Stand With Cuyama
Against Corporate Greed
BOYCOTT THE WORLD’S LARGEST CARROT GROWERS
BOICOTEAR A LOS MAYORES PRODUCTORES DE ZANAHORIAS DEL MUNDO
Grimmway Farms and Bolthouse Farms, the world’s largest carrot growers, produce 80% of the U.S. carrot market (an annual crop worth $69 million) and together they pump over 40% of the Cuyama Valley basin’s water supply. Last year they pumped 28,500 acre-feet of water; enough water to supply three cities the size of Santa Barbara with a year's worth of water. Now they’re suing every homeowner, business, small-scale farmer, rancher - even our schools - for rights to the water we all depend on.
These private equity firm owned farms unsustainably and dangerously over pump, depleting our basin and now our wallets as they force Cuyamans to engage in a legal battle to defend our water rights.
The Cuyama Valley’s groundwater basin is one of California’s most critically over drafted. In Santa Barbara County’s driest region, Grimmway Farms and Bolthouse farms are hard to miss; their fields of green bizarrely stand out in our arid landscape as their overhead sprinklers run throughout the day despite desert heat.
Before tying up the entire valley in litigation, representatives for both Grimmway and Bolthouse actually led the committee tasked with creating a groundwater sustainability plan for the valley. When that plan was nearly finalized, the former rivals teamed up to file a lawsuit, essentially suing everyone for water rights and delaying pumping restrictions.
Adjudications are lengthy, expensive legal processes convoluted to anyone except the experienced water-rights attorneys who have handled the few recent cases in California’s history. Some have taken more than 20 years to resolve.
Grimmway and Bolthouse have basically bought themselves time to pump the Cuyama basin dry; while us little guys are burdened by exhaustive legal fees. Our valley, our town, our businesses, our schools, our sustainable and small-scale farms and ranchers - we all face an uncertain future of potentially limited water and lost water rights.
HELP US FIGHT BACK. BOYCOTT CARROTS.
IN THE NEWS
“Records show the two carrot companies pumped more than 28,000 acre-feet of water last year, accounting for about 65% of all measured pumping reported to the local groundwater agency. Together, the companies used nearly three times the annual water use of the city of Santa Barbara.”
— LA TIMES
“The water district serving homes in town said rates are rising to cover legal fees. The school district, which is trying to stay afloat so its 185 students can attend school locally, is burdened with unexpected legal bills.”
— AP NEWS
“If they don’t show up in court, these residents – who have no other source of household water – could potentially lose their right to pump forever. They are on the frontline of a national groundwater depletion problem.”
“In desert highlands of the Central Coast, the state’s efforts to stop groundwater depletion have spurred two of the world’s largest carrot growers to sue all of their neighboring landowners, big and small, so they can keep pumping.”
“By initiating that process (adjudication), the growers effectively circumvented a years-long collaborative effort that allocated pumping and storage rights across the areas' heavily over-drafted groundwater basin.”
“It’s put into motion a race to the basin — pumping as much as you can, and putting that into production… Water is property in California. It’s what a rational actor acting on behalf of investors is going to do. If they’re playing this game, they’ve got to play hard.”
— FORBES
en español:
Grimmway Farms y Bolthouse Farms, los productores de zanahorias más grandes del mundo, producen el 80 % del mercado de zanahorias de EE. UU. (una cosecha anual con un valor de $69 millones) y juntos bombean más del 40 % del suministro de agua de la cuenca del valle de Cuyama. El año pasado bombearon 28,500 acres-pie de agua; agua suficiente para abastecer a tres ciudades del tamaño de Santa Bárbara con agua para un año. Ahora están demandando a todos los propietarios de viviendas, empresas, pequeños agricultores, ganaderos, incluso a nuestras escuelas, por los derechos sobre el agua de la que todos dependemos.
Estas empresas de capital privado poseían granjas de manera insostenible y peligrosa, agotando nuestra cuenca y ahora nuestras billeteras, ya que obligan a los habitantes de Cuyaman a participar en una batalla legal para defender nuestros derechos de agua.
La cuenca de agua subterránea del valle de Cuyama es una de las más críticas de California. En la región más seca del condado de Santa Bárbara, es difícil pasar por las granjas Grimmway Farms y Bolthouse y no verlas; sus campos de verde se destacan extrañamente en nuestro árido paisaje mientras sus aspersores de techo funcionan durante todo el día a pesar del calor del desierto.
