$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')ood inflation driven by freezing weather in Florida during December and in Mexico during February, is hitting the US supermarkets in the coming day’s. Sysco sent out an alert that announced an “Act of God”, to address their contracted supply issues.
The cold of the Superbowl weekend in Texas, has had a more lasting impact than on just the game plans for lots of travelers. The deep cold sank into the produce fields of northern Mexico, destroying fresh produce crops. This is the biggest page 16 story, about to hit a headline, that you have seen in a while. Your restaurants will be low on fresh produces for weeks. They will have to raise prices significantly or cut the produce out of the menu.
(snip)
This event will push up the price of produce in the US for the next few months. The bigger question is if the US wheat crop was damaged by the cold weather before the heavy snow fell to blanket it.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/sysco-declares-force-majeure-raises-grocery-prices
PeakOil is You
Severe cold to cause produce shortage over next few months
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Severe cold to cause produce shortage over next few months
by Sixstrings » Sun 13 Feb 2011, 07:37:48
Letter form Sysco foods to its customers:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')LL OF OUR GROWERS HAVE INVOKED THE ACT OF GOD CLAUSE ON OUR CONTRACTS (Force majuere) DUE TO THE FOLLOWING RELEASE. WE WILL BE CONTACTING YOU PERSONALLY TO REVIEW HOW THIS WILL AFFECT OUR CONTRACTED ITEMS WITH YOU GOING FORWARD.
THE DEVASTATING FREEZE IN MEXICO IS WORST FREEZE IN OVER 50 YEARS...
THE EXTREME FREEZING TEMPERATURES HIT A VERY BROAD SECTION OF MAJOR GROWING REGIONS IN MEXICO, FROM HERMOSILLO IN THE NORTH ALL THE WAY SOUTH TO LOS MOCHIS AND EVEN SOUTH OF CULIACAN. THE EARLY REPORTS ARE STILL COMING IN BUT MOST ARE SHOWING LOSSES OF CROPS IN THE RANGE OF 80 TO 100%.
EVEN SHADE HOUSE PRODUCT WAS HIT BY THE EXTREMELY COLD TEMPS. IT WILL TAKE 7-10 DAYS TO HAVE A CLEARER PICTURE FROM GROWERS AND FIELD SUPERVISORS, BUT THESE GROWING REGIONS HAVEN'T HAD COLD LIKE THIS IN OVER A HALF CENTURY.
THIS TIME OF YEAR, MEXICO SUPPLIES A SIGNIFICANT PERCENT OF NORTH AMERICA'S ROW CROP VEGETABLES SUCH AS: GREEN BEANS, EGGPLANT, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, PEPPERS, ASPARAGUS, AND ROUND AND ROMA TOMATOES.
FLORIDA NORMALLY IS A MAJOR SUPPLIER FOR THESE ITEMS AS WELL BUT THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN STRUCK WITH SEVERE FREEZE DAMAGE IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY AND UP UNTIL NOW HAVE HAD TO PURCHASE PRODUCT OUT OF MEXICO TO FILL THEIR COMMITMENTS, THAT IS NO LONGER AND OPTION.
WITH THE SERIES OF WEATHER DISASTERS THAT HAS OCCURRED IN BOTH OF THESE MAJOR GROWING AREAS WE WILL EXPERIENCE IMMEDIATE VOLATILE PRICES, EXPECTED LIMITED AVAILABILITY, AND MEDIOCRE QUALITY AT BEST.
THIS WILL NOT ONLY HAVE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON SUPPLIES, BUT BECAUSE OF VERY STRONG BLOSSOM DROPS, THIS WILL ALSO IMPACT SUPPLIES 30 – 60 DAYS FROM NOW. SOME GROWERS ARE MEETING WITH THEIR BOARDS RIGHT NOW TO DETERMINE WHETHER THEY SHOULD IMMEDIATELY RE-PLANT, HOPING FOR A HARVEST BY LATE-MARCH-TO-EARLY-APRIL, OR WHETHER THEY SHOULD DISC THE FIELDS UNDER AND WAIT FOR ANOTHER SEASON.
We are doing everything we can with our growers to minimize the
effect of this disaster on you. With the unprecedented magnitude
of this event we wanted to immediately make you aware of the
conditions. We will continue to send out communications as our
people on the ground report back to us. We thank you and we
appreciate your understanding during this time.
Sysco Intermountain
http://www.iceagenow.com/Mexico_crop_loss_80_to_100_percent.htm
PDF of the flier sent out to customers:
http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/11_Cosmic/110209.Sysco.Mexico.Freeze.pdf
Ok farm experts.. how serious is this? Just high prices, or real shortage?
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Sixstrings - Fusion
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Re: Severe cold to cause produce shortage over next few mont
by copious.abundance » Sun 13 Feb 2011, 20:32:18
Not this again.
Remember last February when there was a freeze in Florida which wiped out a big chunk of the tomato crop, and for a while the price of tomatoes went through the roof and when you went to a fast-food place if you wanted tomatoes on your burger you had to tell them explicitly?
Guess what? Just 4 months later farmers suddenly found themselves with a glut of tomatoes and the price crashed.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'J')eff Dolan's tomatoes in San Joaquin Valley are ripening and ready to pick this week. But that puts him in a pickle.
