO FUTURE"
At one point, after 150 miles or so of seeing this horror, I broke down in
tears and had to pull over to the side of the road.
I saw the aqueduct, which followed Interstate 5 most of the way, and large fields of dead trees which were planted just a few feet from the flowing cement river. I imagined how those trees would feel, imprisoned in the dying dirt by their own roots, if they could indeed comprehend that their source of life was just a stones throw
away.
It was like some horrific story-book come to life; science fiction in
real time.
I was thinking of the farmers and their families and wondering what would become of them and their land. I was thinking about the consequences of hundreds of miles of food no longer being grown, and adding together the other states like Campo, Colorado which have the same situation... only planting 60% of their crops this year.
This deadness went on untill the brink of civilization once again began to
show.
When I approached the Stockton/Modesto highway interchange area the
carnage seemed to stop, and the fields appearded to be healthy an bountiful.
I can only guess that this is because more people drive on that stretch of the
freeway, and so the powers that be are trying to keep up appearances.
No other explanation came to mind.
To the readers of this, I can only say that living in the city has literally
blinded me to the truth, even though I knew it was happening.
I wonder how many other things I ignore?
Many economists and trends predictors have called for food shortages and food riots in the fall, and with what I saw last week, I have new reason to believe them.
But then, that's the real problem isn't it? Belief... If you believe that the food will continue to flow (magically appearing on store shelves in a grocery store near you) and just dismiss the very real claims of shortages worldwide, including a severe wheat shortage in this country due to a harmful fungus, then I might boldly say that you deserve whatever fate befalls you.
I challenge you all to take a drive up the 5 and see this for yourself.
Please!
Don't let this go unseen.
If you are camera or video savy, I think it would be a really great photo exibit or website showing the true nature of our common
problem.
And you better believe, as you take your daily shower, flush your toilet, and water your fertilized-non-edible grassy yards, that this is indeed
a Congress created crisis.
So please tell as many people about it as possible.
Lastly, if you haven't already... buy storable food!
Go to the dollar store and buy rice and beans. Buy pasta, caned and jarred foods, or anything with a shelf-life of more than 6 months. What's the worse that can happen? You'll have food in 6 months. What's the best that can happen? You'll have food in 6 months.
Take care. Spread this information.
Get mad.
Fight tyranny.
And... Don't be a sheep.
Clint Richardson
introspector48@yahoo.com
Monday, July 20, 2009
The above was sent to me as an email and I think its important the whole country is aware of what the idiots in Washington DC are up to. "He who controls the food controls the people". Scary words? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!!
The above was sent to me as an email and I think its important the whole country is aware of what the idiots in Washington DC are up to. "He who controls the food controls the people". Scary words? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!!
2 comments:
It's sad what you've described. We have been the worse stewards the planet has ever seen. Very selfish and thinking only of the profit motive. It's catching up.
The water situation is incredibly twisted and the drought you see was caused by actions taken more than 30 years ago. In brief, Governor Pat Brown pushed through a water project that was paid for by the city of LA but used by big business farms (Tenneco, Boswell, Chevron, Shell, etc.) to plant small niche crops (e.g. olives) and put small producers out of business by using water given to them basically for free by the Governor's project. It is a testimony to the reckless policies by which California has grown the last 30 years. The central valley and all of LA a desert and the amount of agriculture cannot be sustained. Along I-5 there are no family farms but rather massive farms owned by some of the largest corporations in America. Read Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner for more info. The reason you see more plans north of Modesto is because the valley slopes North from Tulare northward while the southern half of the valley slopes to the South. Water projects are divided along that division.
Post a Comment