Many thanks to my brother, Chris, for forwarding me Joel Kotkin’s Forbes article, America’s Agricultural Angst. I have to admit I smiled when Kotkin referred to Michael Pollan as an “agri-intellectual.” A new breed has been born! But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Pollan and similarly-opinioned food and farming journalists question the status quo, which is useful in any freethinking, progressive society. What’s also important, however, is dialogue and equal coverage of divergent viewpoints. Kotkin’s defense of the real accomplishments of modern American agriculture is overdue and definitely worth a read.
What do you think?
On an unrelated note, here’s a follow-up photo of the Great Freeze of 2009. As you may recall, we abandoned the Rumsey mandarin crop after the oranges froze on the trees. This photo taken two days ago shows how the frozen mandarins rotted on the branch. A real shame.
- Rotten Mandarins
Secured by 
It’s so sad! How big was the crop?
I can hardly bear to look at this photo!
Such a shame!!!!
Thanks for the few we got at Christmas time… they were delicious!!
Fortunately, most of the crop was at the Dunbar orchard… but nonetheless the loss was still painful.