California's farming community, which grows nearly all of America's processing tomatoes, is facing a challenging harvest season due to drought, inflation, and supply chain issues, forecasting a potential shortage of products like ketchup, salsa, and pasta sauce. The drought has led to a decrease in planted and harvested processing tomatoes, exacerbated by inflation, which has increased the cost of production by nearly 20%. Severe drought conditions and extreme heat have affected farming since 2018, leading to reduced harvests in successive years. This situation, coupled with the pandemic's effects on global stockpiles of tomato products, raises concerns about the availability of these staple food items.