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The Almond: Difference between revisions
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In the middle of December 2020, [[The Soft Protest Digest:About|The Soft Protest Digest]] was invited to the [https://janvaneyck.nl/projects/food-art-film-festival Food Art Film Festival] 2020, run by the Food Lab of the Jan van Eyck Academie; to create a project on food and hostile environments. Wealthy countries from the Western world, like the USA, generally don’t come to mind when thinking about agriculture; but no economy escapes from climate change. The collective used California and almond production as an exemple of a place where water is becoming a scarce resource because of climate change and land management: | In the middle of December 2020, [[The Soft Protest Digest:About|The Soft Protest Digest]] was invited to the [https://janvaneyck.nl/projects/food-art-film-festival Food Art Film Festival] 2020, run by the Food Lab of the Jan van Eyck Academie; to create a project on food and hostile environments. Wealthy countries from the Western world, like the USA, generally don’t come to mind when thinking about agriculture; but no economy escapes from climate change. The collective used California and almond production as an exemple of a place where water is becoming a scarce resource because of climate change and land management: | ||
* Before the event date, an edible pastry in the shape of an almond was sent in a box, filled with nut species calling on less water. | * Before the event date, an edible pastry in the shape of an almond was sent in a box, filled with nut species calling on less water. | ||
* The screening online, while eating the almond dessert, of <i>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plow_That_Broke_the_Plains The plow that broke the | * The screening online, while eating the almond dessert, of <i>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plow_That_Broke_the_Plains The plow that broke the plains]</i>, Pare Lorentz, 1936. | ||
* A text making a bound in time between [[About eroded soils: our contemporary deserts|the Dust Bowl]] crisis and almond production: farmers who lost their eroded soils in the 30’s often migrated to California, where almond monocultures are now competing for local water resources. | * A text making a bound in time between [[About eroded soils: our contemporary deserts|the Dust Bowl]] crisis and almond production: farmers who lost their eroded soils in the 30’s often migrated to California, where almond monocultures are now competing for local water resources. | ||
==From the Dust Bowl…== | ==From the Dust Bowl…== | ||
===Introduction to the movie <i>The plow that broke the | ===Introduction to the movie <i>The plow that broke the plains</i>=== | ||
“On Thursday, the 17th of December at 5 p.m, the plow will break the plain again. | “On Thursday, the 17th of December at 5 p.m, the plow will break the plain again. | ||
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===Set of movies about the Dust Bowl=== | ===Set of movies about the Dust Bowl=== | ||
* <i>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7054 R.F.D. 38]</i>, US department of Agriculture, 1935. | |||
* <i>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plow_That_Broke_the_Plains The plow that broke the plains]</i>, Pare Lorentz, US department of Agriculture, 1936. | |||
<br>Visible [https://catalog.archives.gov/id/13595 on the US National Archives]. | |||
* <i>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7429 Save our soil]</i>, US department of Agriculture, Pathe News, 1939. | |||
* <i>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath_(film) The Grapes of Wrath]</i>, John Ford, 1940 (based on John Steinbeck's 1939 novel of the same name.) | |||
* <i>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7427 Your enemy the grasshoper]</i>, US department of Agriculture, 1951. | |||
==…to the Almond== | ==…to the Almond== | ||
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But claiming more than half of the World almond supply comes at a price: | But claiming more than half of the World almond supply comes at a price: | ||
# The decline of wild pollinators and honeybees leads Californian almond producers to rent out more than one billion beehives from beekeepers every winter.These hives are transported across the country to pollinate almond trees — a necessary step to ensure almond production. Unfortunately, these orchards often become clusters for bee related diseases which later spread all over the states. | |||
# There is plenty of water in the Central Valley, but the agricultural sector is using it in an unsustanable way (it exceeds 40% of the available resource). This water stress was answered by the monetisation of water, by allocating water rights and the creation of local water markets. Consequently, the agricultural activities calling on the use of vast amounts of water, such as dairy farming, were soon penalised by its cost; while almond producers were less affected.<ref>*For more information about water markets, visit “[[Water series: Future extreme dynamics of water use|Future extreme dynamics of water use]]” on our wiki.</ref> Indeed, when it comes to water use, almond production is more sustainable than dairy, but still ranks high in the “nuts” category. | |||
# Almond being one of the most profitable crop to grow despite its pollination and irrigation cost; nothing seems to be able to stop its monoculture from colonising the Central Valley. By sacrificing 400.000 hectares of land to farm almonds orchards and harvest its profit; California proves that episodes such as the “Dust Bowl” have been evidently forgotten by the actors of late capitalism. | |||
We can however stay hopeful, as environmental policy makers and the goodwill of citizens could have the power to lessen dairy farming without increasing almond production to an unsustainable extend. The diversity of crops available to “replace” animal based milk is large enough to avoid supporting new monocultures such as almond or soy. | We can however stay hopeful, as environmental policy makers and the goodwill of citizens could have the power to lessen dairy farming without increasing almond production to an unsustainable extend. The diversity of crops available to “replace” animal based milk is large enough to avoid supporting new monocultures such as almond or soy. | ||