I didn’t know it at the time, but that chef was gently informing me that “not bad” organic vegetables grown in California had emerged as the price setter for produce among our area’s farms. In 2010, the year before the epic drought, California farms churned out $20.7 billion worth of fruits, vegetables, and nuts, about 53 percent of the U.S. total. But while their plight is easy for many Americans to ignore, there’s something else afoot in these regions that will affect every U.S. resident who eats: to grow our food, the agribusiness interests that dominate the Central Valley and the Corn Belt are also actively consuming the ecological foundations that support agriculture itself.