The USDA expects the cost of fresh fruit to rise between 5% and 6% this year, much higher than the 3.5% to 4.5% increase forecast last month. The agency blamed the faster-than-anticipated spread of the citrus greening disease for the new estimate.
The agency also warned of fast-rising prices for other crops as the effects of California's drought continue to spread. Among the foods most vulnerable to price jumps are lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, and rice.
These gloom-and-doom forecasts by the USDA are becoming so frequent, particularly for the disease-riddled citrus crop, that it's easy to grow discouraged.
And adding further complications, it's increasingly likely that when this long and difficult year ends we'll have an El Nino. And that will mean all-new problems for food production.
