The Freezer Isn’t the Only Thing Melting Down

My freezer went down at Nature’s Touch Nursery & Harvest… and what should have been a repairable situation turned into another example of how overregulated and disconnected California has become from reality for small businesses.

President Trump’s administration eased federal restrictions on hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants in an effort to provide financial relief to grocery stores and businesses, but those federal changes do NOT override California’s strict state-level environmental mandates.

Most Californians have no idea how complicated and expensive this has become.

Here’s the reality:

🚗 Automotive Refrigerant (R-134a)
You can still legally buy and use R-134a for older vehicles.

🏠 Residential AC & Heat Pumps (R-410A)
California prohibits the sale and distribution of newly manufactured virgin bulk HFC refrigerants like R-410A if they exceed a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 750.
That means many systems can ONLY be serviced with reclaimed/recycled refrigerant.

🏪 Commercial Refrigeration Systems
Commercial systems are facing even stricter rules. Newly manufactured HFC refrigerants with high GWP ratings are being phased out and heavily restricted, making repairs more difficult and significantly more expensive.

So what happens.

Small businesses are forced into:
• Higher repair costs
• Limited refrigerant availability
• Delayed repairs
• Expensive system replacements
• More equipment heading to landfills
• More dependence on large corporations that can absorb the costs

And somehow this is being sold to the public as “helping the environment.”

How is forcing repairable equipment into a landfill sustainable?

How is making a small grocery store, butcher shop, nursery, or farm store spend $10,000–$20,000+ on replacement systems helping local food systems survive?

California has created so many layers of bureaucracy, mandates, fees, restrictions, inspections, and conflicting regulations that many small businesses cannot even keep up anymore.

Consumers ask why:
• Food prices keep rising
• Small farms are disappearing
• Family-owned businesses are closing
• Everything feels corporatized

THIS is part of the reason why.

We need major political changes in this state.
We need regulations written by people who actually understand trades, farming, refrigeration, food systems, and small business operations  not people who have never had to make payroll or save thousands of dollars in inventory from spoiling overnight.

Please support your local farms, ranchers, processors, markets, and independent businesses before California regulates them completely out of existence.

— Melanie Marie Blankenship
Nature’s Touch Nursery & Harvest 🌱