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Okay, this just pisses me off
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Florida strawberry farmers are destroying their crops on purpose
Tampa, United States - Low market prices for the fruit have caused farmers to decide it is cheaper to pay farm laborers to destroy the crops rather than ship the fruit to market.
"We've got more berries than we know what to do with," said Matt Parke, according to an ABC News report.
While the farmers feel justified in their behavior, many Florida residents are outraged over destruction of the fruit. From online to soup lines, people are expressing their displeasure. "There is no way else you can put it into words other than they are selfish people," Freddy Conyers said from a Miami soup kitchen. “Senseless for me, senseless,” added Timothy Strutz in the ABC report.
Online comments are more severe. “It should be a crime to plow food under.” Another comment was equally as blunt: “I’ll never buy another Florida strawberry again, this is nothing short of sheer greed.”
Other farmers in the area have made the same decision: destroying the plants and leaving the fruit to rot in the field.
A normal year will provide farmers with a market price near $1 per pound for the berries. Thanks to the freezing weather the state suffered this past January, normal staggered planting dates were disrupted, causing all the fruit to ripen at the same time, currently flooding the market. Due to the steep drop in market prices, strawberries now average around 25 cents per pound.
"We still owe a lot of money on this year's crop," said Carl Grooms of Fancy Farms Inc. "And we needed to pick fresh fruit at a profit, and that's not occurring right now," he added, according to a report in the Tampa Tribune.
Adding to the farmers’ woes are area residents' complaints about sinkholes that developed after the farmers drained groundwater supplies during January in attempts to keep the strawberry plants from freezing. Emily Cooper, of Plant City, said: “"I went three weeks without water, and I have sinkholes all around my home. I can barely get out of my neighborhood." Some homes in the community had to be condemned after suffering structural damage due to the sinkholes.
Cooper, a life-long resident of the community is not surprised over the current situation. The farmers have not compensated residents for damages. "Nobody wants them," she said. "A lot of people in this community are fed up with them … I'm not letting another strawberry in my home."
Two factors prevent farmers from allowing people to come pick the fruit in an effort to save the crops. First, liability issues resulting in legal fees if someone is injured while on their properties. Second, some farmers have already begun planting vegetable crops between the rows of strawberries. Parke, of Parksdale Farms, Inc. near Plant City said: "You just can't have people tromping around there and pulling up that young pickle plant."
With all the people in this country who are going through devastating troubles, losing their homes and not knowing where their next meal is coming from, this is just unconscionable. Profit first, as always.
Disgusting.
Florida strawberry farmers are destroying their crops on purpose
Tampa, United States - Low market prices for the fruit have caused farmers to decide it is cheaper to pay farm laborers to destroy the crops rather than ship the fruit to market.
"We've got more berries than we know what to do with," said Matt Parke, according to an ABC News report.
While the farmers feel justified in their behavior, many Florida residents are outraged over destruction of the fruit. From online to soup lines, people are expressing their displeasure. "There is no way else you can put it into words other than they are selfish people," Freddy Conyers said from a Miami soup kitchen. “Senseless for me, senseless,” added Timothy Strutz in the ABC report.
Online comments are more severe. “It should be a crime to plow food under.” Another comment was equally as blunt: “I’ll never buy another Florida strawberry again, this is nothing short of sheer greed.”
Other farmers in the area have made the same decision: destroying the plants and leaving the fruit to rot in the field.
A normal year will provide farmers with a market price near $1 per pound for the berries. Thanks to the freezing weather the state suffered this past January, normal staggered planting dates were disrupted, causing all the fruit to ripen at the same time, currently flooding the market. Due to the steep drop in market prices, strawberries now average around 25 cents per pound.
"We still owe a lot of money on this year's crop," said Carl Grooms of Fancy Farms Inc. "And we needed to pick fresh fruit at a profit, and that's not occurring right now," he added, according to a report in the Tampa Tribune.
Adding to the farmers’ woes are area residents' complaints about sinkholes that developed after the farmers drained groundwater supplies during January in attempts to keep the strawberry plants from freezing. Emily Cooper, of Plant City, said: “"I went three weeks without water, and I have sinkholes all around my home. I can barely get out of my neighborhood." Some homes in the community had to be condemned after suffering structural damage due to the sinkholes.
Cooper, a life-long resident of the community is not surprised over the current situation. The farmers have not compensated residents for damages. "Nobody wants them," she said. "A lot of people in this community are fed up with them … I'm not letting another strawberry in my home."
Two factors prevent farmers from allowing people to come pick the fruit in an effort to save the crops. First, liability issues resulting in legal fees if someone is injured while on their properties. Second, some farmers have already begun planting vegetable crops between the rows of strawberries. Parke, of Parksdale Farms, Inc. near Plant City said: "You just can't have people tromping around there and pulling up that young pickle plant."
With all the people in this country who are going through devastating troubles, losing their homes and not knowing where their next meal is coming from, this is just unconscionable. Profit first, as always.
Disgusting.
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Now I have to figure out what to do with 'em all before they go bad. I'm thinking smoothies and/or homemade preserves.
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I've been buying a basket a week and making Drunken Strawberries with 'em. Hull and cut into chunks, put 'em in a bowl, sprinkle liberally with sugar and let sit for a couple of hours. Then pour in enough red wine to cover. Add sugar to taste and let 'em soak overnight. (You can either put them in the fridge or leave them out. I find they get more thoroughly happy if you leave 'em out.)
They're great as a topping for ice cream or yogurt, or just good by themselves. After I eat the strawberries, I bottle the wine to add to fruit juice. A nice big dash in a glass of OJ is divine.
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Think I'll give that a try with some of these berries. Thanks!
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It reminds me of my parents' tales of Depression days, when farmers ended up slaughtering entire herds of mutton, swine, and cattle--thousands upon thousands of animals--because they basically couldn't afford to feed them any longer. Unemployment was over 25%, and people were starving all over the country; there was a lot of shrieking that those animals could have fed hundreds, and in all likelihood, they could have. But whose responsibility should it have been to feed those animals (let alone move them from isolated farms to the areas where the hungry people were)? Should the farmers have beggared themselves, ruined their families, and likely lost their farms (their only livelihood) in the interest of aiding strangers?
Farming is a hard, hard, HARD business, with razor-thin margins and the chance of absolute ruin staring you in the face with every storm, every drought, every freeze. I know; I come from a loooong line of farmers. My mom and mother-in-law both grew up on farms, dirt-poor. My uncle and cousins still farm. And sometimes a decision like this is just a farmer cutting bait before the cost imbalance becomes too damaging. Greed? Maybe in a few cases. But I assure you that most farmers, ESPECIALLY family farmers, aren't rich, and they work harder than anybody else in the world. It's one of the most dangerous, thankless jobs on earth.
Now the groundwater thing I do take issue with. But that's a sign of poor watershed management on the government's part more than anything else. Georgia, Florida, and Alabama have been in a spiteful water war for decades now, and I don't see that resolving anytime soon; the politics surrounding water use in those states is just plain UGLY. Likewise, I don't see the leaders of any of those three states pulling their heads out and making wise water regulations to best use their resources, either. :P
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