Once called “the King of Vegetables,” the fields of Delta asparagus have become harder and harder to find. Thousands of acres of asparagus once covered the Stockton-Brentwood area, but urban sprawl and other crops have replaced them.
In the last 20 years, California’s asparagus acreage has plummeted. At the turn of the 21st century, California growers were farming more than 36,000 acres of asparagus. In 1995, Contra Costa County alone harvested 20,000 acres of asparagus. But according to the California Asparagus Commission, In 2017, that figure dropped to a mere 1,300 acres.
This decrease in acreage began with the North American Free Trade Agreement that took effect in 1994. Until that time, growers were able to get a premium for their high-quality California asparagus. With NAFTA in place the difference between Mexico and California’s asparagus production costs, given the latter’s higher wages and strict safety regulations, have had a major impact. NAFTA was replaced in 2019 by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but that has continued to exacerbate the problem.
One strong element that has California asparagus ahead of that of any other place is the state’s standards of production and food safety regulations, which are among the most stringent.
Source: eastbaytimes.com
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