Seeds, water supply, and agriculture are all crucial parts of the global food system. As we learned in the last couple weeks, seeds go through a very detailed and intricate process to grow from a seed in the earth to a full plant, vegetable, fruit, etc. Abundant amounts of water are required to keep plants healthy and adequately nourished while they grow. Industrial agriculture calls for an extreme level of water annually and without changing the chemical makeup of plants; we cannot decrease the standard amount of water used. For example, a tomato breeder in California is changing the DNA of his plants through DNA screening to stop “spending decades physically identifying plants that will bear fruits of the desired color and firmness, stand up to drought, and more” (Higgins).
While farmers try to adjust their practices in order to slow the effects of the drought in California, we must pay attention to the amount of water being used currently. The form of agricultural exports in California is furthering the effect the drought has had on the water supply. 20% of the state’s irrigation water is used for growing alfalfa which is then exported to China which means that California is using 20% of its water for Chinese resources. Although the use of water for agriculture is large and not all of the resources are for the good of the state, all the farmers in California can not just stop producing their products. They have already let 400,000 acres go bad to save water, but they need to keep enough to provide fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts to the citizens of California.
