Weather Problems

We have received the following information from one of our major produce suppliers, and we thought we should bring it to the attention of our members, as these problems are likely to affect the quality, the prices, and the variety of fruits and vegetables in the coming months.

Last week, temperatures well below freezing were recorded in various parts of Mexico, one of the major sources of produce in the winter. Growers in the state of Chihuahua (south or Arizona and Texas) were hit especially hard. They are used to a little frost higher up once or twice a year, but this record cold blast was the coldest in recorded history. The same storm dropped up to 5 cm of snow in downtown Mexico City, where snow is usually only seen from a great distance, a thousand metres up the hillsides and on the volcanoes.

To summarize the problems:

- Two weeks ago, temperatures in the major growing areas of Florida had overnight lows of minus ten Celsius and they had frost as far south of West Palm Beach. Production losses were drastic, increasing the demand on Western producers.

- Temperatures have been unseasonably cold across the deserts of California, Sonora, and Sinaloa, slowing production of peppers, eggplant, cucumber, zucchini, and green onions.

- Major growing area in Northern Mexico have been frozen out, with huge losses of field crops including celery, cabbage, broccoli, parsley, and cilantro.

- California is under emergency flood watches and storm warnings this week. Long range predictions show that for the next two or three weeks, California will likely see a 200-year storm event (the type of storm that would normally happen every 200 years), with up to 600 mm of rain, high winds, and massive flooding. Winds gusted to 130 km/hour on Sunday night, affecting everything from Monterey Bay to southwestern BC.

These problems are expected to affect both organic and conventional fruits and vegetables for about the next 12 weeks. Please bear with us as we try to get you the very best produce available during the rest of this winter. If you have any questions or concerns, please call us at 604-708-2345 or email info@greenearthorganics.com.