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Food costs going up as the temperature of the Earth increases

Posted at 5:19 PM, Sep 27, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-28 08:52:30-04

PHOENIX — We continue our Climate in Crisis series with a look at more protests from around the world.

As more children take to the streets to protest, world leaders joined the conversation on Friday, including Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

These rallies will continue into the weekend with supporters asking for people, companies, and countries to change how they treat the planet.

Climate change impacts everything from the air we breathe to the food we eat.

We are already seeing the impacts in grocery stores.

ABC15's Chief Meteorologist Amber Sullins went through her own neighborhood grocery to find foods going up in price, and down in global inventory.

Just walking down the aisles, she found foods that are already harder to grow and cultivate because of climate change. That includes produce such as apples, cherries, peaches, strawberries and avocados.

In fact, several studies on the impacts of climate change show the increase in temperature is hurting these crops. Places that need cooler weather to grow certain crops cannot survive as they once did. California's avocado crops are becoming more expensive because of this.

You will also see prices increase on chicken and turkey. These birds can only survive in a narrow temperature range, so poultry farmers have to change the way they house their birds. This includes cooling their facilities more than ever before. That increases their electric bill.

The feed these birds eat, which is made of soy and corn, is also getting more expensive. All that pushing up the prices you pay.

You can also expect to see products like chocolate, beer, and wine get more expensive.

These will all be impacted by water. The crops need plenty of water to grow and the process to get the final product, which requires adding even more water. As the climate crisis worsens, we are seeing less rain, less snow, and that translates to less water across the board.

There are things you can do to help ease the strain on the industry:

  • Try not to throw out food; all that garbage adds to the already packed landfills which gives off dangerous green house gases.
  • Reduce your plastic waste. One option is to switch to reusable bottles and bags.

View more tips at ABC15.com/climate.