Buy Fruit While You Can

While this is only a major problem in California, the winter is still young. There are still 3 more months through which Florida must remain freeze-free. If anything happens to those crops, we're in a lot of trouble. For the time being, expect prices to rise for citrus, strawberries and avocados. So far, this has cost $1 billion in crop destruction, and may amount to the worst such case in California's history. AP Reports:

Three nights of freezing temperatures have destroyed up to three-quarters of California's $1 billion citrus crop, according to an estimate issued Monday as forecasters warned the weather could continue.

Other crops, including avocados and strawberries, also have suffered damage in the cold snap, agricultural officials said.

"This is one of those freezes that, unfortunately, we'll all remember," said A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

The latest freeze will likely surpass the damage done by a three-day cold snap in December 1998 that destroyed 85 percent of California's citrus crop, a loss valued at $700 million, Kawamura said.