‘I give it three months, and then we go bankrupt,’ says one Californian restaurant owner
  • Donald Trump has imposed a 17 per cent tariff on tomatoes imported from Mexico, raising concerns about increased prices for consumers and businesses.
  • The tariffs took effect after the US withdrew from the nearly three-decade-old Tomato Suspension Agreement, with the Secretary of Commerce stating American farmers had been ‘crushed by unfair trade practices’. The Commerce Department calculated the 17 per cent import tax to measure the percentage by which Mexican tomatoes were allegedly sold at unfair prices in the US.
  • The measure is expected to result in higher costs at supermarkets and restaurants, with one Californian restaurant owner predicting bankruptcy within three months.
  • Mexico, which supplies about 70 per cent of US tomatoes, has refuted claims of dumping, insisting the popularity of their produce is due to its quality, and stated that substitution would be impossible.
    • themeatbridge
      24•5 months ago

      Buy local, and buy seasonal. That’s just as important, because if you’re shopping for avocados in Milwaukee in November, those fuckers have traveled a long way and was picked a long time ago. You might not live in a climate that has oranges or strawberries year round. Accept this and choose food that doesn’t have a swollen climate footprint.

      Also eat free-range billionaires. Eating one billionaire would do more good for the climate than every other change you and 300 of your friends could make.

      • @Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
        5•5 months ago

        Not eating anything except local produce might get you winter scurvy in some places.

        But you have a good sensible point about the billionaires.

        • @Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          7•5 months ago

          One word: cabbage.

          Two words: yummy cabbage.

          Many words: I actually agree with you in general, I just love cabbage which, on top of many other benefits, is SUPER high in vitamin C and excellently suited for climates where not much grows in winter🙂

        • themeatbridge
          3•5 months ago

          There are plenty of sources of vitamin c that are available in the winter. Broccoli, kale, and Brussels sprouts are all available in colder climates well into fall and winter. Sailors would get scurvy from eating fish and cured meat and drinking only ale and water for months at a time. Malnourished children get scurvy because of neglect. It’s not that hard for adults with access to fresh food and sufficient economic freedom to get enough vitamins.

          • @Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
            2•5 months ago

            I’m lucky enough to live in SoCal, I have tomatoes and blueberries and lemons and miner’s lettuce in pots on my balcony year-round. And I make lovely strawberry jam, but I’m well aware that the boiling necessary for preservation destroys most of the Vitamin C.

      • sylEnglish
        6•5 months ago

        Pretty much every major city in the US. I’ve been to farmer’s markets in multiple red cities and multiple blue cities.

        Though, in some cities, they’re only open half the year because of weather conditions in the other half.