Farmers across Europe are warning of a slump in food production and rising prices as crops from maize to salads suffer as a result of extreme heat, drought and wildfires.
Olive groves have also been hit as the climate crisis drives temperatures across the continent to fresh record highs, meaning the cost of olive oil – already at elevated levels – is expected to start rising again.
The vegetable growers association Légumes de France has warned that thousands of tonnes of products worth tens of millions of euros had been lost – including salad leaves, carrots, leeks, garlic and onion with production on certain crops expected to be halved because of the lack of rain.
I live in olive country and the trees are loaded as it has not been seen in years.
Producers are paying around 0.85€ per litre to have oil pressed. Several tons of olive can be picked in single day through mechanized means.
The constant price hikes feel more and more as speculation, not scarcity.
I’m working for a french greengrocer. I’ve never seen the fridges as empty as two weeks ago. We lacked a lot of references and prices are jumping. And this is only the beginning : from what I gathered from the producers, their seedlings are burning and won’t be ready for the winter.
Seeing directly how we may not be able to feed the population properly anymore in the coming years due to high temperatures honestly gave me my load of anxiety. This is kinda already the reality for the people with low income, now that’ll just be worse.
My gardening friends have had trouble growing all over the world. Dark days ahead for sure :(
