And One More Thing

On the topic of Bakersfield and the land around it, another piece of the puzzle that I meant to mention: I rode around with a rancher this week, and he kept pointing at things and saying, “private equity.” I knew that family, they’re gone now, private equity. Also that one and that one. Family farms have become corporate farms run by hired management.

“Grimmway is a family-owned company that started as a roadside stand and has grown to become the largest producer of carrots in the world. It’s 50 years old, and in the last several decades has expanded to include organic and specialty products.”

Then: “Grimmway Farms sold to private equity firm in Indiana.”

In some cases, the transition away from local, family ownership to corporate ownership is merely a recent step in a transition that already happened. L.A. Based private equity firm Butterfly “acquired Bolthouse Farms from Campbell Soup Co. in a carve-out transaction in 2019. Butterfly said it implemented numerous strategic initiatives to drive topline growth of more than 30%.”

My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that the transition from proud local ownership to outside ownership is interwoven with the growth of government dependence and uglification. But it would take a book-length project to put it all together. I suspect that the left-right divide breaks down here, as capital and the government get married and farm the population for their overlapping needs, but that’s a deeper dive that I’ve taken, yet. Ditto the changes in local culture that come with a transition from family farming to corporate operations. I think this is a story will be figuring out for the next fifty years.