Florida cold snap could impact Alabama grocery prices

MONTGOMERY, Ala. ( WSFA ) - At Sweet Creek Farm, a popular stop for fresh fruits and vegetables, owner Reed Ingram, who also serves as a Republican state representative for Alabama House District 75 (Pike Road and parts of Montgomery County), said he’s seeing shortages and wholesale prices he has never experienced in a decade in the business. “Today, we’re having a lot of problems getting produce because the produce is so scarce,” Ingram said. Ingram said this time of year, about 90% of the produce his business sells typically comes from Florida, where warm-season crops start earlier than in other parts of the country. But he said a late frost just weeks before Easte r damaged crops across the state. “It killed everybody’s tomatoes and killed everybody’s corn, peppers,” Ingram said. Because Florida’s early-season harvest helps supply much of the Southeast, he said the loss ripples through markets and restaurants well beyond the farms themselves. Ingram said Sweet Creek Farm used ...