Diseased Bananas, Oranges and Pigs. Now COFFEE too?!?

a reply to: soficrow

There are food oddities also. My husband bought some generic store brand sugar, it did not even say what kind of sugar it was on the package.
I used it to make hummingbird food,they would not touch it. I thought maybe I made it wrong so I made more and filled the feeders...they did not touch it. I finally got some C n H pure cane sugar and made more and they immediately ate it.

a reply to: soficrow

Coffee crops only thrive in cold climates. See: The Optimal Coffee Environment: Best Climate Conditions for Growing Coffee Beans.

Coffee does not grow in cold climates, it needs a moderate and fairly stable climate with a lot of humidity.

offee is usually grown under shaded conditions but may be grown in full sun. Optimum growing conditions include temperatures from 59 to 75°F (15-24°C), high humidity, and protection from windy conditions. Temperatures above 77°F (25°C) slow growth, and leaves are damaged at temperatures above 86°F (30°C). Constant, large fluctuations in daily temperatures, and constant temperatures at or below 41°F (5°C) may cause leaf drop and tree decline. Coffee plants may be damaged or killed by freezing temperatures.

In the tropics or warm subtropics, coffee is grown at high altitudes (up to about 3,500 ft; 1,100 m) where temperatures are moderate and never freezing.

edis.ifas.ufl.edu...

If one buys green beans for roasting it keeps you current on the coffee bean growing situation and gives information on coffee plantations farming techniques, but the best part of home roasting is super fresh single origin coffee in your cup.


my homemade air popper roaster

Green bean sales

www.sweetmarias.com...

www.burmancoffee.com...

Oh man ... bananas are hit? My diet is severely restricted but I can have bananas and have one every day. I hope nothing happens to my bananas. Seriously. (I used to drink coffee all the time so I feel for those who will be hit with no coffee as well)

a reply to: soficrow

You are the best Doom-Porn contributor that ATS has. Mainly because what you post is true or at least has a large basis of truth to it. Personally, I think you are pretty much spot on. I always learn something new when you post something.

All meats, veggies and even mushrooms are contaminated these days. With something or other. I don't think anything is truly "organic" as most think it is.

I like to cook and eat. I enjoy the experience and have always tried to eat the best food available, (though that's quite expensive).

But now even coffee! You're sending me into a funk here.

a reply to: TDawgRex

I saw a kit you can buy a kit to grow your own coffee! maybe the way to go!

a reply to: Char-Lee

Thanks, I stand corrected. (The wiggle: I was thinking of "cold" relative to tropical heat.)

S&

Just got back from the store. No scarcity or price increases on bacon, oranges, coffee or bananas. Conventional milk prices have increased noticeably in the past few months but I buy organic milk which has held steady at the same price as last year.

Local media just reported farmers are expecting record yields of winter wheat, corn and soy.

More bs fear mongering...

originally posted by: TDawgRex
a reply to: soficrow

You are the best Doom-Porn contributor that ATS has. Mainly because what you post is true or at least has a large basis of truth to it. Personally, I think you are pretty much spot on. I always learn something new when you post something.

Thank you. I think. ; ) ...I don't see my interests/research as "Doom-Porn" - more as looking for information and understanding. Sort of complex systems analysis but with ideas and words instead of numbers.

a reply to: Deny Arrogance

I don't know where you live, but I have seen a large increase in all the food prices you have mentioned over the past year. Especially bacon.

a reply to: Deny Arrogance

...More bs fear mongering...

Where do you live?

Hog Outlook: Retail pork prices at record high

Updated: 05/16/2014

Retail pork prices were record high in April for the second consecutive month. Last month the average price of pork in grocery stores averaged $3.95 per pound. That was 2 cents higher than in March and 44.3 cents higher than a year ago. Retail pork chop prices in April were the highest ever; bacon prices the second highest for any month.

COMMODITIES CORNER: Future Sours for Orange Crop
With Florida's crop sharply reduced by disease, prices are rising. But watch out–demand isn't likely to keep up.

April 19, 2014
DJ-AIG Commodity Indexes

Orange-juice futures have been trading at two-year highs on expectations of the smallest Florida orange crop in nearly three decades, but the higher prices could be the market's undoing.

Demand for the former breakfast-table star has been weak, and higher prices for the beverage are likely to lead to even lower consumption. Frozen concentrated orange juice for May delivery ended on Thursday at $1.6475...

Are we heading for Bananageddon? Fungus kills 7 million plants in Mozambique - and it could spread to South America

Coffee Futures Have Doubled Even As Consumers Pay Less Per Cup

A rally in coffee prices has been slow to drip down to consumers.

