Fuck em. They voted for this. Or are now complacent in it.
this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2025
368 points (99.5% liked)
Leopards Ate My Face
6323 readers
694 users here now
Rules:
- If you don't already have some understanding of what this is, try reading this post. Off-topic posts will be removed.
- Please use a high-quality source to explain why your post fits if you think it might not be common knowledge and isn't explained within the post itself.
- Links to articles should be high-quality sources – for example, not the Daily Mail, the New York Post, Newsweek, etc. For a rough idea, check out this list. If it's marked in red, it probably isn't allowed; if it's yellow, exercise caution.
- The mods are fallible; if you've been banned or had a comment removed, you're encouraged to appeal it.
- For accessibility reasons, an image of text must either have alt text or a transcription in the comments.
- All Lemmy.World Terms of Service apply.
Also feel free to check out !leopardsatemyface@lemm.ee (also active).
Icon credit C. Brück on Wikimedia Commons.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Trump did that the first time. How could you not think, after him campaigning on tariffs, that he wouldn't do it again? This is just your own fault for voting for him...again.
You know how they overproduced purple hearts in anticipation of an invasion of mainland Japan that never happened? Imagine if that happened and yet they still fell short on numbers, except instead of casualties of war it's idiots getting fucked by Trump and instead of purple hearts it's "fell for it again" awards. That's where we're at.
Ehh.. I have little sympathy for these farmers who switched from growing food crops (thus contributing to the rise in food prices) to generally very water-intensive cash crops for export and kept getting subsidies meant to ensure a ready supply of food for the populace. This situation was plenty fucked long before Trump put his dick in it, it should not be surprising that he'd make it worse.
Unintended consequence of sl helping the environment and water table while leopards eat some faces.
Wouldn't this be a good thing for the fresh water supply in the US if the US stopped exporting alfalfa.
Sure, I didn't read this article, so I'm just going off all the previous years of articles about how much fresh water this is using. And I've never researched the downstream effects of cattle in the middle east becoming more expensive.
Answer:
- The water-intensive farming is absolutely fucking the ecology of the American southwest in a way that's effectively irreversible on human timescales.
- The money being generated by this farming is going to a select few completely undeserving, morally bankrupt people who know the damage they're doing and are hoarding swathes of land and water rights they were given for effectively nothing generations ago.
- This alfalfa is then shipped internationally to Saudi Arabia literally halfway across the world, generating greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of pollution.
- This alfalfa is then used to grow cattle, meaning that value is being extracted from the US – at a meager cost compared to the externalities we bear – and given to the theocratic shithole whose entire economy is based on destroying the planet that is Saudi Arabia.
- Edit: the cows produce a bunch of methane over their lifetime.
- The cows are then brutally murdered for food despite extensive evidence that cows can feel pain and do feel emotions like fear.
- This cow meat is then fed to people despite the fact that 1) red meat is a class 2a carcinogen (and frankly in light of evidence that vegetarian and vegan diets reduce risks of certain cancers by double-digit percentages, we're all just waiting until it's confirmed rather than heavily suspected as a carcinogen), 2) it substantially increases the risk of heart disease, and 3) it elevates the risk for diabetes when compared to plant-based foods which are cheaper and less resource-intensive to create.
It's a benefit to essentially everyone if alfalfa farming becomes less profitable. The entire chain from water to cow meat is unjust, cruel, and otherwise fucking terrible.
Just wanted to say I've had you marked with notes before as someone really good with your research, but each time I see your longer answers I make sure to take the time to read it. Really appreciate the knowledge transfer on a lot of your posts, please don't stop!
Good answer. (Not sarcasm)
load more comments
(9 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)
That's the point. Trump wants you hopeless so you'll sell your land to his billionaire buddies.
Schulz says he voted for President Donald Trump and believes in the goals of his tariff plan, to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and expand exporter access to foreign markets.
That's a shame. ANYWAY . . .
Super water users now angry their right wing fuckers no longer care specifically about them
Yeah I'm honestly counting this as an absolute win for the planet.
Make sure to keep voting for the GOP farmer bob.
He will, because HitlerPig will bail him out.
I honestly don't think they will get help this time. JD Vance is invested in AcreTrader and what's a better way to buy thousand's of acres for pennies on the dollar than to bankrupt farmers? And at the end of the day, I really don't think they deserve a bailout.
load more comments
(3 replies)
How nice, alfalfa should not be farmed especially at this scale
Alfalfa is a great crop. It has deep roots which store carbon in the soil, it is drought tolerant, it's high yielding and it's nitrogen fixating meaning it improves the soil quality and does not require nitrogen fertilizer which normally is a huge carbon footprint. Overall fantastic crop if you need fodder for ruminant animals. The big problem is farming it on an absurd scale in the middle of the damn desert. Alfalfa does not require irrigation in regions with ample rainfall.
How can alfalfa, which is known to be among of the most water-intensive crops be drought-resistant?
Drought resistance refers to whether the plant can survive droughts. it does not necessarily refer to the plants yielding well under drought. However if the plant is still yielding, it could even become more profitable as other plants stop yielding. The deep roots of the plant help it under drought, as the Soil drys top to bottom. Plants that have deeper roots maintain access to water, while the top is already dried out.
To try a poor metaphor: Someone who is 2m tall but short-sighted will still see better in a crowd than someone who is 1.60m but has the best eyes in the world.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/managing_alfalfa_during_drought
Ah, so even if it needs a lot of water to produce maximum yield it can still survive in diminished form with less water than most plants? Interesting. TIL.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Yeah, as far as I’m concerned, exporting alfalfa is just exporting water
And not at all in the middle of the Sonoran desert, in and around a city of 5 million people, where water is a limited resource.
Phoenix has plenty of water to suit the population if it’s used wisely. Alfalfa is not a wise use of water.
“In the long run…” so he's still onboard. Let him ride the failure train to financial ruin. Maybe then he'll learn.
I don't think I care if he learns
he'll learn
Think I found your problem right there
load more comments
(2 replies)
Have the day you voted for.
Good. Alfalfa is right up there with almonds as one of the most wasteful crops in existence.
load more comments
(3 replies)
_portrait.jpg){kind=link}
No aid to those MAGAts without severe concessions on their part!
They should concede to use less oxygen from now on, at least 99% less.
Truly Make America Great Again.
Because this time, the Con in charge will surely help you out. Surely this time. Surely.
Put on your clown noses, you dipshits. You will keep voting for them despite their obvious track record for being BAD FOR THE FUCKING ECONOMY.
Good thing Trump saved you from all the awful foreigners dragging America down tho right?
Oh no! Not the Trump supporting farmers!
view more: next ›