Family farmers take on corporate carrot growers with boycott over water use

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Nov. 15. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• Family farmers take on corporate carrot growers with boycott over water use
• Repairs to the 10 Freeway have a timeline: 3 to 5 weeks
• Too stressed? Here are 16 self-care gifts for chilling out
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Boycotting Big Carrot

If you buy carrots from a supermarket, there’s a good chance you’re bringing home veggies grown by Grimmway Farms or Bolthouse Farms.

The two companies are the world’s biggest carrot growers, and cultivate crops in the Cuyama Valley, located roughly between Bakersfield and Santa Barbara.

And they use a lot of water to do that, pumping more than 28,000 acre-feet of water in 2022, according to Times reporter Ian James. That was “about 65% of all measured pumping reported to the local groundwater agency” last year, he wrote, or “nearly three times the annual water use of the city of Santa Barbara.”

The valley’s groundwater basin is one of 21 in California deemed “critically overdrafted.”

“As the valley’s only water source shrinks, a bitter legal battle over water rights has arisen between carrot growers and the community,” Ian reported this week. “Residents are fighting back with a campaign urging everyone to stop buying carrots.”

The boycott targets a variety of carrot forms found in supermarkets, such as baby carrots, carrot chips and carrot juice. It’s rooted in a 2021 lawsuit, in which the two big growers joined other entities to sue valley property owners over how much water each was allowed to pump. That left family-run farms, ranches and other properties with hefty with legal bills, Ian reported this week.

“Residents have accused the companies of going to court to try to secure as much water as possible, while forcing painful cuts on smaller farms,” he wrote. That didn’t sit well with residents.

“Our blood, sweat and tears are in this land,” farmer Chris Wegis told Ian. “And for someone to come in and try to rob us of our livelihood and take it from us, for their own profit, it’s unrighteous. I mean, it’s just criminal.”

Residents launched a petition and began the boycott effort in July. Across the valley, roadside signs urge passersby to “STAND WITH CUYAMA AGAINST CORPORATE GREED.”

“The only way to get their attention is through boycotting their products so that they realize the pain that they’re causing,” Charlie Bosma, a local resident and boycott organizer, told Ian. He was among the residents now facing steep legal bills from the lawsuit.

Both corporate farms later dropped out of the lawsuit and said they have committed to reducing their water use as part of the valley’s groundwater management plan.

“Our relationships with the residents of Cuyama are more important and valuable to us than this court case,” Grimmway Farms stated in an email to The Times.

In a statement, Bolthouse Farms said its withdrawal from the lawsuit was “driven by our commitment to sustainability.”

But for valley residents, that came too little, too late. The boycott continues and residents hope support for it will grow.

As Ian explained, the feud playing out in the Cuyama Valley is not unique in California.

“Landowners have filed suit in four other similar cases, including in Ventura County and Ridgecrest, seeking court adjudications to determine how much groundwater they should be able to pump,” he noted.

You can explore Ian’s reporting to learn about the boycott and hear more from Cuyama Valley residents.

Today’s top stories

Traffic is diverted from the 10 Freeway near the site of a large pallet fire that damaged the road.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

I-10 freeway fire

• Repairs to reopen the 10 Freeway in downtown L.A. could take 3 to 5 weeks — likely less, officials say.
• Preliminary tests show that damage to the 10 Freeway in downtown L.A. from Saturday’s massive fire is not as severe as initially feared.
• Arson is behind the massive fire that shut down the 10 Freeway, officials say.
• The freeway closure and snarled traffic pose a fresh political test for Mayor Karen Bass.
• Despite carmageddon fears, officials say L.A. traffic has been “manageable” since 10 Freeway closed.
• Under the 10 Freeway: Immigrant businesses scraped by while landlord dodged Caltrans.

