Wal-Mart

I’ve waited to read the various opinions of those opining over the proposed Wal-Mart. I have a different view.

There is a lot of talk of building a giant Wal-Mart in Soledad that will consume 45 acres of productive farm land, eliminate the precious resource of that top soil and the production it contributes to this and countless areas. Stores as far east as New Hampshire sell lettuce from the Salinas Valley. We were once rightly referred to as the "Lettuce Bowl" of the country, now because of thoughtless politicians, greedy speculators and builders our farm land is being encroached upon and ravaged at an alarming rate. Listening to KION I heard it said that the Salinas Mayor, Dennis Donohue, who says he is a farmer, commented that there are possibly 20,000 acres of unnecessary farm land in the Salinas Valley that are not needed for production. I thought this was an amazing thing for anyone to say.

With Salinas and the surrounding areas growing exponentially, our farm land dissolving away, what is our and our grandchildren’s future going to look like? At the present rate of development, because of supply and demand, will the price of vegetables grow out of site? Will there come a time where we will eventually have to revert to digging up our back yards to try and grow what we need? Mayors/politicians come and go (usually everyone is happy to see them go), speculators and builders come, destroy the farm land and leave in their wake over crowding, dirty streets, increased crime, the need for added police, increased taxes, and substantially less productive land for the area to use for crops and grazing. Without the food and livestock we grow, without the necessary farmland required for these endeavors, we have only one end.

With the coming of Wal-Mart to the Soledad area does anyone believe that it will end there? Soon there will be talk of building another box store, more acreage lost. Look at the building that has been going on from Salinas to south county, consider the loss of all that precious top soil and the crops grown from it. At what point do we say that’s enough, stop and draw that line in the rich ground, that’s left, and say not one foot more? How much are we as a people willing to give up? We say it’s only 45 acres of productive agricultural land; once it’s gone it’s gone.

I was told the price of vegetables is to low; to coin what one person said, “that’s a croc.” The prices keep going up and the cost of living is a real burden, especially to those on a fixed income. Much of our agricultural land, as you know, is being taken out of food production for the purpose of ethanol, and the cost of everything we consume is being affected. Combine the effects of land being used for ethanol with land going under for building and we have a real problem looming on the horizon.

I tire of politicians showing little regard for protecting our dwindling farm land, our limited water supply and displaying condescending attitudes towards the people in their communities. I do not live in Soledad but my wife and I have lived in the Salinas Valley since 1969 and we remember how it once was as do many of you. This unbridled growth is going to eventually destroy what once was proudly referred to as “The Salad Bowl of America.”