EDMONTON – The jump in fruit and vegetable prices isn't likely to spur major expansion of Alberta vegetable crops, but growers do expect a boost from increasing demand for produce raised close to home.
Drought in parts of the U.S. and the high value of the greenback helped push the price of fresh vegetables in the province 18.4-per-cent higher in January compared to January 2015, while the cost of fresh fruit was up 12 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
That led to such phenomena as $7 cauliflower in Edmonton stores, although prices have since eased back.
Eric Doef, a partner in Doef's Greenhouses near Lacombe, says they grow peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant and cucumbers in 4.5 hectares of greenhouses, so the price of cauliflower and other field vegetables doesn't affect them.
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