Friday, September 02, 2011

"As goes profit, so goes the plow."

The New York Times today explains the agricultural economics of the distinctive Gravenstein apple in Sonoma County, where the more dominant wine industry competes with orchards for scarce land.

UC Davis economist Dan Sumner -- a great source of mentoring to me during my recent year of study in California -- has the funniest line of the article.
“You can say the culprit is wine grape growers, but I would say the culprit is wine drinkers,” Mr. Sumner said. “If my wino friends were to decide en masse that Sonoma County wine wasn’t as good as they thought it was, and the snobs went in the other direction, the Gravenstein would come back.”
Posted

2 comments:

  1. oxandrolone anavar9/11/2011 4:27 AM

    Yep, profit is king. Even in industries as important as food. It sucks.

    Ana

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Almond Doctor9/17/2011 10:32 AM

    Interesting, but I guess I wouldn't expect anything less. Its tough to have a sustainable farming operations when the crop grown doesn't make a lot of profit.Just the land value alone in Sonoma County and the corresponding taxes are enough to keep most farmers working hard. Maybe i should tell my parents to plant Gravenstein? I can already see them shudder.

    ReplyDelete