Reuters reported, “Across Northern and Western Europe, vegetable producers are contemplating halting their activities because of the financial hit from Europe’s energy crisis, further threatening food supplies.” Surging power and gas prices will impact crops grown through the winter in heated greenhouses, such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, and those that need to be placed in cold storage, such as apples, onions and endives.
“In 2021, we paid €100,000 for electricity,” declared a French endive producer on French radio station Europe1. “This year, I will pay not far from €200,000. And today, the proposal I got is €750,000 per year, provided I sign for three years. That is to say, I am asked to pay €2.2 million to my energy supplier....