BLIZZARD DRIVES DOWN CROP PRICES.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The East Coast blizzard prevented produce shipments from California, causing prices for some of the state's fruits and vegetables to plummet as much as 50 percent, industry officials said. Shippers' decisions not to transport some products, such as lettuce and broccoli, have resulted in gluts of those items in California. As a result, the price of a head of lettuce in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, has fallen to as low as 69 cents, compared to $1.89 before the blizzard, said Michael Marks Michael Marks, (June 1859 – December 31 1907), was one of the two co-founders of the retail chain Marks and Spencer. Marks, who was born in Slonim, Belarus (then part of Russian Empire and Poland) as Michał Marks of Polish-Lithuanian and Jewish ancestry, emigrated , a sales representative for JC Produce in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Broccoli has dropped from about $1.70 a bunch to 70 cents, Marks said. Strawberries are going for as low as $1.99 a basket - half what they cost at the beginning of the year. Shippers have flooded West Coast markets to ensure they get something for their crops, rather than risking everything by sending it East, where a storm could strand it before reaching market. "They've got to move it, and they've got to move it fast," Marks said. Wholesale prices of other vegetables, meanwhile, have risen, due largely to Mexican growers' decision to ship despite the threat of a storm. Green peppers, zucchini zucchini Subspecies of Cucurbita pepo, dark green elongate summer squash in the gourd family, of great abundance in U.S. home gardens and supermarkets. The creeping vine has five-lobed leaves, tendrils, and large yellow flowers. and cucumber prices have doubled or more in a week, pushed up by the premium prices East Coast markets are paying. Cold weather in Florida and Georgia also damaged crops. |
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