#ClimateInflation, 2023 #Food edition
"The #PeachState lost more than 90% of this year’s crop after a February heat wave followed by two late-spring frosts.
#Farmers and agricultural groups said they can’t remember a more devastated #peach crop.
Peach prices climb"
#Georgia
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/15/business/georgia-peach-shortage/index.html
"#Prices for #OliveOil are surging further in to record-breaking territory after an extended period of unusually dry weather in southern #Europe damaged crops."
#Spain #ClimateInflation
https://www.ft.com/content/5f0b2e0b-8100-42d0-9a87-fef4a57addeb
"#Florida's #orange trees have suffered from #hurricane winds and a mounting epidemic of #disease this year.
This year’s dismal harvest probably will make already #expensive orange juice even more so. A gallon has climbed above $10."
#ClimateInflation
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/06/17/florida-oranges-shortage/
"The significant increase in #tomato prices in #India, surpassing 400 per cent, can be linked to crop failure induced by extremely high temperatures and heavy #rainfall.
#ClimateChange-related #ExtremeWeather events are a significant contributing factor to the present scarcity of #tomatoes."
#ClimateInflation
https://www.wionews.com/trending/has-it-shaken-your-kitchen-too-making-sense-of-indias-climate-driven-tomato-crisis-615243
Volker Turk, the United Nations' human rights chief, "told a UN Human Rights Council debate on the right to #food that #ExtremeWeather events were wiping out crops, herds and ecosystems, making it impossible for communities to rebuild and support themselves.
Turk said world leaders "perform the choreography of deciding to act and promising to act and then get stuck in the short term".
He called for an end to "senseless #subsidies" of the #FossilFuel industry"
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230703-climate-change-spells-terrifying-future-un-rights-chief
"Cereal production in southern #Europe is expected to fall by up to 60% on last year in the wake of the #Charon #heatwave currently gripping the continent."
#food #ClimateInflation
https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/sourcing/cereal-crops-decimated-by-europes-heatwave/681361.article
Beyond 2023:
"Successive #heatwaves threaten nature’s ability to provide us with #food, say researchers, as they warn of an “unseen, silent dying” in our #oceans amid record temperatures scorching the Earth."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/21/rampant-heatwaves-threaten-food-security-of-entire-planet-scientists-warn
" #India last week suspended exports of non-basmati varieties of #rice after heavy #monsoon rainfall damaged newly planted crops due to be harvested in winter. With rice retail prices up 3 per cent in the past month and 11.5 per cent over the past year, the government hopes to quell food #inflation by reserving more grain for the domestic market."
#ClimateInflation
https://www.business-standard.com/economy/news/despite-best-efforts-india-s-food-security-being-choked-by-climate-change-123072500089_1.html
"#ClimateChange is already having an impact on #food supplies, particularly in #Canada."
"Preston said many Canadian farmers are eager to adopt more sustainable means of production, but they need government support. Improving #soil health to make it more resilient to extreme rainfall, and increasing #biodiversity on farms, he said, will go a long way in adapting to a warming planet."
https://globalnews.ca/news/9863235/climate-change-effects-food-security-canada/
"The greatest challenge posed by #ExtremeWeather right now, agronomists say, is to specialty crops: the #peaches in Georgia and #olives in Spain, for instance, but also #berries in the Pacific Northwest and #cherries in western Michigan, and almonds in California"
#ClimateInflation
https://www.wired.com/story/this-scorching-summer-is-taking-a-toll-on-your-favorite-foods/
"#Oregon’s #cherry harvest, one of the state’s biggest sources of agricultural income, is in dire straits because of #ClimateChange this year, and growers need emergency relief."
#GOP rep:
“Unfortunately, our cherry producers have been facing severe hardships due to unprecedented and adverse weather conditions in Oregon such as ice storms, excessive #heat, and #wildfire smoke impacts caused by a warming #climate.”
"Following atmospheric events such as #floods, #hail and high temperatures, #pear yields in #Italy are down 63% year-on-year, tand the otal supply in Europe is down 13%. According to Euronews, pears have also been affected in France, where the harvest has fallen by 23%.
