Thursday, January 12, 2023

Politics of Onions

Aloha Everyone,

Onion growers in the Philippines grow both white and red onions. Shortage of this essential commodity for restaurant and home consumption became headline news.

Onions require dry soil. Due to heavy rainfalls, last year’s crop was destroyed.

By July of 2022, local onion farmers reported the supply of white onions will be depleted before the holiday season. The government was informed, but failed to mitigate the upcoming problem of supply and demand. Prices of onion skyrocketed. J.J. was told at a restaurant that onion will be excluded from his hamburger and sorry, no onion rings.

Government’s importation of onion coincides with harvesting of new crops. Now an over supply of onions will impact the local growers profit margin.

A couple of days ago, an airline pilot brought back onions to his wife rather than a luxury gift from abroad.

Aloha -- Cathi