Thread

California farmers are struggling to sell grapes as demand for wine drops

389 points · 987 comments · randycupertino

legitster · 1790630747 · focus · HN ↗
My parents live in a massive fruit growing region of the country. Just this year, 2 of the major packing firms in the county both declared bankruptcy. It's not just the trade war, but years of shrinking seasonal workers that fell off to a trickle as well.
The knock on effect is massive. The seasonal workers supported a large permanent workforce - and more importantly tax revenues in the county are collapsing.
But the really important thing to understand is that once the industry is gone, it's gone for a long time. The other markets competing with the US are already expanding their industries to fill the void. Once those trees are planted, they produce fruit for several decades to come.
1. TheJoeMan · 1790646146 · focus · HN ↗
  From a layman perspective, American fruit growers refused to change with the times. How long are they still trying to make the “Red Delicious” apple work? Another ex-major packer I know of made the peach fruit cups, which people have been catching on are just filled with corn syrup. But these have been long term purchasing trends, yet the growers seemed blindsided by the packers ceasing operations.
  1. jimbob45 · 1790646898 · focus · HN ↗
    I guess I’m out of the loop. What’s with the Red Delicious hate?
    mohaine · 1790647356 · focus · HN ↗
    Well, they kind of suck these days, at least compared to how we remember they used to taste.
    Who know if they are actually the same, plain genetic drift, or they have been selected to be more shelf stable at the cost of taste.
    happymellon · 1790647735 · focus · HN ↗
    No. They kept trying to push it over here.
    It was always grim, bitter, but "oh so pretty".
    phyzome · 1790648727 · focus · HN ↗
    I remember Red Delicious being kinda gross in the early 90s. Bitter and cardboardy.
    However, it seems there are multiple things with that name. I've had one that looked different and tasted... less bad.

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