Step into your local supermarket, and you may find that those ordinarily humble broccoli bunches or cauliflower heads now carry higher price tags.
Cruciferous vegetables have been hit hard by supply disruptions, leading to widespread shortages, quality decline and, yes, higher costs. In an April 29 press release, Markon Cooperative, a farm-to-table produce cooperative, noted that cauliflower supplies from the Salinas Valley and Santa Maria, CA, are extremely limited. Freezing temperatures and heavy rain in California — the dominant supplier of cauliflower in the United States — heavily impacted production and fresh harvests, driving up prices.
