{"id":8753,"date":"2015-06-11T11:27:45","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T18:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/?p=8753"},"modified":"2015-06-11T11:27:45","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T18:27:45","slug":"californias-drought-eating-differently-grist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/","title":{"rendered":"Think we can end California’s drought by eating differently? Think again – from Grist"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nathanael Johnson<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s so much confusion about California\u2019s drought, and a lot of my colleagues in the media, I\u2019m sorry to say, have been amplifying that confusion. The proliferation of stories showing how much water various food products use implies that people should be eating water-thrifty foods \u2014 but that would\u00a0do precisely nothing to fix the problem. The real solutions are within reach (I\u2019ll get to those), but they will require the hard work of politics to achieve, rather than simplistic, consumer-focused fixes.<\/p>\n

A recent survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found that, for the first time in the history of its polling, Californians say drought is the most important state issue, and 69 percent of Californians say water supply is a big problem in their part of the state.<\/p>\n

\"Screen
Public Policy Institute of California poll<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When there\u2019s this kind of concern about an issue, we in the media hustle to provide information. And there\u2019s an obvious set of data\u00a0for us to transform into engaging infographics:\u00a0The New York Times<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0The Los Angeles Times<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0Wired<\/a><\/em>, and, er,\u00a0Grist<\/a>, along with\u00a0many others, have been explaining how much water it takes to produce various food items. There\u2019s nothing wrong with these until\u00a0outlets try to spin that raw, context-less data into buzzy proscriptions about what to order at a restaurant.\u00a0(In our defense, we tried to present the data without focusing on the California drought, and when Grist\u2019s science editor Amelia Urry\u00a0went on TV to talk about it<\/a>\u00a0she did a great job of pointing out that context mattered and \u201cskipping that sirloin or chocolate cake isn\u2019t going to put water back into depleted aquifers.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Here are the problems with trying to diet our way out of drought:<\/p>\n

There are lots of reasons a farmer chooses a crop<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Many \u201cwater guzzling\u201d crops make sense if you consider a farmer\u2019s ecological context.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/em>\u00a0pointed out<\/a>\u00a0that lentils are \u201ca thirsty food.\u201d True, they take more water than other crops to grow. But they are also ideally suited to drought-prone regions. As Liz Carlisle, author of\u00a0Lentil Underground<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0writes<\/a>: Lentils\u00a0\u201care content without irrigation, even in areas that frequently see droughts. Lentils grow when it rains, and pause their growth cycle when it\u2019s dry. Instead of overshooting and wilting, they stage their growth to fit their water resource, and they stay low to the ground rather than bolting up in flamboyant amber waves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s alfalfa, which also sips\u00a0a lot of water. But alfalfa\u00a0is a great choice<\/a>\u00a0for farmers worried that they might not get their water, because if you stop irrigating, it simply goes dormant \u2014 then it springs back to life when the rains return. It\u2019s also cheap: One planting can produce hay for six years, so it\u2019s not a not a mortal wound if a farmer has to give up a few cuttings. Both alfalfa and lentils fix their own nitrogen, which makes them great rotation crops for farmers who want to reduce pests and diversify their farms.<\/p>\n

Consider rice, another supposed water guzzler. Rice takes tons of water, because the fields are\u00a0flooded. But that water doesn\u2019t simply disappear \u2014 it seeps into the ground, and some of it goes back into the rivers. The water table in northern California is\u00a0in good shape, in part because of all the rice paddies recharging the aquifers. Rice farmers flood their fields as a means of weed control, which allows them to dramatically reduce their pesticide use. And those fields provide important habitat for birds and fish \u2014 so important that\u00a0the USDA\u2019s\u00a0Natural Resource Conservation Service<\/a>\u00a0is offering farmers money to continue flooding their fields to give migrating waterfowl a chance to survive the drought.<\/p>\n

The value of water depends on location<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019ve been paying attention to these factoids, you\u2019ve learned that it takes a lot of water to grow beef. But\u00a0knowing that does nothing to differentiate the cattle raised in the middle of a drought from the cattle raised by a rancher in a place with plentiful water, like Montana or North Dakota. It also\u00a0hides the fact that California cattle subsist primarily on grain freighted in\u00a0from the soggy Midwest. If you want to count the virtual water flowing out of the state, you also should count all the millions of gallons coming in every day on the rails.<\/p>\n

The water footprint of beef also depends on what the beeves\u00a0eat. In the hilly grasslands, where\u00a0it\u2019s often hard to grow crops, cattle can be\u00a0an important part of a ranch\u2019s ecosystem: They clear the grass before it has a chance to go to seed and oxidize, and they fertilize as they go. Remove the animals, and there may not much to do with the land except build houses.<\/p>\n

There are other reasons to eat less meat, and\u00a0I\u2019ve suggested in the past<\/a>\u00a0that it would be environmentally beneficial to reduce\u00a0global meat consumption. But it\u2019s not a solution for California\u2019s drought. We shouldn\u2019t be asking individual eaters to outsmart a complex global market with every purchase.<\/p>\n

What actually happens if people boycott California crops?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Farmers chose to grow the crops that will make them a living. If people stop eating California avocados and almonds and rice, it would\u00a0make it harder to farm in the state. It would speed the conversion of farmland to suburbs and golf courses. And it would probably shift a lot of production overseas: More tomatoes might come from Chile than California.<\/p>\n

An export ban would be similarly ineffective. Exports are the most offensive aspect of California agriculture to many: It feels crazy to be turning water into alfalfa and then shipping that to China in the middle of the drought. But the fact is, setting up some kind of trade barrier \u2014 even if it were politically possible \u2014 wouldn\u2019t put more water into rivers.\u00a0Farmers still have legal control over a lot of water, and they would put it to use. If we banned almonds, or stopped selling rice\u00a0to Asia, the farmers would just use that water for something else.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a better solution?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Instead of asking eaters to wade through this complexity every time they pick up a fork, we need policies that make water expensive\u00a0for farmers in places where it\u2019s scarce. A market price for water would simply eliminate inefficient crops.<\/p>\n

