Pacific Standard March-April 2013 Cover

Vineyards in the Desert

David Dalgoff at winery

I see that vintners are making the desert bloom with wine grapes, but where is their water coming from? Location: in a desert canyon on the Rio Guadalupe, near a waterfall and natural hot springs, where a nice old man lets people camp. Conditions: starry night and calm, save for a Mexican family sitting around a bonfire laughing in the distance. Discussion:  Instead of going directly to Ensenada along the coast, we veered inland and went upriver, to the main wine and olive growing region in Baja: the Valle de Guadalupe. The valley has the rocky appearance of a desert, which makes ... Read More

Going Up? Vertical Farming in High-Rises Raises Hopes

With the worst drought in 70 years decimating northern China's winter wheat crop and the soybean harvest down 40 percent in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay this year, the world food crisis continues to expand — even as increased demand for plant-based biofuels further strains agricultural lands. What's more, by midcentury an estimated 80 percent of the world's population will live in urban areas. Feeding these new city dwellers will require creative ideas to reduce food miles and the associated energy use. One solution may lie in Dickson Despommier's vertical farm — a 30-story crop ... Read More

P. People O.

Dear Mr. President, Piss people off. Piss off the right-wing Cuban Americans in Florida by normalizing relations with Cuba. (If we can work with the commies in Vietnam or China, then we can work with the Cubans.) Piss off the agribusiness industry by ending subsidies for farms not owned and worked by individual families. Piss off the cattle ranchers, loggers and miners by ending lease terms for exploiting federally owned land that were created to help 19th-century homesteaders. Piss off the automobile industry by investing in more trains. Piss off AARP by making Social Security ... Read More

Papa’s Got a Brand-New Ag?

You only have to go back a generation or two to arrive at an agricultural model envisioned in a new United Nations report that calls for an abrupt change of course in how farmers grow the world’s food. Hans R. Herren, one of the co-chairs of the study and an internationally recognized entomologist, remembers how his mother kept root crops in a barn over the winter when he was growing up in Switzerland. The report recommends, for example, finding a way to store a crop for sale months after harvest when it will be more in demand and will bring more money. The study — known as the ... Read More