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Florida's tremendous growth in population and wealth after World War II and for the next thirty years equaled the impact of the Florida Land Boom in changing Florida's economic roots, its political structure, and its priorities. Once the least populated and developed state in the least developed region of the nation, Florida grew up to become the South's most populated state, soon to become the third most populated in the United States.
The reasons for this growth was easily discernible: a desirable climate, inexpensive land, a diversity of resources, and a history of accepted outside investors and residents. Florida was portrayed as a low tax, friendly environment for anyone with ambitions.
Tourism, of course, dominated the headlines, particularly after 1970 when thanks to a mouse called Mickey,Central Florida became the family vacation kingdom of the world. But old standbys like citrus, fishing, and phosphate mining continued to add statistics to new industries, including space and military technology (until 1985), light industry, and the enormous health and retail services necessary for Florida's massive population increase.
All of these factors made many other states envious of Florida's economic and political growth. As one might expect, these changes were not made without serious challenges to the state's fragile environment, its economic stability, and the quality of the Florida life style that brought so many people to Florida since the days of the railroad barons.
To millions of people around the world, the color orange is as synonymous with Florida as sunshine yellow. Florida ranks first in "orange juice" and first in dozens of other fruit and vegetable products. Unfortunately, the lure of selling farms for development, the low profit markets for agriculture, and competition of foreign products helped by NAFTA may continue to decline the agricultural market. Even attempts to identify Florida products in stores over foreign crops may not offset the trend. The orange empire developed its own leadership from Florida Cracker homesteaders many living in Florida in the mid-1800's. Ben Hill Griffin of Frostproof began with a ten acre wedding gift from his farmer father, and became a millionaire citrus man and Florida Senator. With only a one-armed helper as his staff, Griffin cleared the woods for citrus and eventually had a farm of 6,000 acres and a 15,000 acre cattle ranch. He became the chief orange producer for Coca-Cola's Minute Maid brand.
The days of the small gentleman grower are good, replaced by large scale investors and a maze of administrative and commercial operations, headed by the Florida Citrus Mutual started to increase citrus prices. There even developed in the 1940's a statewide detective network to catch nighttime orange thieves.
The alliance between the State of Florida's agricultural research facilities and the citrus industry is deep rooted. Symbolic of that relationship is the story of success of Dr. Louis Gardner MacDowell, Research Director of the Citrus Commission and developer of the concentrated orange juice process in the 1940's and a revolution in the citrus industry.
In the days of fresh oranges, packers threw out as much as 40% of the oranges as split or bruised fruit. There are few injured fruit in the era of concentrated oranges. With Japan a major consumer of orange juice, the importance of a worldwide market is apparent. Giant machines sort and slice oranges while as many as four million oranges may be waiting pasteurization in the huge vats of the large processing plants.