Antes de involucrar a todo el valle en un litigio, los representantes de Grimmway y Bolthouse encabezaron el comité encargado de crear un plan de sostenibilidad del agua subterránea para el valle. Cuando ese plan estaba casi finalizado, los antiguos rivales se unieron para presentar una demanda, esencialmente demandando a todos por los derechos de agua y retrasando las restricciones de bombeo.
Las adjudicaciones son procesos legales largos y costosos complicados para cualquiera, excepto para los abogados con experiencia en derechos de agua que han manejado los pocos casos recientes en la historia de California. Algunos han tardado más de 20 años en resolverse.
Grimmway y Bolthouse básicamente ganaron tiempo para secar la cuenca de Cuyama; mientras que nosotros, los residentes locales, estamos agobiados por costos legales exhaustivos. Nuestro valle, nuestra ciudad, nuestras empresas, nuestras escuelas, nuestras granjas y ganaderos sostenibles y de pequeña escala: todos enfrentamos un futuro incierto de agua potencialmente limitada y pérdida de derechos de agua.
AYUDANOS A LUCHAR. BOICOTEAR ZANAHORIAS.
— BOYCOTT CARROTS —
Why Carrots?
Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms are the two largest carrot producers in the world accounting for 80 percent of the U.S. carrot market.
Both headquartered in Bakersfield, Grimmway and Bolthouse (and their subsidiaries) produce various products in addition to carrots. Bolthouse has a line of refrigerated beverages, bottled coffee drinks, and vegetable protein-based milk, salad dressings, and bagged produce. Grimmway Farms grows over 65 vegetables and their umbrella of brands includes Cal-Organic Farms, Bunny-Luv, and others. Together their brands and products are sold at Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Gelson’s, Ralphs, Food4Less, Costco and Target.
While we encourage you to be a conscientious consumer, we realize these conglomerates are difficult to avoid. Since Grimmway and Bolthouse are best known for their carrots, let’s use our collective power toward a singular focus and boycott carrots. Together we can make a meaningful impact on their carrot sales.
en español:
¿Por qué zanahorias?
Bolthouse Farms y Grimmway Farms son los dos mayores productores de zanahorias del mundo y representan el 80 por ciento del mercado de zanahorias de EE. UU.
Ambos con sede en Bakersfield, Grimmway y Bolthouse (y sus subsidiarias) producen varios productos además de las zanahorias. Bolthouse tiene una línea de bebidas refrigeradas, bebidas de café embotelladas y leche a base de proteínas vegetales, aderezos para ensaladas y productos en bolsas. Grimmway Farms cultiva más de 65 vegetales y su conjunto de marcas incluye Cal-Organic Farms, Bunny-Luv y otras. Juntas, sus marcas y productos se venden en Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Walmart, Sam's Club y Target.
Si bien lo alentamos a que sea un consumidor consciente, sabemos que estos conglomerados son difíciles de evitar. Dado que Grimmway y Bolthouse son más conocidos por sus zanahorias, usemos nuestro poder colectivo hacia un enfoque singular y boicoteemos las zanahorias. Juntos podemos tener un impacto significativo en sus ventas de zanahorias.
SIGN OUR PETITION
SIGN OUR PETITION
Consumers can put pressure on Grimmway and Bolthouse to do the right thing by boycotting their products and by demonstrating public support for our cause.
Please consider signing your name.
Los consumidores pueden presionar a Grimmway y Bolthouse para que hagan lo correcto boicoteando sus productos y demostrando el apoyo público a nuestra causa.
Considere firmar con su nombre.
Stand With Us
We are generational farmers and ranchers, families, and stewards of the land.
We are the people who call the Cuyama Valley “home”.
“Cuyamans are not against agriculture, we are agriculture. We are cattlemen and family farms, but unlike Bolthouse and Grimmway, we’ve been caretakers to our valley. We have changed our practices and adapted to the water crisis by planting less water-intensive crops, reducing our pumping, and switching from sprinklers to drip. Bolthouse and Grimmway have only continued to clear more land and plant high water-use crops.”
- Jake F.
“Grimmway and Bolthouse’s massive operations in our valley have been the number one reason for overdraft of our basin. Now they are essentially suing every Cuyaman for water rights as if we have been equally responsible.”
-Ella B.