El Niño to jack up veggie prices

Shoppers beware -- El Niño is rearing its ugly head again, this time in the produce section of supermarkets.

Consumers can expect rising prices for their fruits and vegetables but will enjoy some price drops in pork, poultry and beef prices, said Keith Collins, chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"Mother Nature hit us below the belt with El Niño, and faltering Asian economies have tripped up racing U.S. farm exports a bit," said USDA Secretary Dan Glickman in a news release concerning 1998 projections.

- Jen Ciallella (junior-public relations)

Ciallella said she and her roommates spend about $50 a week on groceries, so the lower meat prices would be a welcome surprise. However, the higher vegetable prices would affect how many vegetables they end up buying, Ciallella said.

"I'm sure we won't buy as much, because we usually don't have a lot of money to spend," she said.

Excess rain brought on by the resulting storms of El Niño in California and Florida are giving those in the agricultural sector problems with fresh vegetables and fruit, Collins said.

"We'll see some pretty hefty price spikes in these commodities," Collins said.

Increased production in the industry and the current Asian economic crisis are driving meat prices down, Collins said. The production increase is a result of increased demand from the American public, Collins said.

"We're eating more meat than ever," Collins said.

Americans are buying 216 pounds of meat per year at the retail level, Collins said, in comparison with 202 pounds at the beginning of the decade.

"That's an enormous amount of meat," he added.

While supermarket managers are expecting price changes in the various food departments, they, like anyone else, can only guess what the actual price impact will be.

"We don't know exactly how it's going to affect pricing," said Terry McClanahan, manager for Bi Lo Food Market located in the Hills Plaza.

Rob Choucroun (junior-mathematics) said he would try to stock up on chicken while the prices are low, but that higher vegetable prices probably would affect his shopping habits. Hopefully, the grocery stores will help with discounts on higher-priced items, he said.

Not only will shoppers be dealing higher vegetable prices, the quality also may not be as high as shoppers expect, Collins said.

But citrus lovers will be in for a treat, he said, because citrus fruits are having a record year, resulting in lower prices.

As far as meat prices go, pork prices are currently experiencing the biggest drop, he said, but poultry prices are also low.