Florida Freeze Sends Vegetable Prices Soaring

An unexpected cold snap destroyed nearly $300 million worth of Florida’s winter vegetable and fruit crop last weekend, boosting supermarket prices for consumers in the East and Midwest, officials said Friday.

Gov. Lawton Chiles asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare 20 Florida counties disaster areas after last weekend’s hard freeze damaged winter vegetables and citrus crops throughout the state.

Temperatures fell as low as 19 degrees Fahrenheit in central and south Florida last weekend, causing “significant damage” to winter vegetables, citrus, pasture lands and nursery plants, Chiles said.

Miami’s Dade County has estimated its vegetable losses at $95 million, and total statewide losses are likely to top $270 million, Chiles said.

The cold temperatures were the worst to hit Florida’s $3-billion-a-year fruit and vegetable industry since a killer freeze in December 1989.

More than 50% of south Florida’s winter vegetable crop was damaged by the freeze, with tomatoes, green beans, squash, bell peppers, eggplant, sweet corn and zucchini the crops hardest hit.