With the new president questioning the U.S. trade relationship with Mexico, there’s more attention on where products in the store, including fruits and vegetables, originate. When you shop for strawberries and grab a clamshell and put it in your grocery cart, you’re making more than a price choice. Were the berries grown in Florida, California or Mexico? Whose strawberries you buy has ripple effects. As Florida’s strawberry season draws to a close, the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board sought out Zhengfei Guan, an economics professor at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, about how and why buying Florida-grown berries matters.
Q: Where do strawberries come from? How do consumers know where they’re from?
A: Florida is the winter strawberry capital; yet in recent years Florida has had a lot of competition from Mexico. Summer strawberries are mostly from California. Look at the labels on the clamshells for country of origin or producer information.
Q: Why is Mexico a concern for Florida strawberry growers?
A: Strawberry production needs a lot of labor. Mexico has an ample, less expensive labor supply. It also has fewer environmental regulations that also impact the cost of production. Imports from Mexico have increased 400 percent during the last 15 years and have posed tremendous challenges to the local industry.
Q: Are Mexican strawberries cheaper?
A: Mexican strawberries have lower production costs, so grocery stores can make more profit, which explains why more and more stores are carrying Mexican strawberries. But the retail price consumers pay for Mexican strawberries may not be much different from that of Florida strawberries.
Q: What’s the incentive for shoppers to buy Florida-grown fruit?
A: Florida strawberries are locally grown. They are fresher. And the fresher the strawberries, the better they taste. Also, Florida strawberries have better food-safety and quality assurance. The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences has been developing strawberries with superior quality attributes. For example, the Sweet Sensation variety released by UF/IFAS is widely acclaimed for its superior flavor. The other incentive is the service you are doing to the local community. The value of production of the Florida strawberry industry is more than $300 million a year. It provides more than 15,000 jobs. It supports local communities, including local residents and businesses. When you are buying Florida-grown fruit, you are supporting the local community and economy.
Q: Beyond economics, are there other benefits to buying Florida-grown strawberries?
A: Absolutely. When fruit travels thousands of miles, it consumes a lot of energy, ending up with more carbon miles. Locally grown strawberries are fresher and leave a smaller carbon footprint. A healthy agricultural sector also keeps open space, and provides wildlife habitats and various other environmental amenities and values that are not traded on the market. In addition, farming is mostly a generational business. Once stopped, it is difficult to get back in. By buying locally grown produce, you are not only contributing to a better environment but also helping preserve a traditional way of life.
Q: Don’t local farmers make plenty of money off U-pick operations? After all, consumers pick them and I do all the work.
A: U-pick operations usually start around the end of the season, so they only accounts for a very small part of the business for those involved. Growers usually only have minimal charges for U-pick strawberries. So U-pick revenue is a very small amount compared to real sales to stores.
Q: Why do some of my berries seem to keep for five or six days but others go mushy really quickly?
A: There could be several reasons for this. Strawberries are very delicate and perishable products. Handling and shipping must be done with great care. Traveling a long distance and taking longer to reach shelves at the stores are among the main reasons berries seem to turn bad so quickly sometimes after the consumer purchases them. Florida strawberries are usually shipped within 24 hours after picked and are fresher on the market.
Q: Is there a best time to buy Florida strawberries?
A: Now. This is the peak season, and the price is low. The season’s about to end.
