tural communities and drive up prices. Unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico over the summer fueled the creation of an unusual number of powerful hurricanes. Hurricane Helene formed over the Caribbean Sea and hit Florida as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26. Hurricane Milton formed just a couple of weeks later and would grow into the strongest tropical cyclone on record this year, with 180-mile-per-hour winds. It hit Florida on Oct. 9. The dual hurricanes wiped out a Florida orange crop already in decline. Orange production in Florida will be down 16% this year because of the hur- ricanes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And that’s on top of previous declines. Florida’s orange production has fallen 92% since 2003-2004, thanks to a combination of storms and disease. Climate change is also a contributor to crop disease, as warmer temperatures prove to be far more favorable for the growth of pathogens. Farmers have in many ways learned how to adapt. In California, some ranchers have taken steps to protect their cattle from heat. Douglass owns a farm in Northern California that raises beef cattle, wal- nuts, hay and seeds. She closely monitors the soil, test plants and will even have permanent sensors on some of her trees to determine moisture levels. That can help the crops better withstand drought, or California’s tricky water supply issues. “We want to make sure we’re utilizing our water at the most appropriate time,” Douglass said. Droughts and disease in many coffee-producing regions are driving up the cost of coffee beans even as demand soars around the world. Coffee prices are up 42% over the past year, helping send prices for coffee drinks rising— which in and of itself could be contributing the weak sales this year at market leader Starbucks. The Seattle-based coffee giant buys about 3% of the world’s coffee beans. The company’s hacienda Alsacia, its first coffee farm in Costa Rica, has been working on efforts to improve productivity and water use, potentially
mitigating the impact of climate change. Starbucks recently said it is expanding that effort with two new farms in Costa Rica and Guatemala and plans more farms for Africa and Asia. A CASUALTY AND A CAUSE When Carter, the rancher, aban- doned his plans to become a veter- inarian so he could run his family’s Wyoming ranch, he had no idea he’d spend so much of his time thinking about worms. “If you have 10 worms per square foot, you get 2.7 million worms per acre, and they will completely flip and build six inches of soil in three years’ time,” Carter said. “A good habitat for worms affects every- thing.” Worm health is important, be- cause it ensures a healthy under- lying soil, encouraging growth of grasslands for his 2,700 head of cattle at the 40,000-acre Car- ter Ranch, which supplies Carter Country Meats. So, while he didn’t expect to be so into worms, he is now, to main- tain his regenerative ranch, im- prove the ecosystem on his land and ensure that the meats he produces are more nutrient-rich. For Carter, the healthier worms mean the ecosystem on his ranch is more favorable for the cattle. But it also attracts more wildlife, which makes the land more enjoyable for him and his family. “I’m a dirt guy,” he said. “I’m a soil guy. A nature guy. That is my church.” The supply chain isn’t just a casu- alty of climate change but a cause. And raising livestock is a particular problem. Livestock are responsible for 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Food and Agri- culture Organization of the United Nations. Many grasslands have also been eliminated to make way for corn, which is typically used for feed for that livestock, rather than food— which in turn makes that crop vital to the demand-supply equation.
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JANUARY 2025 RESTAURANT BUSINESS
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