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| http://www.guamsustainableag.org/knowingyourcrops.html |
Due to the recent "heat-wave" in San Francisco I felt the urge to write. Today it is in the high 60's in Sf, surprisingly warm weather for early February. It's in the high 40's in New York, also unseasonably warm for this time of year. For once, the coasts seem to be on the same page!
As happy as I am to walk to West Portal and work up a sweat from the sun, I am forced to ask, what is all this warm weather doing to our crops?! When I lived in Santa Barbara and worked for a small local TV station I worked on a weekly story about the agriculture in the county. We went from farm to farm learning about crops and livestock from broccoli to cattle. Across the line the farmers used to express their concerns with the weather. Unusually cold seasons meant their crops would freeze and die off, leading to a price increase at the local markets. Unusually warm weather lead to either sped up growing or rotting fruits and vegetables, ultimately resulting in certain crops being available for a short time, too early in the season. Generally, the livestock farmers were in better shape.
Last year was unusually cold, there was blizzard after blizzard that hit the farms in the deep south and blanketed the east coast. Remember the videos from North Carolina last year? I still shudder when I think of those poor animals that were stuck outside in the snow because their owners weren't use to such a heavy snowfall! Thanks to the excess snow, there was a limited selection of crops in the various markets and prices shot up. Imports from places like Mexico were deemed unsafe in some places because they were watered with "dirty" water. Pumpkins were a rarity around Halloween because they just didn't grow right. All-in-all, it was a disaster.
This begs the question, what's in store for us this year? Jacked-up prices? Rotten fruits? We desperately need a solution to global warming.
