Food Institute: Sharp decline In Vegetables For Processing

Processors expect to contract 1.01 million acres of the five major processed vegetable crops in the U.S. for 2011, down 9% from last year, according to The Food Institute using data from National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) Vegetable report. The reason? Acreage for most major processing vegetables is down for the 2011 season.

Processors expect to contract 1.01 million acres of the five major processed vegetable crops in the U.S. for 2011, down 9% from last year, according to The Food Institute using data from National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) Vegetable report. The reason? Acreage for most major processing vegetables is down for the 2011 season.

Acreage for snap beans, sweet corn, cucumbers for pickles, and green peas is down 17%, 10%, 1% and 18%, respectively.  Contracted area of green beans for canning is down 20%; sweet corn for canning down 10%; peas had the biggest drop from 2009 acres, falling almost 25%. 

In the frozen food category, firms expect to contract 16% less than last year, according to NASS as well. Just as in the canning sector, peas for freezing saw the biggest acre drop from 2009 levels – down 31%.  In terms of supply, green beans and green peas are the shortest of the three major freezing vegetables, according to Food Institute sources, due to poor harvests in 2010. The question is as the world acreage to grow foods continues to shrink, and we have dirtier water and air - and changing weather conditions, how will we manage our crops more effectively - the issue becomes even more critical as we try to increase consumption of produce to help us manage our shoppers health & wellbeing. As these items increase in retail prices that objective becomes even more difficult to realize.