Planet News

Legal monopolies of growers in California are destroying thousands of tons of food in order to keep profits high. This despite record supermarket prices and starvation around the world.
Under the "California Marketing Act of 1937," 35 different "market-order advisory boards" frequently determine how much of a particular food will reach the market and how much the consumer will pay for it.
Dairy, poultry, egg, fruit, nut and vegetable production in California is so organized.
In 1971, for example, "cling" peach growers were ordered by their market advisory board to destroy 21,000 acres of peach orchards and 200,000 tons of peaches in order to raise the price of the fruit.
This year lettuce growers in the Salinas Valley are protecting record high lettuce prices by plowing under tens of thousands of mature lettuce heads.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed suit against the marketing advisory board system in August, but the state's Food and and Agriculture Dept. says it will contest the action