The Impact of California's Drought Conditions

Drought. A period of dry weather, an extended shortage of water, in other words a huge problem for food production. The western United States, California especially, has been experiencing record low rainfall for the past five years with this year being the worst to date. There isn’t a single aspect of water usage that hasn’t been impacted by the shortage.

10 communities have been put on emergency water rationing; taking five minute showers and squeezing every possible re-use out of the water they’ve been allotted. Even with the rationing, it is predicted that their water reserves will run dry within the next two months. The rest of the state has been under voluntary water restrictions, but there is already talk amongst the government of implementing mandatory regulations until the drought is over.

Farmers will be leaving over 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) empty this year. Those fields that have already been planted show little to no growth without vital rain water. Ranchers and Dairy farms are already struggling to feed their herds and have begun selling off their livestock to pay for feed for those precious few they can afford to keep.

What does this mean?

For farmers it means they will have to cut back, let workers go, scrimp and save as much as they can to keep their farms afloat until the rain returns. Dairy farmers and ranchers are sending livestock east where there are still green pastures to feed them. Those whose livestock are remaining in California are relying more on hay and feed mixes instead of the meager fare available in the dry fields. Those lucky to have foreseen  the shortage stockpiled hay during the previous year, but how long will those supplies last before they too are forced to pay to bring in feed from out of state?

For you, the consumer, the impact will be to your table and your wallet. The demand for food is only increasing, but with fewer crops are being planted the supplies are going to be low. Row crops especially, like tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, cantaloupes, garlic, peppers and corn, will suffer a drop in production and cause prices to rise. Long term crops, like almonds, grapes/raisins, walnuts and olives, will also see a sharp decline as farms are forced to prune back trees and vines to cut back on water consumption. Pruning will allow the plants to survive on less water, but that means they won’t be producing anything. For nuts especially, this will impact supplies for years.

Expect to see California wine prices soar as well as wineries fight residents to use water for a “luxury item” or are forced to look for alternative water sources by digging new wells and implementing irrigation systems in areas that used to only rely on rain fall.  Considering that California produces over 90% of wine in the United States, we can expect to see less wine from our southern neighbour and more imports from overseas hit the shelves as retail locations balk at higher prices.

Price Increase in Vancouver

It is one of the sad facts of life that prices are always going up. For our dairy suppliers, that means increases in all the usual things involved in a business venture - rent, gas, electricity, labour - plus the cost of organic food and other upkeep for the animals. Our dairy and egg suppliers have increased their prices several times over the last couple of years, but Green Earth Organics Vancouver has just absorbed those increases and just made less money on those items. Unfortunately, those increases by our suppliers are all adding up, and we have to increase our dairy and egg prices a small amount this spring.

Effective starting with March 25th's deliveries, Vancouver's milk and egg prices will be increasing by between 5% and 10%. We have been comparing our prices with those charged by similar services and stores in Vancouver and we will make sure we are still very competitive with their prices.

When comparing our prices with our services, please keep in mind that we only sell organic milk. Avalon does make non-organic milk as well, and it will always be cheaper than organic milk.

If you are interested in saving some money on any of our wonderful organic grocery items that you use on a regular basis, we can always add items to your standing order. Standing orders can be set up for delivery with every bin or every second bin, and they are always 5% off the website price. Just give us a call or email if you have any questions about the standing orders or if you want any help setting one up just right for you.

We also offer Avalon's organic milk in the 2 litre and 4 litre plastic bottles (under the name "Valley Pride") by special order and standing order only. The price on those items will also be increasing a small amount, but they are still cheaper per litre than the 1 litre glass bottles. If you would like more information about this option, or have any other questions or concerns, please contact us at 604-708-2345 or vancouver@greenearthorganics.com.

Thank you for supporting organic food and Green Earth Organics!

Further Weather Updates & A Price Increase

Unfortunately, there has been little good news on the weather front. The consequences of the sudden freezing temperatures in Mexico and California* continue to roll in, with more crops being affected.

Our suppliers are advising us that because of the severity of the crop losses and the timing of the freeze, prices will be affected for at least 6 months, and availability will be impacted for the foreseeable future. As before, this is not a situation that is just affecting us, or even just the organic sector; all produce, both organic and conventional, is going to be up in price and down in selection.

In addition to this sudden produce crisis, all costs continue to increase slightly with inflation. Average gas prices continue to creep up every year, for example. For all of these reasons, Green Earth Organics Vancouver will be increasing all our bin prices by $1 starting with deliveries on February 11th. The new prices will be:

$28 Small Bin
$36 Medium Bin
$47 Large Bin
$36 minimum order on the Custom Bin

We hope that our members will be understanding about this change. This is the first price increase on our bins in more than five years and this small increase will allow us to continue to provide full and delicious bins through this difficult weather situation and for the future.

If you have any questions or concerns about this price change or any other aspect of our service, please call Melissa at 604-708-2345 or email vancouver@greenearthorganics.com. Thank you for being a member of Green Earth Organics!

* For background information, see our previous blog posts: "California is Freezing (and so is the Broccoli)" and "Weather and Food Updates".