The 2014 drought and water management policy impacts on California’s Central Valley food production

Adapting a social-ecological resilience framework for food systems

“…While the agriculture sector is only one of the consumptive users in the state, the response of farmers and policy makers to the challenge of drought -each with their own interpretations of the nature of the problem (see Keppen & Dutcher 2015) -can trigger significant changes in the resource base. Reduced surface water availability, due to both natural (the drought) and regulatory (the ban enforced by the State of California (Office of Governor Brown 2014)) conditions leads to increased demand for groundwater.…”

“…The use of water resources in agriculture also affects other ecological functions such as wetland function and biodiversity (Cash & Zilberman 2003). A ruling requiring the diversion of water for ecological purposes in California has become a central bone of contention between farm sector representatives and environmental groups in the current drought, further disrupting the functioning of the agricultural sector (see Keppen & Dutcher 2015). A systemic resilience perspective would caution that present-day competition for resources may mask important longer-term complementarities in use: a loss of ecological functions in California's wetlands, streams and watersheds might over time feedback to the agricultural sector, undermining the productivity of the resource base.…”

Introduction to the Symposium on American Food Resilience

“…Agriculture in California's Central Valley, which has accounted for approximately 30 % of the nation's fruit and vegetable production in recent years, is a paragon of high-tech sophistication and economic efficiency. However, the political institutions responsible for accommodating conflicting stakeholders have failed to deal with the realities of the region's water supply, precipitating a crisis that has crippled agricultural production during 2014-2015 and threatens to continue doing so in the future (Keppen and Dutcher 2015).…”

“…Chinese agribusiness is increasing its control of foodproducing resources around the world, purchasing millionacre chunks of agricultural land in Africa and substantial quantities of food-producing resources elsewhere, including major pork production operations and other agribusiness enterprises in North America (GRAIN 2012;McMichael 2013). China's dramatic increase in consumption of dairy products is a welcome development for California farmers who look forward to expanding their dairy exports, but dairy production requires large quantities of water in a state where the water used for crops, growing cities, fracking, and maintenance of natural systems already exceeds the supply (Keppen and Dutcher 2015).…”

“…Using this approach, collaboration of teachers and scientists with farmers can contribute to development of adaptive strategies that enhance sustainability and resilience Dunning et al (2015) Examines how existing supply and distribution systems of supermarket retailers create vulnerabilities in the food system. Partnership of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems with a retail chain in North Carolina enabled the development of diversified procurement and distribution, integrating local farmers with the mainstream food system and enhancing regional resilience Marten and Atalan-Helicke (2015) Draws upon messages from all symposium articles to enumerate key issues, probe questions that they raise, and outline key concepts and action strategies for improving American food resilience Abstracts may be seen at Online Resource 3 as drought (Keppen and Dutcher 2015;Lengnick 2015b), flooding (MacMahon et al 2015), nuclear-reactor disaster (Belyakov 2015), or war (Maltz 2015) have disrupted food production or delivery. Other articles in part 1 look at simulated experiences such as the impact of an influenza pandemic on food supply (Huff et al 2015).…”