Aside from the economic plight in the central valley (and it's bad, I have family there) the think I also find sad about the central valley and the fruits and veggies is how much of the spray is purely for cosmetic reasons. I do think it's sad to take good food and spray the heck out of it, just because otherwise the orange might have a brown track on it and taste just the same and be just as big.. (I know my uncle sprays the snot out of oranges for this reason, and this alone..)

Unfortunately "organic" is all or nothing. so if you're gonna fertilize the crop - at this point you may as well also make it look good because that's the way it gets bought.. I don't see any way to change this - it's just sad.