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More stuff from the articles
> Despite their philanthropic gifts, the Resnicks have frequently come under fire for their farming practices and profits since a 2016 investigation by Mother Jones revealed that the Wonderful Company uses more water than any other in California. In 1994, the couple secured a favorable deal, acquiring a 57 percent stake in Kern, which was then a failing public water bank on the verge of shuttering, in exchange for state water deliveries. Today, the bank grants the Resnicks near-unmatched access to water, enabling them to irrigate 130,000 acres of farmland in the state. Since the article was published, some critics and advocacy groups have alleged that the negotiations that took place with state officials and water district leaders were “secretive.”
As the effects of climate change have become more visible in recent years, and droughts in Southern California more common, there have been public protests against the Resnicks’ philanthropy at both LACMA and the Hammer. Following historic destruction over the last week from several wind-fueled wildfires in L.A., which have depleted fire hydrants, critics have renewed efforts to highlight the Wonderful Company’s water storage and usage.
“The Resnicks are powerful and their control of so much water is ridiculous,” filmmaker Yasha Levine, co-director of the forthcoming documentary Pistachio Wars, told the Daily Mail over the weekend.
On January 14, the anonymous collective A New Art World and Collecteurs, an online art platform that bills itself as the world’s first “collective digital museum,” shared a post on Instagram citing the Resnicks’ art-world connections and claiming they own “almost all the water in California.” The post also incudes references to the couple’s support of Israel, for which they have come under scrutiny before, especially amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
yeah it's pretty bad.