Sunday, February 13, 2022

Limes in the news and in your drink


Why are food prices rising so rapidly? I’ve been trying to understand how the economy works (a hopeless effort). Every time I read the news, I find new causes for inflationary food prices. Here’s an unexpected reason why the price of limes, specifically, has been rapidly increasing — lime-growers in in the Mexican state of Michoacán are being victimized and put out of business by organized criminal enterprises. These cartels are either stealing the crops or demanding money from farmers. The net result: a substantial decrease in the quantity of limes available for export, and thus price increases in the US. The cartels' disruption and victimization of the lime industry has been going on for several years, and is getting worse, causing new price increases this winter.

According to an article in the Guardian, these criminal cartels have forced many farmers to give up cultivating limes. The article quotes Romain Le Cour, security and violence reduction program officer at the think tank México Evalúa: “If you go to the taquería they tell you there is no lime, or there is one small lime for 10 people. It’s almost a joke.”
“The cartels … are imposing increasing controls over producers during the bumper crop season – in part to fund an escalating war in the western state of Michoacán where the aggressive expansion of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (JNGC) has unleashed a bitter conflict with a coalition of local groups known as the United Cartels.

“The lime trade is a billion-dollar industry and, for any criminal group, it’s very easy and extremely profitable for them to go to the farmers and tell them what they need to pay for protection,” said Le Cour. “It’s classic mafia.” 

Michoacán farmers also grow avocados — so the same criminal enterprises are also contributing to the increased cost and problematic supplies of avocados. Due to threats about the safety of avocados from the area, the US government has suspended imports of the product while investigating their safety.

In general, Mexican produce is an essential part of what's available in US supermarkets, especially in winter. For example, 93% of Hass avocados, 71% of the tomatoes, and over 95% of the limes sold in the US are from Mexico. So any problem with Mexican agriculture spells trouble in supermarkets and restaurants here. Obviously, the more expected causes of price increases and shortages also apply to Mexican produce – labor costs, transportation costs, energy costs, the impact of covid, etc.

Sources: 

What can you do with limes?

You probably have a few favorite ways to use limes. In restaurants and in recipe books you often see a lime slice or wedge served with a variety of Mexican foods like tacos. The lime is a major ingredient in many cocktails — above all in the classic margarita made with tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice, with salt on the rim. At old-fashioned soda fountains, limeade, made from lime juice and plain soda-water, was a classic choice for a hot-weather drink. Limes are a nice alternative to lemon when garnishing or flavoring various fish dishes as well. Most limes sold in supermarkets are of the variety called Persian limes, but a smaller variety, called key limes, is famous as an ingredient in the originally-Floridian key lime pie.

Margaritas are fine, but if you are interested in a wider variety of cocktails, you should check over at the blog Kitchen Riffs, where John the blogger has been publishing an incredible array of recipes for over a decade, and illustrating them with dramatic photos. He has given recipes for dozens of drinks that include lime juice or a lime garnish. 

Here’s an intriguing example of one of John's recipes – the Last Word cocktail, which he  documented in 2012:
Photo from Kitchen Riffs blog.
The ingredients of this somewhat obscure cocktail are gin, green Chartreuse, Maraschino liqueur and freshly squeezed lime juice. Source: http://www.kitchenriffs.com/2012/09/the-last-word-cocktail.html

Blog post © 2022 mae sander.

22 comments:

  1. Economy is crazy. Very...

    Just got Genarro´s book, "Limoni" - can´t wait to try out his recipes!!

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  2. Didn't know anything about the sad state of the lime trade. Disturbing. BTW, thanks for the link love!

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  3. Well bummer :(

    I bought a bottle of that lime juice stuff and have been using it. I know, I know, but the limes went bad before I could use them.

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  4. All that sounds so criminal. I've heard some pretty bad things about El Salvador and gangsters not allowing college students go to school because they'll rob them (assuming rich)

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  5. How awful for the Mexican farmers and their families! What do the Mexicans want planted in their stead, drugs?

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  6. I knew about the avocado industry, but was unaware of the lime problem. This is absolutely criminal. I can't understand why we don't do more for these farmers instead of suspending imports. The last avocados I got was three weeks ago and they never ripened. Just wasted money on my part. Thanks for calling this to my attention, Mae.

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  7. Hello,
    It is sad and disturbing what is happening to the Mexican farmers.
    I like mixing lemon and lime juice with my water. Take care, have a happy new week!

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  8. Interesting. I don't do nearly as much with limes as lemons, which I consider a kitchen staple. That drink sounds good!

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  9. I love reading your posts. Giving information not readily or easily found for the everyday. There is sadness everywhere and it connects the world.

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  10. Yada, yada- getting quite tired (as most of us are) about the excuses for consistently rising prices of everything:( I'll gladly have a sip of that drink now. Happy T day!

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  11. I had read about the avocados but didn't know about the limes. I feel for the people in Michoacán who are trying to make a living with growing limes and avocados. It's hard enough without the drug cartels.

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  12. The poor people of Mexico. It seems they can't turn around without another cartel putting on the squeeze. Now limes. It explains why they want to come north. This was an interesting read Mae. I hope you enjoy a margarita or another fancy drink for T day if any catch your interested. Have a great week ahead and T day too. Hugs-Erika

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  13. Very interesting, Mae. I had no idea about the cartels, making problems for the farmers! I don't buy limes very often, but we buy a couple of avocados every week. Usually anywhere from 49 cents to a dollar. That is same price for a while, now. Perfect post for T DAy.

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  14. Very interesting, Mae. The limes don't bother me too much, but don't mess with my avocados. The economy, grocery store prices, evail around the world is very troubling right now. We probably all need to by stock in companies that make anti-anxiety drugs. Happy T-day. Hugz

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  15. Fabulous and I'd love to try that drink 😁. Happy T Day! Hugs Jo x

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  16. We don’t hear any of this in the UK - I had no idea that there were criminal gangs involved with avocados or limes. Happy T Day, Chrisx

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  17. We don’t hear any of this in the UK - I had no idea that there were criminal gangs involved with avocados or limes. Happy T Day, Chrisx

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  18. We don’t hear any of this in the UK - I had no idea that there were criminal gangs involved with avocados or limes. Happy T Day, Chrisx

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  19. I had no idea this was happening in Mexico. How sad.
    Belated happy T-Day,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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  20. I prefer limes over lemons (although we like them both). I always have a bag of limes in the fridge. That's a crazy problem going on in Mexico with cartel interference driving up the price of limes. I hope they wont tamper with them and make them unsafe to eat. Scary.

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