It Rained on Our Parade

Spring is supposed to be a time when, after a cold winter of high produce prices, we can finally enjoy cooking fresh vegetables again. Not this year.

Thanks to the crazy mixed-up weather--not just in California but in Florida as well--this could shape up to be the spring of our discontent, made onerous by the storms of yore.

First, and worst, are tomatoes. You might remember back in January when prices went down the drain, falling below 20 cents a pound wholesale and sparking debate about Mexican dumping of tomatoes and the evils of NAFTA.

Then an early February freeze in Florida put the squeeze on supply, driving wholesale prices above 50 cents a pound. The effects of that freeze are with us still, and prices have continued to climb. Make that soar. Those same tomatoes are now going for almost $1.50 a pound wholesale, and there is no letup in sight.

The problem is still supply. The amount of tomatoes shipped into Los Angeles’ wholesale produce market fell 15% between the first week of February and the third week of March. The major cause is Florida, whose shipments fell 55%. But Mexico--which accounted for more than 90% of the tomatoes sold in Los Angeles last week--dropped too, down 7%.

Tomatoes are just the start of the story. A combination of a warm winter and a chilly, damp spring has turned the California vegetable market topsy-turvy. Lettuce, asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower are the crops most affected.

Because the warm winter sped up lettuce production in the Imperial Valley, harvest ended two to three weeks earlier than expected. And although picking has started in the Huron area, it won’t really get going for another couple of weeks. As a result, iceberg lettuce that was selling for about 20 cents a head wholesale in February is now going for double that.

Broccoli and cauliflower have been similarly affected. Rains and cold weather in the Santa Maria and Salinas growing areas have more than doubled prices for broccoli and at one point had nearly tripled those for cauliflower before prices started easing.

A series of freezes in late February and early March put a big dent in what had been an early start to the asparagus season. Asparagus today is selling for 50% more than at the same time last year.

All of these conditions are forecast to last through March. Hurry, summer.