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California farmers to destroy 420,000 peach trees after Del Monte collapses
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 09 May 2026
417 points (98.8% liked)
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My uneducated take: Leaving the trees means you can't plant something else to make money. Leaving the harvest just means peaches will eventually drop on the ground and rot because there's no reason to harvest them since there's nobody willing to buy them.
It'd be nice if they could organize some sort of program to harvest enough to send them out to food banks everywhere and figure out how much they needed to do that. Or even figure out how to buy them at a price that makes sense from the farmers - this final season, adn then perhaps help them to get new crops going. Or maybe wind it all down over a few years, paying to can and send them to food banks......
......but we live in a nation where the party in control absolutely will not help anyone in need, and even our other party takes enough money from corporate interests that they will only help us as a last resort. Sooooo....... there's that.
logistics of delivering to food banks is probably cost prohibitive, its easier to "destroy it" and get free money form the govt, which they incentivize it.
Food banks also prefer foods that don't spoil fairly quickly. Otherwise it complicates their own logistics.
In rereading my comment, my ADHD didn't allow me to note that I was intending them to be canned, perhaps buying time from another cannery not operating at full capacity.
I think if we had programs to look for excess produce, it might make sense. We already have logistics out there. I think it could still economically make sense - supporting farmers, still low cost food getting to food banks (who order food wholesale from somewhere, since monetary donations go further, so we know they use money to purchase things. Maybe agreements with local grocery stores to have these things delivered there... or wherever they pick up the wholesale food from).
Even if it did make sense, we still wouldn't do it. I just think it might be something we could figure out had we the will to.
Even if there's spare capacity at any of them, it'll be on the farmers themselves to pay for something they're going to give away for free.
But I suspect the other canneries have already bought up the super cheap peaches and are canning them now that there's a hole in the market, filling up their spare capacity if they had any at all.
You can read the article.
They're closing because del Monte is bankrupt. Del Monte is a canning company. They are closing due to rising costs from tarrifs and the Iran war.
I did read the article. what it is that you thought you brought to the conversation that I was not aware of?
The closures left hundreds of workers without jobs and devastated growers, many of whom lost 20-year contracts with Del Monte and had few alternative buyers for their crops. Farmers could face an estimated $550 million in lost revenue, according to the Sacramento Bee.
If lemmy was any larger, I'd suspect you of being a bot. You certainly sound like AI.
Nothing you've said has ANYTHING to do with anything I've said, and it's clear you have in no way comprehended anything I've written. And others certainly have, as we've had a discussion about it.
So, whatever, dude.
Have a day.
Beep boop learn about the world or don't
Internet discussions don't have to be combative
Says the idiot who can't understand anything I wrote, and/or refuses to read it.
I didn't start this shit, asshat, you did. I read the article. I've explained myself well. Ohers understand, just you fucking don't, so fuck off and stop being a prick.
I know more about the world than you ever will, little boy. Now fuck off.
Oh oh? The world? Can you explain things to me?
Good points, both of you. Thanks