I live in Sonoma County, California. Wine country USA. Our grapes are second in price to Napa, only because Bob Mondavi is such a great salesman. Crop value for grapes in Napa totaled $463 million last year. Total value of the 2007 grape crop in neighboring Sonoma County was $411 million. That¹s based on a total crush of 197,714 tons and an average price of $2,081 per ton (That's over a $1/lb from the grower).
Two-thirds of all wine sold in the U.S. comes from California wineries. A total of 449 million gallons of California wine were sold in the U.S. in 2006 with an estimated retail value of $17.8 billion.
The value of California's grape harvest is second only to marijuana.
(December 18, 2006) California is responsible for more than a third of the cannabis harvest, with an estimated production of $13.8 billion that exceeds the value of the state's grapes, vegetables and hay combined ? and marijuana is the top cash crop in a dozen states, the report states.
Wineries pitch wine as an everyday accompaniment with meals, which has put considerable attention on food.
Presently, "Locavore" (eating locally grown fresh food) is the mantra among foodies and trend setters/followers. Whole grain, mixed grain, sprouted grain, and sour dough bread is easy to find but most comes from out of state, although there are at least a half dozen bakeries supported in the county. But is still isn't like France where it seems that there is a boulangerie every couple of blocks. The bread is good but it still isn't up to French or German standards. The French bread here has a tough crust (instead of crunchy) and the interior is too chewy. There is nothing like a German fünf corn brot:-(
They seem to have sprung up at all the local supermarkets, plus the ubiquitous Starbucks and their competition, here in Sonoma, but the expresso is of varying quality.
The French habit is to grocery shop every day. The meals were always fresh. There is much pressure on the French worker now and their eating habits are trending towards American style but they are still conscious of quality. When they grab a mouth full and rush back to work, they know what they are missing. The 2 hour lunch breaks are pretty much history except in rural areas.
Before a much hated and reviled man ruined the value of the dollar, for $12 you could get a fixed price meal in France that included appetizer, entrée, salad, dessert, cheese, and 500 ml of drinkable wine. I hate that bastard.
California is the principal grower of fruits and vegetables in the US but the routine level of quality in France and Germany is much higher. Our best and their best may be similar but not the average. France is still a nation of small farmers and they go to the local markets, which are held on different days in the different villages. So the producer still gets looked at, right in the eye.
It's not good and its' introduction into use, roughly matches the onset of type II diabetes epidemic that we are having. That's not proof but an empirical data point.
Mostly is is telling anyone who will listen that rich people don't care if we are getting screwed and that we aren't all in this together as some would have liked to think. The other video is of the brutality of Israel towards the Palestinians. The Israelis want an ethnically pure nation, all of Palestine, on ground where other people have lived for centuries, a millennium in fact. The only way to do that, is to chase the inhabitants away. The Israelis have known that this was the price for their state, from the beginning. They are deadly serious about Arabs leaving Palestine.
I gotta go cook dinner. Hasta luego,