Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
you say toe-may-toe & I say toe-mah-toe?!.....tomato shortage.....
#1
....due to drought in California.....so anything that uses tomatoes....ketchup, sauce, pizza, etc. will go up in price.....


A Tomato Shortage Could Make Pizza, Sauce, and Salsa More Expensive

....For some farmers in California, weather conditions have been so bad they're unable to yield enough tomatoes to "ketchup" to retail demand. And now it's no joke that Americans may soon feel the pitch with their favorite things to eat.

That's because the Golden State leads the entire world in the production of canned tomatoes—keeping popular foods like pizza, salsa, and pasta sauce stocked—and that crop has been going dry during one of the worst droughts in over a thousand years.

"We desperately need rain," Mike Montna, head of the California Tomato Growers Association, told Bloomberg, "We are getting to a point where we don't have inventory left to keep fulfilling the market demand…It's real tough to grow a tomato crop right now."

Processing tomatoes are specifically grown in the California region and are used for making sauces, pastes, and soups as they are not particularly juicy and very durable–which means they're good for cooking. Due to the current state restrictions limiting groundwater and the high cost of labor, fuel, and fertilizer, growers have seen soaring increases in the price to produce these tomatoes in the last few years, causing yields to steadily decline.

The USDA reported that since its peak in 2015, California's supply of processing tomatoes has dropped significantly from 14 million tons to just 11 million in 2021. The issue has largely been due to the ongoing drought the region has been experiencing.

"There are simply not enough acres of processing tomatoes being planted this year to ensure that everybody gets their full supply," said R. Greg Pruett, a manager for one of the world's biggest tomato processors, Ingomar Packing Co., in an interview with Bloomberg. "The water is either too expensive or just not available at any cost."

Pruett pointed out that tomato paste has gone up 80% for retailers from last year alone and that those that haven't secured their supply by now (if they're looking for large amounts) are not going to find it—no matter the cost.



about to get.....more expensive........?!
_____________________________________
I reject your reality and substitute my own!
Reply
#2
Langers spicy tomato juice . Like V-8 spicy disappeared last year because of drought
Reply
#3
We live not far from one of the largest tomato farms on the east coast. Every single year we drive by and thousands upon thousands of tomatoes dead ripe on the plants and even more lying on the ground, what a waste.
[Image: 1Tr0bSl.jpeg]
Reply
#4
Who cares? Factory farm tomatoes are terrible. The only worthwhile tomatoes are those that are either homegrown or are the result of home farming operations (i.e. available at farmers markets).
Reply
#5
....uh, they use those tomatoes to make pasta sauce, ketchup, pizza, etc.....they don't use the homegrown or the others for that....so that is why one should care.....


.....it also means if there is less supply, then if you go to a restaurant, then anything with tomatoes, a salad, pasta dish, etc. will increase in price also.....that is why one should care....
_____________________________________
I reject your reality and substitute my own!
Reply
#6
davester wrote:
Who cares? Factory farm tomatoes are terrible. The only worthwhile tomatoes are those that are either homegrown or are the result of home farming operations (i.e. available at farmers markets).

Because of there is a drought, prices will increase across the board, including farm market tomatoes. If you don't mind $9 tomatoes, I guess it doesn't matter.
Reply
#7
Wow. I use gray water, so no drought effects, and I’m having by far my best tomato year ever. As in, 3-4 lbs of heirlooms picked every day.
Reply
#8
We had problems with squirrels (we think). They’d come by in the night, pick the tomato closest to ripe (but not ripe), take a few bites, and leave the rest on the ground.

:X

This year, we’re growing tomatos in a tomato jail; raised bed with hardware cloth all around - sides and top. Squirrels haven’t gotten a single one.

This week, we picked our first ripe Brandywine (my fave). It had (previously undetected) blossom end rot.

I give up. I’m just cursed.
Reply
#9
pdq wrote:
We had problems with squirrels (we think). They’d come by in the night, pick the tomato closest to ripe (but not ripe), take a few bites, and leave the rest on the ground.

:X

This year, we’re growing tomatos in a tomato jail; raised bed with hardware cloth all around - sides and top. Squirrels haven’t gotten a single one.

This week, we picked our first ripe Brandywine (my fave). It had (previously undetected) blossom end rot.

I give up. I’m just cursed.

Squirrels have raided the two fruit trees that I have (peach and apple), and will do the same thing to my tomato plants as you describe. I've got to screen them with something this year, as I am about to have a banner harvest (in maybe two weeks' time).
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)