The harvest of grapes, watermelons, apricots, tomatoes and aubergines in Italy also suffered losses related to the #climate."
h/t @[email protected]
https://liltparma.it/i-frutteti-italiani-si-stanno-riducendo-a-causa-delle-condizioni-meteorologiche-estreme-avvertono-gli-agricoltori/
Il 60% delle pere è già scomparso. “La siccità minaccia di diventare la prossima pandemia e non esiste un vaccino per curarla”, ha affermato Mami Mizutori, inviato speciale del Segretario generale delle Nazioni Unite per la riduzione del rischio di
#ClimateChange comes for your orange juice.
#Florida: hurricanes, unseasonable frost, insect infestation;
#Brazil, #California, #Texas: #ExtremeHeat;
#Spain, #Portugal, #Italy, #France: yellow dragon disease.
"Futures prices for frozen concentrated #OrangeJuice have roughly doubled in the last year to more than $3 a pound and could rise further, prompting warnings that prices are set to surge further on the shelves."
#ClimateInflation
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/11/ravaged-orange-crop-in-florida-raises-fears-of-surge-in-us-juice-prices-aoe
"#Rice prices surged to their highest in almost 12 years" for several reasons.
"Among them: extreme climate from #GlobalWarming, along with the onset of #ElNiño for the first time in seven years, Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain initiative and protectionist food policies in the form of #TradeRestrictions."
#ClimateInflation
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/22/asia-food-inflation-fears-rise-as-rice-prices-surge.html
"Across much of the country, the #food system also struggled. In #Texas, farmers reported smaller yields as their #corn and #cotton crops struggled to survive soaring summer temperatures. In #Arizona, beekeepers spotted dead #honeybees outside hives. Even underwater, off the coast of #LongIsland, #kelp farmers recorded another year of shrinking yields."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/02/farming-food-supply-climate-change-drought-rain
#Cambodia's crab fishermen are struggling with a #WarmingSea.
“I feel despair that I cannot harvest even one #crab after a day, when about five years ago, I would have caught about 10 kg to 20 kg (22 pounds to 44 pounds) of crabs.”
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/cambodia-fishermen-struggle-sea-warms-213426319.html
Estimated $447 million in losses for #Florida #agriculture from #HurricaneIdalia.
"The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said the storm, which made landfall in Taylor County at Category 3 strength before crossing other areas of rural North Florida, had its biggest impact on such things as #cattle and #poultry operations, followed by #FieldCrops."
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/floridas-agricultural-losses-from-hurricane-idalia-mounting/
#ClimateChange is coming for your #PecanPie
"Two years into an “exceptional” #drought—and after nearly eighty days of scorching triple-digit temperatures—Millican, like many #pecan farmers across Central #Texas, expects many of his trees to die this year. He anticipates losing as much as 10 percent of his orchard, nearly a thousand of the farm’s pecan trees. Many of those that do survive will produce a significantly smaller crop, both in number and physical size. "
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/central-texas-pecans-heat-drought/
"#ExtremeWeather is increasing the cost of #CropInsurance and making it harder for farmers to secure coverage."
Farmers pass on that cost, increasing the price of food.
#ClimateInflation
https://www.agriculture.com/drowning-in-drought-7974186
Soils are warming fast, contributing to crop failures.
"The Earth is heating up, and not just its atmosphere and oceans. The #soil itself is getting warmer, too, leading to more #ExtremeSoilHeat around the planet – along with unclear but ominous consequences for surface dwellers like us.
They found the number of days with heat extremes is increasing twice as quickly in the soil as it is in the air."
"#Drought and #ExtremeHeat waves have halved Spanish #OliveOil production. The price at origin has increased by 112 per cent since last year, but farmers like Jesús Anchuelo of the Small Farmers Union say they're losing money. "
#ClimateInflation
https://www.euronews.com/2023/10/03/spain-hit-hard-by-rising-price-of-olive-oil-as-climate-change-takes-its-toll-on-production
"#Tanzania’s onion limits this year are part of the “contagion” of #food restrictions from countries spooked by supply shortages and increased demand for their produce, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Globally, 41 food #ExportRestrictions from 19 countries are in effect, ranging from outright bans to taxes, according to the institute."
https://apnews.com/article/food-prices-export-bans-climate-change-aa7135b3a7f5ef9df440e94825880346
Restrictions on food exports are spilling over from rice and wheat to other essentials. This ranges from Tanzania's limits on shipping onions to its neighbors and Morocco's restrictions on tomatoes to ongoing bans of some kinds of rice in Asia. Countries are trying to protect their own supplies as the combined effect of the war in Ukraine, El Nino's threat to food production and the increasing damage from climate change takes a toll. Experts say food stocks that the world is able to draw on have diminished in the past two years and that increased volatility is now the “new normal."
