Reliving the Grapes of Wrath; The Central Coast Sequel

by Andy Caldwell

I have kept an article on my desk since 2008, so that every time I come across it, I will be reenergized to fight for the Americans who work the land to feed us, house us, clothe us, and create the energy we need to live in modernity. The article, entitled “There is A Sorrow Here That Weeping Cannot Symbolize,” is from the 2008 Fall Edition of Range magazine, written by J. Zane Walley.

Walley recalls John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” which “laid bare the suffering and oppression of the farmers and the hollowness of the American dream” as it captured the plight of thousands of farmers who lost everything they had during the Dust Bowl at the hands of banks and big farm interests.

Walley observed an even greater dispossession beginning in the 1990' having to do with a “rural cleansing,” albeit this time the farmers and ranchers, as well as others who make their living off the land, were having their livelihoods destroyed by regulatory agencies, dubious science, special interests, and obscenely rich foundations. That is, farmers, miners, ranchers, loggers, and other resource providers lost their jobs and the use of their land and water, in the name of “saving the planet” for, in Walley’s words, “spotted birds, lizards, and insignificant fish.”

Walley writes that Steinbeck’s understanding of the unconscionable defilement of rural America reaches beyond his grave. “There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation,” Steinbeck wrote. “There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all success.”

I have been thinking about the novel, the column, and the phenomenon lately because this crime that goes “beyond denunciation” is happening on the Central Coast right now. Why do I believe we are living in the sequel to The Grapes of Wrath? I am seeing private equity companies come into the region to buy up farmland and production facilities because they have enough capital to speculate on the value of the land in the long run whether it continues in agriculture or ultimately gets converted to housing. The land, which in some cases has been in the same family for 100 years is for sale because the next generation realizes that farming is an all-risk-and-no-reward proposition which creates a sorrow they can better live without. That is, as one farmer told me, “I had to sell rather than risk losing everything I own.”

While it is no surprise that farms in Goleta, Carpinteria, and Santa Maria are being converted to housing, unless you drive Interstate 5, you may not realize that a significant chunk of California’s inland valley – the most productive ag land in the world – is simply going back to desert because its water supply has been cut off. Moreover, throughout the state, forests have become so dense, weakened, and diseased that we now have over 130 million dead trees on our hands just waiting to go up in flames, all because forests can no longer be actively managed by logging companies.

Santa Barbara County Production Being Shut Down

Piling on to our farmers and other resource providers are various laws and regulatory agencies that are tying up land and water in red tape while threatening them with ruinous regulations. The usual suspects include the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, the State Groundwater Management Act, the County Air Pollution Control District, the State Department of Pesticide Regulations, the California Air Resources Board, and the County Board of Supervisors to name a few. Altogether, they have created a situation that is causing farmers and ranchers and others to “get out while they still can.”

The largest winery production facility in the county closed; it couldn’t increase production because of regulations that put a cap on fermentation out of concerns for greenhouse gas emissions. The largest trucking company in the county closed because the State mandate forcing the electrification of the fleet wasn’t repealed by President Trump in time to keep them afloat. Countless families have divided up and sold part of their ranches to pay inheritance taxes so that the next generation could keep a little fragment of the old homestead. Over 50% of the grapes grown in this county have been ripped out because the industry can’t market its product and properties as can vintners in SLO county. Flower growers were put out of business because our federal government cut a deal with Colombia enabling that country to flood our markets with duty-free flowers. That was years after the California Coastal Commission put the kibosh on more greenhouses in Carpinteria. And now, sheep and goat herders, who often used their flocks to reduce fire risks on our hillsides, are being forced to cull their herds because CA passed a law requiring the herders to be paid 24 hours per day while they stay with their flocks.

I am afraid the Central Coast is slowly but surely going the way of two other areas of the state that once had prime farming ground, namely, the San Fernando Valley and Orange County. As I have testified numerous times over the years, there are two ways you can “preserve” agriculture. On the one hand, you can support farmers according to their needs as it affects water, labor, nutrients, equipment, etc., or you can preserve ag by attempting to freeze-frame it so that urbanites can enjoy the views of rural vistas. However, the latter is a means of preservation akin to preserving a relic in a jar of formaldehyde.

Andy Caldwell, Executive Director, COLAB