The Debate Goes On Over the Arrangement Used to Market Citrus in the Golden State

Editor’s Note: The California & Co. column, “Citrus Cartel Would Make OPEC Jealous” (Jan. 8), generated considerable reader response, particularly from smaller growers. Nearly all were critical of the current marketing system. A representative sampling follows.

As a victim of last summer’s suburban malathion raids, I found the citrus cartel article illuminating.

Considering the many factors working against the citrus industry, loss of tax advantages, image problems and the throes of Mother Nature, isn’t it fortuitous that taxpayers footed the multibillion-dollar bill that eradicated the Medfly?

Come spring, will the presumed eradication of the pest be attributed to the massive malathion campaign or the killing frost that destroyed so much of this year’s crop?

Ultimately, as consumers and taxpayers, we pay in duplicate. We have no buffer against natural or man-made disasters.

YOLANDE McKAY

Glendora