The coffee market is boiling hot, but consumers aren’t getting burned…yet.

Arabica-coffee futures, the benchmark for high-quality beans, have nearly doubled this year on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange, amid the worst drought in decades for top-grower Brazil.

Prices for arabica beans, typically used in gourmet blends and prized for their mild flavor, have surged 95% through Tuesday morning’s intraday high of $2.1570 a pound, a 26-month high for the most-actively traded contract.

But that rally in prices has been slow to drip down to consumers. ...

Kansas winter wheat crop looking worse, could be smallest harvest since 1996

The USDA is projecting that U.S. producers intend to plant 91.7 million acres into corn production this year, down 3.7 million from last year.

I recently watched a feature within some programme I was watching about coffee production...it was just background noise so I am hazy on the details, but many of the fair trade, small producers are returning to traditional/semi-wild practices of coffee growing. Coffee arabica is a shade loving plant, and many of the current problems are due to it being grown in dedication plantations.

In many parts of the world, including Central America, Mexico, Colombia, Ethiopia, and other regions, arabica coffee is traditionally grown in shade, which can range from dense thickets of native plants to careful, uniform plantings of imported shade trees. In other parts of the world -- Hawaii, the Mandheling region of Sumatra, the Blue Mountain region of Jamaica, and many other places -- coffee is not grown in shade because the weather is too rainy and wet and the trees need all the sun they can get. In other places -- Yemen, Brazil -- coffee is traditionally grown in sun.

The tendency of growers in regions where shade growing is traditional to replace shade-grown coffee groves with new hybrid trees that grow well in sun and bear quickly and heavily is controversial, since these new fields of sun-grown coffee reduce diversity and require more artificial chemical inputs than shade-grown trees.

www.coffeereview.com...

The lessons that we are learning revolve around the same simple principle, introducing high yeild practices is only effective in the short term. Maintaining, and helping to preserve diversity though is far less labour and chemical intensive in the long term. Nature knows best, and we need, with some urgency, to start taking our cue from her, and understanding that less is more.

a reply to: KilgoreTrout

The lessons that we are learning revolve around the same simple principle, introducing high yeild practices is only effective in the short term. Maintaining, and helping to preserve diversity though is far less labour and chemical intensive in the long term. Nature knows best, and we need, with some urgency, to start taking our cue from her, and understanding that less is more.

Worth repeating.


S&

a reply to: TDawgRex

I live in a medium sized city in the central plains. The bacon I bought is farmers natural thick sliced for 3.99/lb which is the same price as when I moved here two years ago. I usually buy caribou brand coffee which has been priced "on sale" all year for 6.99 but today I tried seatles best which is on sale for 5.99. Peets is like 8.29 and Starbucks is 6.99. These coffee prices have been the same, depending on sale prices, ever since I moved here.

When I moved here from San Francisco I was surprised at how much more expensive produce was (and much lower quality) than in the small SF produce shops, especially in the mission district. But the price has not increased much yet. Conventional oranges are from 1.29 to 1.99 and organic 1.99 to 2.99 depending on variety and bulk quantities.

a reply to: Deny Arrogance

My coffee is about a dollar more than yours (whole Bean), but a pound of bacon at the grocery store is roughly $7.00. Even more if you buy it at a farmers market. Luckily, I have a friend who raises a small amount of pigs and he tosses me some pork from time to time for helping him out. (He doesn't need to, but that's what friends are for)

Milk has skyrocketed here in Ohio, though oddly enough, cheese hasn't.

The only coffee crop problem I've heard of was Hawaii:

Hawaii had a tough 2014 crop that is just rolling out, up to 60% smaller crop than last year. (third year in a row with a down crop)

a reply to: VoidHawk

So can I grow cactus in my water lilly pond if I add enough CO2? Avocado's in the desert?

But yes, temperature change will affect plants, but the point I was making concerned the co2, which some members seem to disbelieve.

Increased CO2, causes global temperatures to rise. Rising global temperatures changes local climates all over the globe.

Wet to wetter, dry to dryer, dry to wet, wet to dry, cold to colder, warm to warmer, etc... increasing durations of weather patterns, shortening them.

I don't think I could stock up on that much coffee. I go through it too fast. I'd need to rent a storage locker.


I wonder if this will put Starbucks out of business. Haha. Hate that snobby establishment.

a reply to: soficrow

I've been trying to find a source for coffee trees. I heard some can grow in this area. Now, that would increase the value of my property.

Strange how anything related to food can have the conversation twisted around to bacon so easily.