Californian wet winter could see lettuce prices double

After wet weather in California some are expecting prices to shoot up for certain vegetables like lettuce. “Prices right here, right now, you are going to start seeing sticker shock,” said produce expert Michael Marks. “More than twice the price as what you should be seeing this time of year.”

Row crop vegetables like iceberg lettuce took a hard hit which will likely see supermarkets and restaurants passing the extra costs onto customers. This surge in prices is expected to last for the next six to eight weeks.

“It is all because of the rain. The rain not last week, not last month, but the rain three months ago. Three months ago we should have been planting crops that we should be harvesting now. We can’t harvest those crops because they weren’t planted,” Marks said.

Not only might you be paying double, but what you’re getting might not even be that good, warns Marks.

“When you find really. high prices, a farmer out there – they’re gonna put any lettuce they see in that box. Even if it looks like a head of lettuce they’re going to put it in that box,” he says. “So you’re seeing really low quality when you see these high prices.”

source: sacramento.cbslocal.com