Are Food Prices Hurting Our Economy?

Are Food Prices Hurting Our Economy?

By: Zach Corso

The next time you go to the grocery store or restaurant, you might see that you are spending more money on Fruit,  Vegetables, and Dairy. This is in result of the massive drought in California and cold temperatures during the winter in the Midwest. This price increase is starting to having a huge impact on our economy. But what kind of impacts could just higher food prices bring to our economy, it only could benefit the farmers one might say. But this impact is only getting worse as jobs are being lost and there is not enough water to sustain the crops and wildlife for high demand. As food prices incline due to climate changes in California, and the Midwest our economy starts to feel the impact by job losses, and price hikes.

This is not the first year that California has seen massive drought. But what is hurting the crops is this is the third year in a row that California has suffered a such a big drought. Almost 80 percent of California is in an extreme drought due to low rainfall and extreme temperatures. This is making food prices spike. Shown in the graph above shows that Lettuce is going to see the biggest jump. A study at Arizona State University found that, “...a head of lettuce could increase in price as much as 62 cents…”( Morath) making one head of lettuce costing as much as $2.44. Also another food that can also get hit by the drought are avocados. Their prices are expected to rise 35 cents making their final total $1.60 each. The Shortage of both the fruits and vegetables is happening due to the drought in California. Because of the shortage  the prices are driving up due to the Wants and Needs of these foods, to maintain a healthy diet. But what is also impacting the food prices is the water-supply shortage making farmers having one of the hardest choice of the year. Which crop should receive water and which crop should be left without water. The Opportunity Cost is what crop will they let get water and which will have to go without. Another factor that will lie on the opportunity cost is the cost/benefit. The farmers are going to have to take in consideration what crop can they get the biggest bang for their money. The crops that farmers are going to get the biggest return on our trees crops such as, almonds,walnuts, and pomegranates. These crops are considered permanent crops because you can’t move the crops. And these tree crops farmers have spent years trying to grow these trees for a big return, and they don’t want to lose their investment now. Also almost one third of California land is devoted to these tree crops. Our economy is projected to lose approximately 2.2 billion due to drought. But what is really hurting our economy is the 17,100 seasonal and part-time jobs that are getting lost due to  this massive drought.