And, in fact, California already has a\u00a0functioning water market<\/a>\u00a0\u2026\u00a0with one massive\u00a0market failure: It\u2019s still legal for landowners to pump as much water out of their ground as they can in many places. And it\u2019s that market failure that\u00a0is\u00a0causing the\u00a0true<\/a>\u00a0shortages<\/a>\u00a0in poor farming\u00a0towns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, the state is on its way to correcting that market failure. The legislature regulated groundwater last year, and water districts around the state are currently figuring out how to make sure they put as much water into the ground during wet years as they take out in dry years.<\/p>\n

I am not arguing that an untrammeled market will fix everything. I\u2019m arguing that a\u00a0heavily, heavily trammeled<\/a>\u00a0market (there\u2019s a lot of protections for\u00a0those who might be injured by the sale of water in California) could fix\u00a0almost<\/em>\u00a0everything.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t fix the inefficient and environmentally damaging way the state moves water through the\u00a0Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the delta is the\u00a0swamp that mires politicians for life). And it won\u2019t save beleaguered fish, which are really suffering in the drought.\u00a0Several policy wonks have suggested adding a tax to water use to\u00a0discourage overuse and\u00a0help pay for fixes to these environmental problems \u2014 they are also market failures, and a tax could bring them into the system.<\/p>\n

But,\u00a0that\u2019s not a satisfying solution!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Politics and policy are\u00a0not as exciting as a technical fix, but in this case they are the only thing that will\u00a0actually work. You could try for a complete overhaul of the water rights system, but the experts tell me that just isn\u2019t going to happen.<\/p>\n

I just want a future that doesn\u2019t suck for my daughters as they grow up in California. I\u2019d like them to have healthy, rushing rivers to swim\u00a0in; a diversity of fish species to marvel at, and eat; clean drinking water, available to everyone, equitably; and then, way down on the list, I\u2019d like them to grow up in a state that still has farms, and produces great food.<\/p>\n

All of that is within reach \u2014 if California can just implement its groundwater law. Instead of haphazardly picking foods to boycott or stockading the almond-eaters, let\u2019s let\u00a0farmers read the market signals and grow what\u2019s appropriate for their circumstances. Then, when water is scarce and prices rise, farmers may find it\u2019s most profitable to sell their water to serve rivers, cities, and fish.<\/p>\n

A well-regulated market will push out the water uses that just don\u2019t make sense. Drop-per-crop infographics won\u2019t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nathanael Johnson There\u2019s so much confusion about California\u2019s drought, and a lot of my colleagues in the media, I\u2019m sorry to say, have been amplifying that confusion. The proliferation of stories showing how much water various food products use … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\r\nThink we can end California's drought by eating differently? Think again - from Grist - CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Think we can end California's drought by eating differently? Think again - from Grist - CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Nathanael Johnson There\u2019s so much confusion about California\u2019s drought, and a lot of my colleagues in the media, I\u2019m sorry to say, have been amplifying that confusion. The proliferation of stories showing how much water various food products use … Continue reading →\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-11T18:27:45+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Office of Public Affairs\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Office of Public Affairs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Office of Public Affairs\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/abce383c670223ef4f55f3f21f102e76\"},\"headline\":\"Think we can end California’s drought by eating differently? Think again – from Grist\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-11T18:27:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/\"},\"wordCount\":1539,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/\",\"name\":\"Think we can end California's drought by eating differently? Think again - from Grist - CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-11T18:27:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Think we can end California’s drought by eating differently? Think again – from Grist\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog\",\"description\":\"Making California a better place to live because of what we grow and how we grow it.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#organization\",\"name\":\"CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CDFA-logo-horizontal-hi-res-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CDFA-logo-horizontal-hi-res-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":585,\"caption\":\"CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/abce383c670223ef4f55f3f21f102e76\",\"name\":\"Office of Public Affairs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/author\/publicaffairs\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Think we can end California's drought by eating differently? Think again - from Grist - CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Think we can end California's drought by eating differently? Think again - from Grist - CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog","og_description":"By Nathanael Johnson There\u2019s so much confusion about California\u2019s drought, and a lot of my colleagues in the media, I\u2019m sorry to say, have been amplifying that confusion. The proliferation of stories showing how much water various food products use … Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/","og_site_name":"CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog","article_published_time":"2015-06-11T18:27:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Office of Public Affairs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Office of Public Affairs","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/"},"author":{"name":"Office of Public Affairs","@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/abce383c670223ef4f55f3f21f102e76"},"headline":"Think we can end California’s drought by eating differently? Think again – from Grist","datePublished":"2015-06-11T18:27:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/"},"wordCount":1539,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/","url":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/","name":"Think we can end California's drought by eating differently? Think again - from Grist - CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415","datePublished":"2015-06-11T18:27:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415","contentUrl":"https:\/\/grist.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/06\/screen-shot-2015-06-04-at-11-46-07-am.png?w=507&h=415"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/11\/californias-drought-eating-differently-grist\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Think we can end California’s drought by eating differently? Think again – from Grist"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/","name":"CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog","description":"Making California a better place to live because of what we grow and how we grow it.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#organization","name":"CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog","url":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CDFA-logo-horizontal-hi-res-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CDFA-logo-horizontal-hi-res-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":585,"caption":"CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/abce383c670223ef4f55f3f21f102e76","name":"Office of Public Affairs","url":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/author\/publicaffairs\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2eYDv-2hb","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8753"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8756,"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8753\/revisions\/8756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}