California rain drives up prices in Canada

If you’ve been roaming the fresh produce aisle recently, you may have noticed that some of the healthy foods in your cart are taking an unusually large bite out of your grocery budget. The price of lettuce, in particular, has jumped as much as 20 per cent to 25 per cent in recent weeks.

Celery has also delivered sticker shock, and the price of cauliflower has been climbing as well.

“It’s pretty straightforward what’s behind it,” said Michael von Massow at the University of Guelph: too much rain in California.

“While we’ve been bemoaning dry weather in California for the past four or five years, what we have right now is lots and lots of rain in the key growing areas,” said von Massow.

California matters because, until Canada’s domestic production ramps up later in the spring, a lot of the country's fresh produce comes from the U.S.

Canada’s sourcing shifts across several regions depending on the time of the year. Around Christmas, fruits and vegetables tend to come from California. Later on, Canada turns to Arizona and other parts of the U.S. Southwest. And at this time of the year, it’s California again.

Read more at Globalnews.ca