Protect our local farms at ALL COSTS and grow even MORE here! Support family owned / cooperative grocery stores & Community Gardens!

kathrudka · July 5, 2025, 7:26pm

I usually shop at a family owned grocery store called Staff of Life here in Watsonville, CA. What I LOVE about it is that it MOSTLY supplies food from surrounding farms… However, what I don’t understand is that the tomatoes that I bought are coming from Mexico and… they DON’T even taste that good!!! They taste like water!!!

Why aren’t we growing more here especially easy things such as tomatoes that can EASILY be grown in California!???

We should ONLY be importing things from Mexico are fruits that we can’t get here like Papayas and bananas and so on. But simple things like avocados, limes, lemons, tomatoes, can EASILY be grown in our own backyard. Why all the waste in fossil fuels, as well as picking things BEFORE they are ripe, for what!? A couple of cents!??

Furthermore, land should be more readily available for farmers and ORGANIC farming should be taught in ALL schools to ALL children. Every human on this planet should know how to properly grow food even if they don’t become a farmer. Without food, we have no life!

#farms #localfarms #mexico #imports #tomatoes #fossilFuels #cooperativeGroceryStores #familyFarms #protectFarms #growMoreHere #organic #children Education

Principles2follow · July 16, 2025, 3:33pm

I agree with your thoughts and analysis one hundred percent!

We are hurting for fresh, local produce in our area. When we moved into our home 21 years ago, there was nothing but fresh fruit and produce available in our grocery stores. Now everything is from another country or perhaps is grown in a lab somewhere and there is no flavor, the color changes and it is overpriced.

Our food supply chain is compromised and unhealthy; we know this. We have shopped at all the local grocery stores, and it is the same result. It is mission critical now for American food products. We order our meats from Good Ranchers and Butcher Box. The local meats and produce are compromised as well and are without flavor and the color fades or is not right.

We must endure as best we can until President Trump and his administration continue to fight for restoral of American exceptionalism in every area of our society.

God bless America.

fsglass · July 17, 2025, 8:09am

Definitely strange how far we truck food these days. Back in the 50’s most food was much more local and fresh.
It shoudl be a priority for anyone wanting to reduce energy use/emissions, also. CA wants to ban cars, but at the same time they allow such enormous wastes of energy.
I don’t believe real cost are being paid. It should cost more to truck/ship, food long distances. I think it’s part of our rigged economy that makes it cheaper to do than producing locally for most things.
IF we had a free, and fair market, then I’d just say it’s the people choice to buy the cheaper imported stuff. But I don’t think that’s the case anymore.

kathrudka · July 17, 2025, 3:48pm

Hi @Principles2follow Thank you for your reply.
I am reminded of this famous quote by JFK:
“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

I am sad to hear that there is no good / fresh local produce in your markets. That means that that is something you and your fellow neighbors can work on. If you have land, you can grow!!!

I was raised in Ukraine and each one of my family members had their own farm, vegetables, potatoes, fruit trees, chickens, rabbits, and pigs – why is that? Why are Ukrainians such good farmers?? It’s because when we were under the USSR / Soviet Union, they took everything from us. I still remember to this day how when we moved from the village to the city, my father had to get up at 6am just to get bread. All the grocery stores were empty. So… We had to fend for ourselves. Now if you go to Ukraine, you will see EVERY piece of land whether its by the condo building / high rises or a regular home – both front AND back yards are filled with fruit trees and vegetables. This way, no one goes hungry and no one has to rely on the grocery stores.

If you have a home, I URGE you this spring (January/February) to start some planter boxes and mix in Steer / Chicken Manure – in Spring you plant your favorite vegetables and fruit trees. If you are not comfortable growing things, begin watching YouTube videos on it or ask for help!!!

Furthermore, there are MANY MANY Community Gardens here in California. I have seen them in San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, Mountain View, etc. Maybe that is something you can start in your area as well. If someone is able to donate land for a Community Garden, then you can all gather together and grow own vegetables and fruit trees!!!

I personally wouldn’t wait for the government. It can take years for things to change. The government is a giant ship and as you know… Giant Ships take FOREVER to turn!!! Instead, take things into your own hands and turn your backyard into an oasis. Learn to can your own vegetables, make own sourkraut, make own pickles – its all possible!!!

Here are some pictures from our small garden – as you can see A LOT can be done with only a little bit of land!!! We grow our own tomatoes because yes, the tomatoes here are imported from Mexico and yes – they do taste like crap!!! Like water, with no taste!!!

Best of luck and I am here if you need help! What state do you live in if I may ask?

kathrudka · July 17, 2025, 4:03pm

Exactly. I agree. I don’t understand why we burn fossil fuels day and night just to get tomatoes and limes from Mexico when we can easily grown them here!!! I understand bananas, papayas, coffee, star fruit – all things that grow in the tropical regions, yes, definitely import those!!! But tomatoes!?? If I had more land here, that’s what I would be growing. Lots of tomatoes because the ones from Mexico suck. They taste like water!!!

Honestly, each person and community just needs to get smarter. Kind of like what Michigan did when they created all of their community gardens IN THE CITY to prevent hunger. Each state, each city, each person just needs to grow own trees / vegetables. If you have a piece of land, put in a vegetable garden and put in fruit trees!!! If each person had a lime / lemon tree, then we can stop importing lemons all the way from Mexico. It’s not necessary! It’s easy to grow citrus!!!

Many European countries have began to do this. Every piece of land that they have in town, instead of putting decorative trees in, they put fruit trees / strawberries, that way you import A LOT LESS and NO ONE GOES HUNGRY!

The key is not to rely on the government for change, but to just become smarter, more conscious people. As I explained above to Debra, each Ukrainian is a good farmer. Why??

When we were under the USSR / Soviet Union they took everything from us and so… we HAD to grow our own food, have our own milking cows, pigs, chickens, potatoes, wheat, corn, and fruit trees. I was raised on a farm with all of these. I remember from age 5/6 I was already planting potatoes and picking potato bugs (we didn’t use chemicals).

It’s time for each American to do the same. If you have land, put some fruit trees in!!! Put a garden in!!! Share your vegetables and fruit with your neighbors. Help THEM put in a garden! Rely less on others and become sustainable yourselves!!!

Below are pictures of my moms and mine small garden here in Northern California (land is expensive here ). As you can see, a lot can be grown with just a little land. Imagine what can be done with more land or with a green house!!! Start small and slowly get bigger and bigger

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions. I would love to see more people have gardens in their homes and more communities have Community Gardens!!!

#SustainableFarming #OrganicFarming #gardening #CommunityGardens #JFK #SmartCommunities #FossilFuels #Imports #SharingVegetables #SharingFruit #FruitTrees #Ukraine #Michigan