There are some things that just scream "Holidays" - Lines to see Santa at the mall, Menorahs, and family gatherings. In many households, food is a big part of those gatherings. One of the most popular side dishes at many dinners, including my house, is collard greens. My wife recently went shopping for Christmas dinner items and mentioned that she had trouble finding collard greens. This was not just a local supply issue. It turns out that there is a significant collard greens shortage right now. Hurricanes, heavy rainfall, and Santa Ana wind-related wildfires are to blame.
As meteorologist and atmospheric sciences professor, I am constantly trying to convey to the average person how weather and climate affects their lives. The public generally seems to understand obvious ways like a cookout being rained out, air travel implications, and the devastation of a tornado in a subdivision. The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season will likely produce at least two retired names, Michael and Florence. These storms ravaged the southeastern United States with flooding, storm surge, and wind dame. Economic losses (so far) are around $18 billion dollars. In a previous Forbes piece, I documented the multi-billion dollar hit the Georgia economy took because of agricultural losses to the pecan, peanut, cotton, and fryer sectors. You probably don't think about these secondary impacts of extreme weather events until higher groceries or clothing prices are noticed weeks to months later.
This brings me to collard greens. If you are not familiar with collard greens (and if you are from the South like I am I find that hard to believe), they are a leafy plant closely related to common vegetable species such as cabbage, kale, spinach, turnip greens and spring greens. According to the Latibah Collard Green Museum website,
Collard greens date back to prehistoric times, and are one of the oldest members of the cabbage family. Collards are also known as tree cabbage or non-heading cabbage. Though greens did not originate in Africa but originated in the eastern Mediterranean, it wasn’t until the first Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in the early 1600s that America got its first taste of the dark green, leafy vegetable. The habit of eating greens that have been cooked down into a low gravy and drinking the juices from the greens (known as “pot likker”) is of African origin.
They are grown in the United States, Brazil, Portugal, Kashmir, and many parts of African. Collard Greens are a staple of southern dishes and are of particular importance to the African-American community. Greens were one of the few select vegetables enslaved African Americans were allowed to harvest for themselves according to the Latibah Collard Green Museum. Collards are a cool-season vegetable high in antioxidants, calcium and other vitamins.
An article published in The Produce News recently noted that leading U.S. producers of collard greens, like W.P. Rawls, were impacted by weather disasters this year. The eastern United States has been particularly wet this season. The map above illustrates wetness conditions. The data was collected from various satellite and meteorological data and shows "the amount of shallow groundwater on December 17, 2018, ranks among all the Decembers from 1948 to 2012," according to NASA Earth Observatory website. The website goes on to point out,
Several major cities received exceptional rainfall in 2018. Washington, D.C., surpassed the previous annual rainfall record of 61.33 inches set in 1889, accumulating 64.22 inches by the date of this map. Baltimore, Maryland, soared over its previous record of 62.66 inches set in 2003 with 68.77 inches. Wilmington, North Carolina, has received a whopping 99.98 inches so far this year.
You can clearly seen the impacts of the 2018 wet weather pattern and the influence of Hurricanes Florence and Hurricane Michael, respectively. Many of the places in blue (very wet) on that map are places that grow collard greens. Flooding and field inundation in Texas and the southeastern United States reduced crop yields and forced farmers to harvest early. Collard greens are also grown in California, which experienced significant challenges from Santa Ana wind-driven fires. Growers report torn leaves and scarring.
This leads to my bigger point. As climate continues to change, scientific studies have warned for decades that intensity and frequency of high-end rain events will continue to increase. (graphic above). This is related to increased evaporation rates and more water vapor being available to the atmosphere. To help you understand this, think about what season of the year is typically most humid: Yep, summer. That is basic physics folks related to the Clausius- Clapeyron equation not some political agenda or hoax. Scientists are also concerned about trends in the intensity of hurricanes and wildfires. Various food producers, insurers, scholars and Fortune 500 companies have long been aware of such threats to our food supply. The article at this link provides an overview of how the food industry is dealing with and preparing for climate change.
As I often say, climate change is not about agendas or polar bears exclusively, it is about all of our kitchen table issues--Now.
