By KRISTIN MAYER Special to the Daily Press
DOWNTOWN Farmers from across the state rolled into the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Wednesday with heavy hearts and cold produce. Every couple minutes, a customer approached a vendor with a bleak face and asked for the verdict: Did the crops survive the cold spell, and how much will it lighten my purse?
Weekend temperatures that plummeted into the upper teens coupled with vicious winds to destroy 70 to 80 percent of citrus crops in the San Joaquin Valley,where vendors like Oliver Garner load up on fruit and vegetables before heading south to LA-area farmers’ markets, such as the one in Santa Monica.
Shoppers and vendors alike worried that this might be the last week before prices soar to compensate for the damaged citrus.
“It’s amazing, but it does really hit hard,” said Garner, who manages a stand at the Arizona Avenue market for Burkart Farms in Dinuba, Calif. “It could be the last week. It could be the last month. I’d be happy with even that much.”
Orange crops normally last until peach season begins in May. But citrus farmers will be lucky to see even a few more weeks of business, Garner said.
“This is a farmer’s main crop for the winter. This is what he lives off of and uses to pay his bills,” Garner said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 18, 2007. Read the original PDF.