As the holidays loom, shoppers can expect higher prices and a few shortages. Not to worry: Gift fruit orders will be filled.
By WAVENEY ANN MOORE, Times Staff Writer
Published November 2, 2005
When Wilma unleashed its fury across South Florida, the hurricane dealt a formidable, though not fatal, blow to the autumn harvest.
Damage to agriculture has been extensive and will temporarily dislodge Florida from its well-established role as the nation's winter fruit and vegetable basket. Produce prices are expected to rise.
News also is not good for seafood. The weeks-old stone crab season, which got off to a slow start, was affected by the storm.
Still, there is a measure of good news: There will be no shortage of northern fresh cranberries for Thanksgiving. And despite the heavy damage to citrus, gift fruit shippers are expecting to have plenty of red grapefruit and other citrus to fill holiday orders.
In Louisiana, about 70 percent of storm-damaged oyster beds have been reopened, though demand is still expected to outstrip supply, and prices remain high. And in Florida, state officials point out that some important agricultural areas managed to escape Wilma's wrath.
"There are still some crops available in Hillsborough, Manatee and Gadsden counties, (including) grape tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, zucchini, regular tomatoes. And those will be coming off in a timely fashion," said Les Harrison of the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Besides fruit and vegetables, the storm damaged processing plants, storage facilities and greenhouses with seedlings. Replanting might not be an option for some farmers, said Frost Burke, also of the agriculture department.
"One of the problems is that they have used their fertilizer and fumigation materials for the season," Burke said. "There will be a fall crop, but it will be considerably diminished."
In Homestead, Hurricane Wilma was the third storm to hit Brooks Tropicals, a grower and distributor of produce. Wilma "really did finish up the Florida avocados for us," marketing director Mary Ostlund said. Carambola, which is grown on Pine Island, "took a hit," she said, but should recover quickly. The company's papayas were spared, but they're grown in Belize.
The destruction of South Florida crops could force distributors to turn to Mexico, Central and South America for supplies, said Kathy Means of the Produce Marketing Association in Delaware.
Damage to citrus groves was especially bad in Hendry County, the state's top citrus producer, and Collier County, which ranks among the top 10 citrus areas, said Casey Pace, director of public affairs for Florida Citrus Mutual, the largest association of citrus growers in the state. The grapefruit harvest was especially affected, she said.
Still, gift fruit shippers will not come up short for the holidays, said George Scales, vice president of the Florida Gift Fruit Shippers Association. "In a normal year, Florida gift fruit shippers only use about one-half of 1 percent of all the fruit grown in Florida."
Produce
November usually is a good month to buy apples, cranberries, avocados, carambola, eggplant, bell peppers, sweet corn, grapefruit, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, lettuce, oranges, persimmons, pomegranates, sweet potatoes, winter squash and tomatoes.
Seafood
Stone crab claws could be pricer this season as crabbers from Fort Myers south scramble to recover from Hurricane Wilma.
Many saw their traps scattered by the storm, said Gib Migliano of Save on Seafood in St. Petersburg.
"So far, all it's brought is gloom to everybody," he said days after Wilma plowed across the state.
Joanne McNeely of the state's Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing said the stone crab season started badly.
"The first couple of days were good, but we had a gradual decline," Migliano said. "Now things have changed dramatically."
The storm, which delayed seafood shipments from South and Central America and caused fishermen to remain on shore, will result in some shortages, said Dale Mastry of Mastry's seafood in St. Petersburg.
"It will just be tight for a week or so, but some things could be tight longer," he said.
He said, however, that customers will be able to buy pompano, mullet, cobia.
At Madeira Beach Seafood Co., among the Gulf of Mexico's largest seafood processing plants, vice president Bill Houghton said this month also is a good time to shop for mackerel, kingfish, swordfish, red snapper and amberjack. Houghton also suggested gold or gray tile fish as a substitute for grouper.
"It is a flavor close to grouper, but it is a milder taste and a little fattier fish," he said. "We produce it somewhat year round and most of it gets exported north."
Waveney Ann Moore writes about produce and seafood monthly for the Taste section. She can be reached at 727 892-2283 or moore@sptimes.com
