Can California farmers break free from plastic?
Farmers have relied on plastic since the 1960s, when the mass production of affordable agricultural tools derived from petrochemicals made them widely accessible. Plastic mulch quickly became a cornerstone of crop production. … [S]cientists and policymakers are struggling to preserve the benefits of farmers’ dependence on plastic—dubbed “plasticulture”—while mitigating a growing litany of environmental costs. “How do you balance the use of this technology that has completely revolutionized agriculture with the environmental concerns that arise from that?” asked Jazmine Mejia-Muñoz, a water quality program manager at the nonprofit California Marine Sanctuary Foundation, at a recent briefing on plasticulture. … The marine sanctuary foundation works with agricultural stakeholders to prevent plastic materials from draining into the bay and ocean.
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