According to a news report on AgDay this morning, the Florida orange crop for the 2022/2023 year is expected to be right around 20 million boxes, that puts this year’s crop about 36% down compared to previous years due to significant hurricane damage. Which is just ahead of another very weak harvest from 85 years ago! The 1937/1938 harvest came in at a mere 19.1 million boxes.

The report continued by highlighting that with such a hit to the orange crop consumers (that’s us folks) will feel it as a price increase, and additional imports will be required from outside the country to fulfill demand.

That is, and I editorialize here, assuming that crops in other parts of the world are plentiful. Using a worst-case-scenario, let’s touch on an important aspect of having a prudent consumer mindset.

In our hypothetical example of food scarcity, let’s say that oranges (and other citrus crops) aren’t readily available and when they are, they are extremely expensive. What to do? Do we melt into an orange-less sherbet puddle or a look forlornly at our empty glass of breakfast OJ?

No, we do not, because we have that marvelous flexible mindset that all prudent consumers possess. Let’s examine the steps in that process…

• Step 1: View this scarcity as opportunity and activate creativity under duress!
• Step 2:Tackle realities. If Oranges, or other citrus fruits, aren’t as readily available, how will that affect our nutrient intake? Specifically, Vitamin-C? What other foods can I find that will make up the difference?
  • Answer: There are many, but cabbage comes to mind. Increase your intake by adjusting your weekly menu accordingly and add more cabbage, brussels sprouts, or broccoli, knowing that to make use of water-soluble Vitamin-C a raw chopped salad or lightly cooked dish is best. This was a trick that the British were encouraged to make use of during the heavily rationed days of WW2, when imported citrus fruits were extremely scarce, often only available to families with children, and victory gardeners were producing plentiful supplies of cabbage in their own back yards.
• Step 3: Be ingenious. Oranges, but more often lemons, are frequently used as an acid ingredient in recipes. What alternatives can I find that will supply the proper chemical reaction? Another trick from WW2 days, use vinegar (I prefer apple cider) and lemon flavoring for lemon bars, or salad dressings, or as an acid component in a recipe. Buttermilk would also work. Take time to experiment and educate your tastebuds to be adventurous!
• Step 4: Be constructive with what you do have. Buy what you can afford! That may mean less orange juice or the need to ration oranges, lemons, or grapefruits, so use each individual fruit thoroughly. Enjoy every last bite of the juicy flesh and be sure to eat some of the pithy white stuff, it contains the bioflavonoid Rutin, which helps strengthen blood vessels. Don’t throw out that peel, though! If you need some air freshener, put it down your garbage disposal. Or, do like my great grandmother did and boil grapefruit peels to make quinine which was used to improve various health conditions and stimulate digestion. (If you go down that route, try to use organic produce washed thoroughly and find a reliable recipe, but do so at your own risk.) Also, grate citrus zest before eating the fruit and freeze it to use in recipes later. And that’s just a starter list!

Don’t let food scarcity, or the looming possibility of it, make you feel helpless. You are resourceful and can deal with every eventuality! Take a bit of time to think through each food group and how you could come up with alternatives and ways to stretch what you have.

Let’s pray that the orange supply rebounds and we don’t have to worry about squeezing every last drop of juice from the fruit! But if we must, we’ll know what to do!

Keep a shiny penny and a positive thought!

Sources:

AgDay broadcast for Dec., 13, 2022  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjlM6BwcEXs&list=PLvTM5d7T5l6mwnYBebH2HtRiqlDjhprde