The February 27th earthquake in Chile registered 8.8 on the Richter scale causing much destruction to the countries infrastructure.  The full effect on the port facilities, shipping, transportation from farms, shipping logistics, cold storage has not been determined.  Right now it is summer in Chile and peak harvest season for many fruits and vegetables.  The disruption to the supply chain has not yet been felt because it takes 10 to 14 days to ship from Chile to markets in the United States.

What you can expect is a rise in prices toward the middle of March.  Any rise in prices right now is due to price gouging and unscrupulous sellers profiting off a tragedy.  Some of the fresh fruit and vegetables that may be effected are table grapes, peaches, plums, kiwi fruit, nectarines, apricots, melons, cantaloupes, honey dews, watermelons and peppers.

In today’s global market, we’ve grown accustom to eating out of season.  Chile has grown it’s export agriculture market to supply Northern hemisphere tastes during our off-season.  The Chilean people need our help to rebuild.  You can help by making donation to Habitat for Humanity.

In January, most of the southern United States was gripped with below normal freezing temperatures and storms.  Florida and it’s agriculture industry were especially hard hit.  It’s estimated that 70% of Florida’s tomato crop was destroyed in January.  We are now experiencing shortages and increased prices at stores and restaurants.  Not all types are available and there is less stock available causing higher prices.  Some suppliers are filling orders with more expensive shipments from Mexico.  These tomatoes are not as tasty and cost more because of the increased shipping distance.  Prices should drop as supply increases in mid-April when the next crop will be harvested in Florida.

Soundtrack to Post:  Dancing Tomatoes

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