California’s Central Valley is often referred to as America’s Breadbasket, famously depicted in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. Nearly 50% of U.S.-grown fruits, nuts, and vegetables are produced in California, in farms located in the Central Valley. Like dairy farms, the fields where alfalfa, rice, and strawberries are grown and harvested takes acres of space, seasonal tilling, and care. An output of this abundance combined with geography and weather, results in air pollution that is different from that typically found in urban areas.