Crime and courts

• Paul Pelosi testifies that he knew he was in “serious danger” before he was allegedly attacked and bludgeoned with a hammer.
• Los Angeles police are trying to sort out the mystery of a Tarzana man, three missing family members and body parts found in a dumpster.
• UCLA recruits are suspected in jewelry thefts from Colorado’s lockers at the Rose Bowl.
• Shooting threats send police rushing to three L.A. County schools on Tuesday. They were all false.

Politics

• With a Tuesday vote to keep the government funded, Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson became the latest House GOP speaker to require Democratic help — the same move that cost Kevin McCarthy his job.
• Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett accused former speaker Kevin McCarthy, whom he helped oust from the post last month, of elbowing him in a Capitol Hill hallway.
• Guatemala’s president-elect is hopeful about assuming office despite powerful establishment forces arrayed against him.
• In San Francisco, Asian Americans have mixed feelings about Biden meeting with Chinese President Xi.

War in the Middle East

• As the war in Gaza and Israel has spurred a growing humanitarian crisis and roiled global politics, experts said China’s aim is clear: It views the conflict as an opportunity to gain ground against the United States in the battle for influence.
• In the Israel-Hamas war, China sees an opportunity to gain ground on the U.S.
• The Israel-Hamas war has sparked an increase in harassment, but Palestinian Americans also report shows of support for their businesses.
• The Israel-Hamas war roils the University of California over the line between free speech and unacceptable behavior.

More big stories

• L.A. backs a 4% cap on rent increases for stabilized units starting in February.
• In a new lawsuit, the regents of the University of California and the UCLA Foundation say Mattel promised a $49-million children’s hospital donation, but never followed through.
• Sunset Boulevard may be getting its own sphere (but don’t call it that).
• The White House released the Fifth National Climate Change Assessment on Tuesday. Here are six key takeaways.

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Commentary and opinions

• Gustavo Arellano: O.C. let its history rot. And the Tustin hangar fire is still burning.
• Opinion: Tough talk from Biden at APEC won’t move Xi Jinping. Here’s what will.
• Opinion: I am nine months pregnant and living in Gaza. Will my baby first hear my voice or bombs?
• Kevin Baxter: Why UC Irvine women’s soccer is so good at pulling off NCAA tournament upsets.
• Erwin Chemerinsky: The Supreme Court finally has a code of ethics, but it has a fatal flaw.
• Harry Litman: Trump could try to blame his lawyers for Jan. 6. But it just got a lot more difficult.
  

Today’s great reads

(Julia Carmel / Los Angeles Times)

Don’t let anybody diss L.A.’s reading habits. This was and is a bookstore boomtown. In bookstores’ L.A. heyday, shops were as ubiquitous as a certain coffee chain is today. But we’re no slouches today, Patt Morrison writes, even if the internet removed many stores’ physical presences.

Other great reads

• How ‘El Tiny’ took over NPR’s Tiny Desk.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

A plate of Omakase sushi from Chef and owner Mark Okuda at The Brothers Sushi in Woodland Hills.

(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• 🍣 Some of L.A.’s best sushi is headed to Culver City this month, with a new outpost and dry-aged fish.
• 🎭 ‘Lines in the Dust’ — on stage at the Matrix Theater — critiques public education in America and proudly flaunts its social justice agenda.
• 🧼🧴We’re all too stressed! Here are 16 self-care gifts for chilling out.

Staying in

• 🎧 The 2024 Oscars Original Song Contenders Playlist has arrived! Hear all the ones that made it into The Envelope’s annual best-of playlist on Spotify.
• 📺 Roses are red, beetles are blue: ‘Blue Beetle’ hits streaming on Max this Friday.
• 🍠 Here’s a recipe for Zhong candied sweet potatoes.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

And finally ... a great photo

Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.

Ocean Beach in San Diego.

(Chuck Sevilla)

Today’s great photo is from Chuck Sevilla of San Diego: Ocean Beach. Chuck writes:

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Laura Blasey, assistant editor

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