#Brazil is the largest producer of coffee beans.
"Farmers in the region have long viewed #coffee as a good way to make a living. Today the coffee industry employs more than 14 million people across #LatinAmerica. In recent years, though, #ClimateChange, pests and declining coffee prices have created a perfect storm that threatens the welfare of millions of producers and their families."
https://www.iadb.org/en/improvinglives/most-unexpected-effect-climate-change
"#Climate breakdown is already changing the taste and quality of #beer, scientists have warned.
The quantity and quality of #hops, a key ingredient in most beers, is being affected by global heating, according to a study. As a result, beer may become more expensive and manufacturers will have to adapt their brewing methods."
#ClimateInflation
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/10/climate-crisis-will-make-europes-beer-cost-more-and-taste-worse-say-scientists
"Over the last 30 years, an estimated $3.8 trillion worth of #crops and #livestock production has been lost due to #disaster events, corresponding to an average loss of $123 billion per year or 5 percent of annual global agricultural gross domestic product (GDP), according to a new report released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (#FAO)."
In case you're wondering why food is getting so expensive.
#ClimateInflation
It's not just about extreme weather, but also about pests and diseases that spread more easily in a warming climate. Food storage also becomes more crucial.
But the bottom line is that food becomes more expensive.
https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2023/10/19/eight-crops-endangered-by-climate-change
"Entire fields have been submerged in water after #StormBabet swept across the #UK, with crops ruined. #ExtremeWeather events are becoming more likely and frequent due to #climate breakdown, and have caused food shortages and price increases.
Last year, farmers faced turmoil because of the extended drought and #ExtremeHeat, which caused crop losses, water shortages and effects on planting and harvesting."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/25/farmers-crops-uk-floods
"Apple season is winding down in New York’s Finger Lakes Region. And would-be pickers may have found less fruit than usual this year.
A warm spell in the early spring lured fruit trees out of their winter dormancy.
Then, on May 18, temperatures plunged into the mid-20s, killing blossoms and baby fruit."
#ClimateInflation
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/11/wild-spring-weather-swings-hurt-new-yorks-fall-apple-harvest/
#ClimateChange makes life less sweet
"Europe’s flooded fields are delaying #sugar harvesting and threatening to wipe out 15% of #beet crops still to be collected in #France, one of the region’s biggest growers of the sweetener.
Dutch farmers still have about 50% of beets in fields.
Harvest delays will probably prolong #Germany’s beet campaign until February, increasing the risk of crop losses to frost."
"The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) thinktank said that global heating was directly contributing to the #CostOfLiving crisis.
Combined with the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine [driving] up gas, energy and fertiliser prices, it said British households had been hit by £605 in additional food costs in 2022 and 2023. While energy prices have fallen back this year, it warned that the impact from the #climate emergency was increasing."
#ClimateInflation
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/27/climate-crisis-energy-costs-fuel-uk-household-food-bill-rise
"In 2023— the hottest year in recorded history— the escalating threat posed by #climate impacts on #food security compounded the global cost-of-living crisis, intensifying challenges already faced by vulnerable countries, low-income consumers and jeopardizing global nutrition levels."
#ClimateInflation #CostOfLiving
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daphneewingchow/2023/12/31/here-are-the-foods-hit-hardest-by-climate-change-in-2023/
Many farmers are resistant to change in the way they do things - like most of us, it should be said.
Changing the way you do things requires an upfront investment, and that's hard if you're already beleaguered, by climate change on one hand, and downward price pressures on the other had. There ARE farmers who are ready but they help negotiating the transition to regenerative growing methods,
CelloMom On Cars
Michael Wong