Posted on 02/12/2011 9:57:30 AM PST by FromLori
Get ready to pay double or even triple the price for fresh produce in the coming weeks after the worst freeze in 60 years damaged and wiped out entire crops in northern Mexico and the southwestern U.S.
The problem started less than a week ago, when our nation was focusing on the Superbowl and sheets of ice falling from Texas Stadium.
Farmers throughout northern Mexico and the Southwest experienced unprecedented crop losses. Now devastation that seemed so far away, is hitting us in the pocketbooks.
"We've had to double and triple some prices and consumers come in and it's quite a shock to them," said Rusty Peake, GM of Food4Less in Southeast Portland.
"Increase, increase, increase," said produce manager Troy Winterhalter as he watched urgent messages coming across his laptop computer. "Peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, asparagus, the entire asparagus crop was wiped out," said Winterhalter.
Roma tomatoes have more than doubled in price since Thursday and very soon they may not be available at all. About the only produce not impacted by the freeze in the coming weeks are things grown right here in the Northwest like potatoes, onions and apples.
(Excerpt) Read more at kgw.com ...
In cold climates people had root cellars where they had apples, carrots, cabbages, more root vegetables. These were fresh. They did not eat lettuce and tomatoes in the winter...But they also had pickled cabbage and cucumbers. Sauerkraut.
In places like North Carolina a limited garden can be kept going in the winter
Yep, me too. I mostly bought heirloom but I started seeds this year rather than buying plants. I knew it would be cheaper but wow....I have more seeds than I could ever realistically grow. And the selection is way better.
I’m also trying to grow indoors. If all goes right, I’ll have lettuce by mid-March. Maybe the Mrs. won’t think I’m crazy if the price triples at the store and we are eating it free. ;)
But tomatoes are over $2# and lettuce $1.50 a small head.
Meat is far cheaper than fresh veggies here in Michigan, even local grown in season.
I guess I will live without salad for a couple of months.
Depending where you go, a small chest freezer (most economical) can run $95 to $125. Go treat yourself. Whole chicken at Sam’s is still $.89 a lb. I have 8 in the freezer. I think I need about 10 more. Whole pork loin is a real bargain if you’re not Kosher. Stock up, you’ll save hundreds if not thousands in the coming months the way we’re headed.
BTW, thanks for the Post. Florida’s freeze eliminated 1 million boxes of oranges and 1 million boxes of grapefruit. This report came out yesterday. That ought to send commodity futures zooming.
Except this is strawberry season in Fla. Plant city grows a huge % of the nations strawberries.
Some of the rules to be certified as organic are absurd.
Your welcome I plan to get one maybe even later on today if not tomorrow depending on when my husband gets home.
I might actually finish off those 12 quarts and 3 pints of mustard greens before the garden produces this year.
Fact is- there’s a breaking point for prices. Supermarkets and produce distributors should prepare to trash huge amounts of produce that the public simply will not buy. $10 lettuce,$3.O) tomatoes, exorbitant prices for anything not a necessity of life will mean the stuff rots.
Why not $50 for a bag of oranges-if they’re going to be ludicrous, it may as well be funny.
I certainly won’t buy it- so these farmers and distributors who are planning to take advantage of bad weather will end up losing in the end.
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They will swear that it is PURE, wholesome, food with NO pesticides. Sigh ...
Another side effect of Global Warming is the price of cotton has skyrocketed. Cotton nearly went over $2.00 a pound this week.
Thanks Al Gore for all of this warm weather—we will not need that extra pair of long johns.
Living up north, we can only grow our own in summer. So the berries are considered out of season here.
Thank you for that article. We have become lax when it comes to food safety. I think much of the reason has to do with this strange favoritism toward Mexico. Perhaps it’s part of that da## NAFTA agreement. I don’t know. Just seems to me that since that agreement went into place, the quality and safety of foods from Mexico have really gone downhill. I doubt those foods are even inspected or regulated as they should be. Why is that? Is this country afraid of insulting Mexico? When it comes to food safety, we are on our own.
By the way, about Chile: My brother is a frequent visitor there (mostly for skiing). He told me that, contrary to popular belief, Chile is not a third world country. He assured me that the produce we get from Chile is safe. My mother always bought grapes in winter from Chile and she never had a problem with them.
Then you have Mexico, where you have to be careful of everything that you put in your mouth. I wouldn’t go near that hellhole — much less buy produce from there.
I am all for using the minimal amount of pesticides and herbicides needed to produce food.
Especially some of the nasty organophosphates that I used to use raising corn!
Most people are clueless at the relative danger posed by different things. Say a corn rootworm pesticide on one hand (very toxic to humans); and a benign herbicide like Roundup (very safe).
Organic farming ignorantly lumps everything together as a “chemical”.
I am also very in favor of smaller farms producing locally produced foods and the shrinkage of the barriers between producer and consumer.
I just detest the organic thing because it is based on ignorance.
Very similar to the global warming scam.
Literally
Celery went up from 79 cents a pound to $1.99 a pound in grocery stores in my area. The prices per pound of lettuce, carrots, and jalapenos have all risen about 20-50 cents per pound in the last week or two. I can hardly wait for summer when much of the produce we eat comes from our own garden.
Good. You won’t be sorry when you see your bounty of prepared frozen meals glistening at the bottom of your freezer ;D!
Have a good weekend Lori and keep ‘em coming!
P.S. Get a good generator (just in case).
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