In California, harvest time is arriving just as tomato growers in other parts of the U.S. are reeling from a sudden supply glut that is pushing the price for fresh tomatoes sharply lower. Florida farmers who fetched more than $30 a few months ago for a 25-pound box of round, fresh field-grown tomatoes, also known as slicer tomatoes, are now getting $5 or less.
The abundant crop is rooted in last winter's cold weather in Florida, which delayed the development of tomato plants. The overdue harvest hit the market in May just as DiMare Co., where Mr. Dolan oversees California field operations, was picking tomatoes near Palm Springs.
Remember last February when there was a freeze in Florida which wiped out a big chunk of the tomato crop, and for a while the price of tomatoes went through the roof and when you went to a fast-food place if you wanted tomatoes on your burger you had to tell them explicitly?
Guess what? Just 4 months later farmers suddenly found themselves with a glut of tomatoes and the price crashed.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'J')eff Dolan's tomatoes in San Joaquin Valley are ripening and ready to pick this week. But that puts him in a pickle.
In California, harvest time is arriving just as tomato growers in other parts of the U.S. are reeling from a sudden supply glut that is pushing the price for fresh tomatoes sharply lower. Florida farmers who fetched more than $30 a few months ago for a 25-pound box of round, fresh field-grown tomatoes, also known as slicer tomatoes, are now getting $5 or less.
The abundant crop is rooted in last winter's cold weather in Florida, which delayed the development of tomato plants. The overdue harvest hit the market in May just as DiMare Co., where Mr. Dolan oversees California field operations, was picking tomatoes near Palm Springs.
Same thing will happen again.
Not as sure about the wheat crop, depends on the weather in Russia, Australia, Argentina and elsewhere.
Stuff for doomers to contemplate:
http://peakoil.com/forums/post1190117.html#p1190117
http://peakoil.com/forums/post1193930.html#p1193930
http://peakoil.com/forums/post1206767.html#p1206767
http://peakoil.com/forums/post1190117.html#p1190117
http://peakoil.com/forums/post1193930.html#p1193930
http://peakoil.com/forums/post1206767.html#p1206767
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copious.abundance - Fission
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Re: Severe cold to cause produce shortage over next few mont
by sparky » Mon 14 Feb 2011, 02:18:02
.
Basically world food is grains , wheat , rice corn and "coarse" IE buckwheat , barley , shorgun ..etc..etc
the vegs and fruits are important locally but not worldwide , except as local cash crop
production keep beating records but it barely keep up with unrelenting rise in consumption
the underlying problems are that farming land is encroached by urban sprawl , soil degradation and energy crop production
the production numbers are above 2.2 millions tonnes a year to break even
last year harvest was a bit of a dud , this year is critical .
It's critical not for rich countries but for the whole raft of poor food importing states
many have food subsidies for their urban masses
it grieve their budget but cannot be touched without having riots in the streets
if the prices go through the roof , food rationing will have to be implemented
that means malnutrition
Should there be a couple of bad years ,
that means starvation for some , malnutrition for even more
Basically world food is grains , wheat , rice corn and "coarse" IE buckwheat , barley , shorgun ..etc..etc
the vegs and fruits are important locally but not worldwide , except as local cash crop
production keep beating records but it barely keep up with unrelenting rise in consumption
the underlying problems are that farming land is encroached by urban sprawl , soil degradation and energy crop production
the production numbers are above 2.2 millions tonnes a year to break even
last year harvest was a bit of a dud , this year is critical .
It's critical not for rich countries but for the whole raft of poor food importing states
many have food subsidies for their urban masses
it grieve their budget but cannot be touched without having riots in the streets
if the prices go through the roof , food rationing will have to be implemented
that means malnutrition
Should there be a couple of bad years ,
that means starvation for some , malnutrition for even more
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sparky - Intermediate Crude
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Re: Severe cold to cause produce shortage over next few mont
by Outcast_Searcher » Mon 14 Feb 2011, 06:43:18
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sparky', '.')
Basically world food is grains , wheat , rice corn and "coarse" IE buckwheat , barley , shorgun ..etc..etc
the vegs and fruits are important locally but not worldwide , except as local cash crop
production keep beating records but it barely keep up with unrelenting rise in consumption
Basically world food is grains , wheat , rice corn and "coarse" IE buckwheat , barley , shorgun ..etc..etc
the vegs and fruits are important locally but not worldwide , except as local cash crop
production keep beating records but it barely keep up with unrelenting rise in consumption
Right. Valid. Population growth and screwing up the planet are both making the long term food trends challenging, to say the least.
The thing that makes me roll my eyes at this topic (the initial article Six cited) is that the implication is (IMO) a local cold snap implies there is no global warming (AGW or otherwise). No matter how many times the scientific community points out that short term random weather is NOT indicitive of long term climate change, the denialists just keep citing meaningless individual examples.
OTOH, the string of recent global weather events causing massive hits to major grain crops will soon become a very worrying trend -- unless it ends soon and proves to be a spate of "bad luck". Time will tell on that.
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.
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Outcast_Searcher - COB
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