10 Food Shortages Utah And Nevada Need To Know About ASAP

The holiday season is quickly approaching and for Utahns who are regulars at the grocery store, the food shortages are apparent.  

It seems like since the Covid-19 pandemic, varying degrees of product shortages have just become a regular part of life. It is a sad truth that food shortage announcements are no longer surprising.  

Because there are several reasons and cycles of food shortages, being prepared ahead of time for the holiday season would be smart. According to Rivera Produce on the East Coast, there are 10 items to watch out for this holiday season.  

Some of these have alternatives, and some don’t so get them as early as you can if you know you will need them. One other important factor is that many of the product shortages are staple foods in most houses.  

Butter 

Apparently, there is a butter shortage expected this year. Rivera Produce said that there was a lower milk production in 2023, and the stored butter is at its lowest since 2017. This equates to butter being about 65 cents more than last year.  

Oranges 

Well, we all know that Florida has been dealing with some awful weather to say the least. As one of the biggest orange growing regions in the world, it makes sense that oranges may be a bit harder to come because of the hurricane damage over the last few years.  

Corn 

This beloved food may not have a shortage per say but it will be more expensive according to Rivera Produce. With Ukraine still being in the middle of a war and a huge corn exporter, it makes sense.  

Flour/Bread 

Both Russia and Ukraine are a bit busy and being a large part of the worlds flour producers, the prices have gone up. Rivera Produce also said climate change has been decreasing crop yield.  

Champagne 

A holiday favorite, especially at New Year’s may be difficult to find. No, this isn’t your sparkling wine but the expensive stuff. Grape harvests have been down and when champagne demand dropped in 2021, so did production. It takes over a year for a proper bottle to be made so it's not like they can just quickly produce the stuff.  

Beer 

Because of the rising price of aluminum, beer has become more expensive. No more super cheap brewskis for Utah. There have also been crop yield issues from drought.  

Eggs 

You may have noticed at your local Harmon’s that the egg section is looking a little...bare. Well, a lot of that has to do with an avian flue that hit U.S. suppliers that they are still trying to recover from. Not only are certain eggs hard to get but the price of eggs is also high.  

Vegetable Oils 

Again, Ukraine and Russia having conflict is impacting world production of vegetable oils. They grow most of the world’s sunflower seeds, but things aren’t looking up. Other places like Canada and Indonesia are suffering from climate change impact crop production, Rivera Produce said.  

Beef 

Due to Texas having a drought, cattle/beef production was altered. Basically, they need to replenish the herds so beef will be a bit expensive this year. Maybe stick with that Thanksgiving Turkey and away from red meat.