French Fries Fall Victim to Wild Weather
December 3, 2019
Early warning of climate caused food pinch.
America’s favorite vegetable dish endangered.
We appear to be still very much under the influence of the weather patterns as we saw in winter/spring of the year – described by scientists above.
I have concerns for the coming winter.
Potato processors are rushing to buy supplies and ship them across North America in order to keep French fries on the menu after cold, wet weather damaged crops in key producers in the U.S. and Canada.
Cool conditions started to hit growing regions in October, lashing potatoes with frost. Farmers in Alberta and Idaho were able to dig up some damaged crops for storage. But growers in Manitoba, North Dakota and Minnesota received snow and rain, forcing them to abandon some supplies in fields.
As the wild weather hurt crops, an increase in fry-processing capacity in Canada has boosted demand. The combination will lead to tight supplies, and it’s likely that potato prices could climb this year across North America, Stephen Nicholson, a senior grains and oilseeds analyst at Rabobank, said in a phone interview. International costs may also rise as the U.S. won’t be able to export as much.
“French fry demand has just been outstanding lately, and so supplies can’t meet the demand,” Travis Blacker, industry-relations director with the Idaho Potato Commission, said in a phone interview.
The United Potato Growers of Canada estimates about 12,000 Manitoba acres (about 4,900 hectares), or 18% of the province’s planted area, were left unharvested — equal to what was abandoned for all of Canada last season. About 6.5% of Alberta’s potatoes are estimated to be frost damaged. Manitoba is the country’s second-largest grower, followed by Alberta. Prince Edward Island is No. 1. The government will issue estimates for the nation’s crop on Dec. 6.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts domestic output will drop 6.1% this year to the lowest since 2010, the agency said in a Nov. 8 report. In Idaho, the top producer, output is forecast to fall 5.5%.
Part of the problem for processors is the crop damage means potatoes are coming in smaller. French-fry makers usually favor longer spuds.
In Canada, Cavendish Farms recently opened a new processing plant in Lethbridge, Alberta. Thanks to a better harvest on the country’s East Coast, the company isn’t expecting any customer shortages at this time, Mary Keith, a spokeswoman, said by email.
“It’s a manageable situation,” Kevin MacIsaac, general manager of the United Potato Growers of Canada, said in a phone interview. “Potatoes are going to have to move from one channel to another that they sometimes don’t move in a normal year.”
December 3, 2019 at 3:31 pm
As Climate reports from bodies like the WHO and the WMO get more dire, and still the urgency to cut back on carbon emissions is ignored by a few, it is increasingly obvious mankind’s regional diets are changing and will have to change in the future, and we can live happily without traditional fries, it is low on our list of concerns. Back to the drawing board on spuds. = = = = = = = >
How Peru’s potato museum could stave off world food crisis
High in the Peruvian Andes, agronomists are looking to the ancestral knowledge of farmers to identify genetic strains which could help the tubers survive increasingly frequent and intense droughts, floods and frosts.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/29/how-perus-potato-museum-could-stave-off-world-food-crisis
December 3, 2019 at 3:35 pm
The past decade is almost certain to be the hottest on record, weather experts warned on Tuesday, painting a bleak picture of vanishing sea ice, devastating heatwaves and encroaching seas in a report launched at a climate summit in Spain.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-accord-report/earths-temperature-likely-marks-hottest-decade-on-record-report-idUSKBN1Y70ST
“Do we really want to be remembered as the generation that buried its head in the sand, that fiddled while the planet burned?”
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/climate-science-informs-cop25
December 3, 2019 at 3:36 pm
There are gaps that urgently need to be addressed. One is getting countries from making plans to implementing them by addressing barriers to action, such as making sure the health sector is included in climate change processes and ensuring that they have the capacity and support to access the finance they need.
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-12-2019-climate-risks-to-health-are-growing-but-prioritized-funding-lacking-to-safeguard-human-health-from-climate-change
December 3, 2019 at 3:41 pm
A report released on Tuesday presented the results of a six-year quest to collect thousands of wild seeds that could play an important role in feeding a rising global population at a time when global warming is jeopardizing crop production.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-future-food/indiana-jones-scientists-collect-seeds-in-wild-for-climate-change-fight-idUSKBN1Y7229
December 3, 2019 at 4:31 pm
We’re turning to offbeat foods to survive a harsher climate
THE BAMBARA GROUNDNUT might not have a familiar ring outside West Africa. But this protein-rich cousin of the peanut, which grows well in harsh climates and poor soils, was on the priority list of a global search for food crop seeds that could be life savers in a warming world.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/12/turning-to-offbeat-foods-to-survive-harsher-climate/
December 4, 2019 at 3:51 pm
The potato center and those other things are good to do but the best way to preserve crops is to grow them in as many and as widely dispersed places as possible, and trade them without being driven by profit. Meanwhile we need to come up with new varieties to deal with climate changes’ many effects—through exploration, trade with and learning from traditional societies, and traditional crossbreeding techniques.
The Svalbard seed storage is a good reminder not to rely on single solutions. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/19/arctic-stronghold-of-worlds-seeds-flooded-after-permafrost-melts
And we need to educate people, emphasizing basic needs, including nutrition, for everyone, but it will take a political movement to equalize society so it’s possible for those needs to be met. Potatoes are one of the highest-yielding and nutritious foods per acre, so will be even more important than they have been as food systems collapse. Fries are an energy-intensive waste of their nutrients; we can instead use Michael Pollan’s advice and only eat them when we make them ourselves.
For personal action–growing food in a changing climate:
Perennial Vegetables, by Eric Toensmeier;
Edible Forest Gardens, by Toensmeier and Dave Jacke;
Gaia’s Garden, by Toby Hemenway;
Permaculture Design Handbook and other works by Bill Mollison are excellent resources.
Wes Jackson’s Land Institute is creating perennial grains, and Carol Deppe is doing excellent work on resilient gardening and devising new varieties for changing needs (perennial tomatoes and peppers, for example)…
December 3, 2019 at 4:57 pm
Things are really getting quite serious when climate change starts to impact one of the two most important food groups—-potatoes (the other being meat). We simply cannot sit still for this! It’s Torches and Pitchforks time, all—-mobilize!!
December 3, 2019 at 4:59 pm
if sugar starts to fail, expect revolution.
December 3, 2019 at 7:52 pm
How is coffee doing?
December 3, 2019 at 8:00 pm
Coffee and tea are both under stress.
December 4, 2019 at 2:36 pm
That’s the important question. We wouldn’t have the energy to revolt.
December 3, 2019 at 7:58 pm
It is colder in parts of Canada and the USA were a lot of potatoes are grown. The world is cooling not warming if it is colder. Lets solve the issue by smoking giant Cuban cigars and flying everywhere in our private jets. Oh wait, only Hilary, Pelosi and Obama have those.
Per the quote in this article, the issue is a temporary shortage in one part of the country which is solved by shipping abundant crops grown in another part of the country. There is no actual problem except fry demand is up a lot most likely due to the 3.6% unemployment rate, best in 50 years. People have more to spend on fry’s.
December 3, 2019 at 9:28 pm
ZZZZzzzzzz…..!!!
December 4, 2019 at 2:42 pm
Tovarishch, the extra heat from the Arctic Ocean creates high pressure which pushes the polar vortex to lower latitudes.
Are you impressed at how H, P and O managed to melt the world’s glaciers all by themselves?