Pass the California Rice and Hold the Water.

Chanco Brothers are California Rice fans. When we are thinking of rice its cal rose that is at the top of the charts. We however had recently been reading how eating rice affects the current drought in California. We did not want to just tell my sushi chef to stop passing the rice. We care for the environment and if stopping to eat California Rice would help stop the drought or global warming then there is no argument at all. We started to look for answers and we of course ended up with more questions. Even the California Rice Commission website made it even more confusing. We did get a lot of facts and top of the list is that there is a drought and it has been happening year after year. The water reserves that California had are virtually nonexistent today. What we took notice is that rice production in California is mostly for non-residents. We import most of this rice to Asia which has a big need for rice. The picture of rice production is that it is one of the crops that need water in California. The fact is that a lot of water is needed for California's agricultural needs which do not mean that rice is the culprit. California Rice based on the Chanco Brothers assumption is an Angel to California bringing in revenue for the State. The method of flooding in growing rice in California has been working productively. It only takes 25 gallons of water per serving of rice while almonds need 80 gallons and cantaloupe takes 40. A good note as a business is that rice prices are on the rise. Due to drought worldwide prices have continued to increase. Australia which has been producing rice has stopped production due to the drought and has implemented stringent measures for water conservation. This article by Dr. Peter Gleick talks more on what has happened in Australia http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/gleick/index . While the following video interviews a farmer as he points out how much they value water as it is the main basis for growing rice in California.

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