Peaches Are About to Get Way More Expensive
Peach season is here, which means the time for delicious peach desserts is upon us. But you might be missing one very important ingredient-peaches.
Because of frigid cold temperatures last February, a significant portion of the country's peach crop was destroyed. The weather affected the fruit trees so badly, one expert described the situation as the "Valentine's Day massacre of the peach blooms." In fact, over 90 percent or more of the crop was lost in multiple states, including New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The crops in the Hudson River Valley and New Jersey were also hit.
The peach shortage doesn't stop there though. "This is not just a local event...We're seeing it all over the Northeast," George Hamilton, a field specialist, told Boston.com. So what does this mean for the rest of the country? Kay Rentzel of the National Peach Council says:
There are some regions that are still blooming right now. In California and Georgia, they're already starting to harvest. The mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, we don't have a full handle on because of the earliness of the season.
So to supply farm stands in the affected states, many growers will now have to get the fruit from faraway regions with better crops, like California and Georgia. And, yes, that means higher prices for you. Peach prices may also rise in California and Georgia, because the demand will be so much higher.
The good news is that this shortage won't have much of an effect on the peach stands you see in supermarkets. According to Win Cowgill, a fruit tree specialist, the majority of consumers get their peaches from grocery stores, and New England peach growers don't factor much into their supply. If you get your produce from local fruit stands or farmer's markets though, we suggest you start saving up now, because you're going to be in for quite a price shock.
(h/t Boston.com)
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