(CNN) — Midsummer is the peak of juicy peach season in the state of Georgia. But, recently, the Peach Cobbler Factory in Atlanta ran out of peaches and was forced to pivot to… apple cobbler.
The Peach State lost more than 90% of this year’s crop after a February heat wave followed by two late-spring frosts. The triple-whammy destroyed peach varieties specifically bred to survive different weather scenarios and wildly inflated prices of the fruit. It also moved much of the local market — in some cases, quite unwillingly — to California peaches.
But, beyond the toll this took on employment, the state economy, decades of tradition and restaurant menus, peaches are a matter of pride for Georgians. The peach is the state fruit. Its in the name of dozens of state roads. It’s even on the flip side of the Georgia state quarter. So, how embarrassing is this?
Imagine if New York had to import bagels from Los Angeles.
Worst harvest in decades
Some people just won’t do it. “Buying peaches from any other state is completely out of the question,” said Henryk Kumar, the director of operations at Georgia ice cream shops Butter & Cream. Their summertime staples Peaches & Cream and Georgia Peach Sorbet flavors debuted July 1, he said, but eat fast. He predicted they’ll run out before the end of the month.
CNN talked to farmers and agricultural groups who said they can’t remember a more devastated peach crop. “I was talking to [an older farmer] and he said 1955 was the last time he saw it this bad,” said farmer and peach grower Sean Lennon of Fitzgerald Farms in Woodbury, Ga. For the state, “Its a financial loss, but its much more than that.”
The shortage forced Lennon to lay off many of his workers, including migrant workers he brings in through an H2-A Visa program every year. He said he’s had to send workers who come to the US to support their families back to Mexico early due to lack of work.
Peach prices…
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