---
[ ARCHIVE ](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive)
# The Great Pumpkin Shortage: Spooky Weather Patterns are to Blame
October 22 2015
Written by Emily Schwartz Greco.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
OTHER WORDS-Pumpkin fever is back. The latest bout of this seasonal disorder has infected Hostess Twinkies and moved [Starbucks](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/08/17/starbucks-adds-pumpkin-pumpkin-spice-latte/31860123/) to put a smidge of real pumpkin in its pumpkin spice lattes. Previously, the ubiquitous coffee purveyor used a common ploy: It evoked agrarian and holiday nostalgia with artificial food coloring, a cloying mix of spices, and loads of sugar.
Whether you’re hooked on making your own pumpkin coffee with a blob of the canned stuff or just want to avoid a last-minute scramble before baking a Thanksgiving pie or two, you better stock up now.
The Libby’s canned food company says that [overly wet weather](http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/10/just_enough_pumpkin_to_get_thr.html%20) near its Morton, Illinois factory halved this year’s harvest. The quintessentially American brand — in reality a division of Nestle SA, a sprawling Switzerland-based food conglomerate — produces the bulk of our nation’s pumpkin puree. And it buys all of its pumpkins from dozens of family farms located near its only packing plant.
In fact, the imminent pumpkin shortage is only the latest example of how changing weather patterns are endangering some of our favorite foods and drinks. Thanks for nothing, global warming. If this is news to you, try this sampler plate:
According to *The Guardian*, a “coffee catastrophe beckons as climate change threatens \[the\] Arabica plant” from Brazil to Burundi.
*Salon* has declared that “climate change could mean the end of chocolate” due to drier weather in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
And the click-baiting *Upworthy* has warned that “climate change has crossed the line. It’s ruining beer now,” by endangering the hops supply.
Despite the vulnerability seen from time to time in Illinois — Libby’s ran into the same problem in 2009 — pumpkin is more versatile and less imperiled than those other specialty crops required for treats and libations.
What we call pumpkins are just varieties of winter squashes. Native to the Americas, they were among the first plants cultivated in this hemisphere. [Originating in Mexico](http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2179-the-pumpkin-an-ancient-mexican-native-la-calabaza-grande) at least 7,000 years ago, this nutritious staple was widely cultivated by indigenous people long before English settlers[ landed at Jamestown](http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/autumn09/pumpkins.cfm).
Yet the machines smashing pumpkins in Libby’s sole factory can only accommodate a single kind of squash not grown elsewhere. Hauling different ones from other areas to cook, peel, seed, mash, and can wouldn’t work without planning ahead.
If the Libby’s label disappears from your grocer’s shelves before Thanksgiving, why not make a pumpkin pie from scratch? Choose a hard-skinned squash that wouldn’t make a good jack-o-lantern, because those big carving pumpkins are usually stringy and inedible. Small orange “sugar” or “pie” pumpkins taste better, as do blue hubbards and many other kinds you’ll find at farmers’ markets this time of year.
Even the Dickinson variety that Libby’s stuffs into that can you probably rely on to make your mother’s pumpkin pie recipe looks nothing like what you probably picture. Oblong with pale peach-toned skins, it’s more akin to butternut squash.
There are some alternatives to Libby’s that will help meet any excess demand created by the bad Illinois harvest. Trader Joe’s sources its house-branded puree from Oregon family farmers who have a [bumper crop](http://www.farmersmarketfoods.com/no-pumpkin-shortage-for-farmers-market-foods/) on their orange-stained hands this year. That may help the grocer meet its customers’ demands for the pumpkin dog treats, crackers, cheese, and body butter it sells.
“OK, we really have a thing for pumpkins,” the offbeat chain confessed in the October edition of its *Fearless Flyer* newsletter. “It’s true, we’ll add pumpkin to anything.”
*(Emily Schwartz Greco is the managing editor of OtherWords, a non-profit national editorial service run by the Institute for Policy Studies.* [OtherWords.org](http://otherwords.org).*) Prepped for* CityWatch *by Linda Abrams.*
*-cw*
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 86
Pub: Oct 23, 2015
{module \[1177\]}
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Last Name
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33444-lahsa-is-gone-but-the-homeless-industrial-complex-lives-on)
### [LAHSA Is Gone, but the Homeless-Industrial-Complex Lives On](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33444-lahsa-is-gone-but-the-homeless-industrial-complex-lives-on)
HOMELESSNESS - Los Angeles’s homelessness program is in complete disarray, undermined by systemic gridlock, structural…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33434-karen-bass-trails-in-reelection-race-can-she-turn-it-around)
### [Karen Bass Trails in Reelection Race — Can She Turn It Around?](https://www.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33434-karen-bass-trails-in-reelection-race-can-she-turn-it-around)
WESTSIDE - As of September 27, 2026, Karen Bass is in a substantially weaker position than she was entering the June pr…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/finance/33442-the-settlement-bill-nobody-is-managing-inside-los-angeles-countys-sheriff-litigation-tab)
### [The Settlement Bill Nobody Is Managing — Inside Los Angeles County's Sheriff Litigation Tab](https://www.citywatchla.com/finance/33442-the-settlement-bill-nobody-is-managing-inside-los-angeles-countys-sheriff-litigation-tab)
THE NAVARRO REPORT - Last month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $12.5 million settlement over t…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/housing/33413-with-national-implications-corporate-landlords-take-aim-at-three-pro-rent-control-campaigns-in-california)
### [With National Implications, Corporate Landlords Take Aim at Three Pro-Rent Control Campaigns in California](https://www.citywatchla.com/housing/33413-with-national-implications-corporate-landlords-take-aim-at-three-pro-rent-control-campaigns-in-california)
HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT - Corporate landlords and their high-powered lobbying group, the California Apartment Associat…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/voices/33431-the-unflinching-daily-horror-in-the-west-bank)
### [The Unflinching Daily Horror In The West Bank](https://www.citywatchla.com/voices/33431-the-unflinching-daily-horror-in-the-west-bank)
THE WEST BANK - More often than not, I find myself at a loss for words to convey Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the rele…
---
## [ ARCHIVE ](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive/15339-early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles)### [Early Intervention and Jobs are Key to Stemming Chronic Homelessness in Los Angeles](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive/15339-early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles)
### [Tucker Carlson and Gay Rightwinger Blame California Wildfires On Hiring LGBTQ People](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive/18755-tucker-carlson-and-gay-rightwinger-blame-california-wildfires-on-hiring-lgbtq-people)
### [Anti-LGBTQ Veep Just Can’t Stop Talking about Mayor Pete](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive/17690-anti-lgbtq-veep-just-can-t-stop-talking-about-mayor-pete)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive/15316-news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties)### [NEWS PULSE: ‘Corrupt System’ Reason for Not Voting in 2018 … Majority Wants More Than Two Parties](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive/15316-news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive/10245-dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles)### [Dead Dog Set on Fire … Sparks Fears for Strays in Los Angeles](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive/10245-dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles)