<story><title>California Announces Restrictions on Water Use by Farmers</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/us/california-announces-restrictions-on-water-use-by-farmers.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jkyle</author><text>About time.&lt;p&gt;Agriculture is using 80% of the water, but accounts for a mere 2% of the GDP (4% of employment)[1].&lt;p&gt;There&amp;#x27;s no reason we should be squeezing our rural and suburban centers that fuel the overwhelming majority of our economy while giving farmer&amp;#x27;s a free pass to suck the state dry of usable water which is mainly used for exported profits and not sustaining local industries.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&amp;#x2F;blogs&amp;#x2F;govbeat&amp;#x2F;wp&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;agriculture-is-80-percent-of-water-use-in-california-why-arent-farmers-being-forced-to-cut-back&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&amp;#x2F;blogs&amp;#x2F;govbeat&amp;#x2F;wp&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;ag...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;edit&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;For clarification, mentioning the GDP is meant to show that cutting back on agricultural usage will not affect our economy catastrophically even if the industry sinks a bit. Will food prices go up? Perhaps.&lt;p&gt;Further, if the point is food &lt;i&gt;production&lt;/i&gt; and not food &lt;i&gt;profit&lt;/i&gt; for the nation then the focus should be on producing the most water efficient foods (per calorie) not the most profitable foods produced under an assumption of free or near free water. So yeah, that might mean less prime rib and more black eyed peas for Americans (figuratively speaking).&lt;p&gt;The cost of the product should reflect the cost of the resources required to produce. This is not the current case.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>monochromatic</author><text>Why is that a comparison that makes sense? If we doubled the water available to tech companies, that wouldn&amp;#x27;t make them any more productive.</text></comment>
<story><title>California Announces Restrictions on Water Use by Farmers</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/us/california-announces-restrictions-on-water-use-by-farmers.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jkyle</author><text>About time.&lt;p&gt;Agriculture is using 80% of the water, but accounts for a mere 2% of the GDP (4% of employment)[1].&lt;p&gt;There&amp;#x27;s no reason we should be squeezing our rural and suburban centers that fuel the overwhelming majority of our economy while giving farmer&amp;#x27;s a free pass to suck the state dry of usable water which is mainly used for exported profits and not sustaining local industries.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&amp;#x2F;blogs&amp;#x2F;govbeat&amp;#x2F;wp&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;agriculture-is-80-percent-of-water-use-in-california-why-arent-farmers-being-forced-to-cut-back&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&amp;#x2F;blogs&amp;#x2F;govbeat&amp;#x2F;wp&amp;#x2F;2015&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;03&amp;#x2F;ag...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;edit&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;For clarification, mentioning the GDP is meant to show that cutting back on agricultural usage will not affect our economy catastrophically even if the industry sinks a bit. Will food prices go up? Perhaps.&lt;p&gt;Further, if the point is food &lt;i&gt;production&lt;/i&gt; and not food &lt;i&gt;profit&lt;/i&gt; for the nation then the focus should be on producing the most water efficient foods (per calorie) not the most profitable foods produced under an assumption of free or near free water. So yeah, that might mean less prime rib and more black eyed peas for Americans (figuratively speaking).&lt;p&gt;The cost of the product should reflect the cost of the resources required to produce. This is not the current case.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>WillPostForFood</author><text>The primary contribution of agriculture is feeding people, not GDP. What does watering one&amp;#x27;s lawn contribute to?</text></comment>