It really feels like Australia is having a tough time of it recently. Our government seems to be filled with an increasing number of idiots, literal Nazis are making an unwanted comeback on our TV screens, and parts of the country has been struck by a severe drought.
While there are things we can do for the government and Nazi problem, fixing the drought is sadly out of our hands and the problem may start hitting our wallets very soon.
In a new report from the ABC, farmers in Lockyer Valley, which is located near Brisbane and dubbed “Australia’s salad bowl”, have warned that fruit and vegetable prices could skyrocket if those summer rains don’t come this year.
To give you an idea the scale of the problem, Lockyer Valley sells over $370 million produce a year and the region haven’t had a decent downpour since 2013 despite all the rain dances performed by farmers (I assume).
This definitely doesn’t bode well for veggie eaters in Australia. Two avocados for $5 and those $3 bags of leafy greens are a staple of many an Aussie’s balanced diet, and I can’t even think how society will remain standing when avos get jacked up to $8 a pop and bags of leafy greens begin cutting into designated “snack” portion of the shopping budget.
And just imagine the worst case scenario should the rains continue to stay away: carnivores will lose the “veg” portion of their “meat and veg” meals, pescatarians will be resorted to eating only fish like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, and I can’t even begin to fathom how vegans and vegetarians will get through this.
So start limbering up in preparation for several months worth of rain dances because if that doesn’t get a downpour happening, we’ll all be broke and riddled with scurvy when those vegetable prices start soaring.