Cranberries: from cure-all to the compost pile (Bloomberg)
21 November 2017 - 15:12
Jeff Wilson
Chicago — Cranberries might be a staple on Thanksgiving tables, but a glut of US supplies has gotten so large that fruit could be headed to the compost pile.
Just as demand is hitting its seasonal peak, American processors are anxiously awaiting government approval that would allow them to turn excess fruit into fertiliser. The programme would be the first of its kind for cranberries.
Supplies have piled up amid bountiful US harvests and a surge in imports. Inventories were large enough to top consumption before farmers even started gathering this year’s crop in September. The overhang prompted growers and processors to vote in favour of the disposal programme at a twice yearly meeting of the Cranberry Marketing Committee in August. The US department of agriculture could rubber-stamp the proposal as early as this week.
"The order will allow the industry to get back into supply and demand balance," said Kellyanne Dignan, the director of global co-operative communications at Ocean Spray Cranberries, the largest US producer and processor, and a name that’s become almost synonymous with the fruit.
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The cranberry is one of many agricultural products plagued by gluts, which has kept global food inflation in check. World grain stockpiles are ballooning and American meat production is at record levels.
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more: https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/americas/2017-11-21-cranberries-from-cure-all-to-the-compost-pile/
Wonderful. The invisible bloody hand of the free market has led to us growing crops with chemical fertilizers, overproducing "favorite" crops because of predicted market growth, and then plowing the product back into the ground. Meanwhile, there are still people who can't afford to eat.
Free-market capitalism is not a workable solution for everything. I'm starting to believe it may not be the best solution for anything.
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