Take That, Global Warming!
Granted, it's gotten cold here in Chicago in the last few days, but so what. The only place in the country where temperature actually matters is the various valleys of California that grow all of our precious produce. Why? Because it was all just destroyed in a massive, California-wide freeze that's hit avocado and citrus growers especially hard (this explains why everyone was so chilly at the Globes, right?).
Let's borrow some numbers from the Trib and do some math, shall we? The current orange crop is worth $1.1 billion, and up to 70% of it may have been ruined. The avocado crop is valued at $350 million, and only 5% was picked, so 95% is at risk. Now I don't have a head for figures, but that's something like $1.1025 billion of loss, and that's only two fruits! (Some of you are finally waking up to the fact that the avocado is a fruit. Better late than never...)
Who gets screwed in this equation, after the jump...
1) The family farmers (there's insurance and subsidies and what not, but still)
2) The pickers (there are tens of thousands of them and they don't have insurance or subsidies, obviously)
3) You! Because just wait until you try to buy produce in April and everything's twice as much. Imagine the implications at Whole Foods, where making this salad will cost $20 a serving.
Don't worry. This round was caused by El Nino and not global warming per se, but things aren't going to get less volatile. Oh well. We can always get our produce from somewhere...
