DATA
Only those fruits and vegetables for which both consumption and production data
exist will be included (Table 3). These fruits and vegetables account for about 88
percent of total consumption. Even though consumption of winter squash and summer
squash was greater than some of the other vegetables on the list, they are not included
because the production data did not match up with the consumption data. Also, some
items from the consumption surveys, such as mixed fruit salad, could not be allocated
to any specific food items. Therefore, unspecified fruits and vegetables were excluded
from the analysis. The remaining excluded commodities account for about five percent
of total food consumption.
Significant shifts in the production of other crops may occur in California as inputs
are moved into producing fruits and vegetables. Moving inputs from one use to
another is not cost free. The production of alfalfa will decrease, potentially causing
alfalfa prices to rise. Also, more labor is used to produce fruit and vegetable crops than
field crops (Oliveira et al. 1993). If acreage is converted from field crops into fruit and
vegetable production, the demand for farm labor will increase. If net farm labor
demand increases, wages may increase for all farm laborers, raising the production
costs for field, nursery and nut crops. Because other crops are affected by the increase
in fruit and vegetable production, commodities such as cotton, hay, rice, and nuts must
also be included in the analysis.