Not so veggie holiday

Markets continue to be sluggish for most vegetables as we head toward the Christmas holidays.  Lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and spring mix are cheap and plentiful at shipping points and there is not much relief in sight for growers.   Most of us have given up trying to figure out why demand has lagged so badly.  The consensus is the root of the problem is the same as with the larger economy.  Many people don't have jobs, therefore no money to spend, and ergo, no demand.  With the Congressional budget deal failing to extend unemployment benefits, up to 4 million people and their families will lose purchasing power in the next few weeks.  Unfortunately, one of the first things to get cut from the family budget is fresh vegetables.  So it looks like the pain in the FOB market will continue.   The bright spot for vegetable marketers is the booming food pantry market.  Between private donations and government support, food banks have become an important customer for shippers with #2 grade vegetables which traditionally are very hard to move in an oversupplied market.  That's a pretty bleak message for the holidays.