Will the tasty but quite humble orange
soon become a fruit affordable on the income of the more affluent only?
The recent cold wave had some devastating effects on the California citrus industry in the San Joaquin Valley. Temperatures dropped as low as the middle teens to near 20 degree F for three nights running. According to reports there was close to 1 Billion dollars of fruit on the trees before the frost hit (on 1/12/2007) with 70 % of the crop damaged now. Lemons with their thin skins and low sugar content are even worst hit than oranges, the strawberry crop is badly affected, as are the flowers and avocados being grown in the valley.
The effects of this loss will soon be felt in the stores. Grocery stores, that is. Maybe some clever entrepeneurial spirit will come up with the idea of a device to wear an orange like a brooch and make a killing of another kind with this:
“Orange, the New Platinum.”