Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

·     Opportunity:Hydroponic farming. Prices of produce have been steadily increasing due to climate change and extreme temps/weather causing farmers to yield less crops.

-      Who: Consumers of produce in America 

-      What:They are having to pay higher prices for fresh produce. 

-      Why:Climate change is a causing the prices of produce to increase.

·     Testing the Who: Not only are consumers in America affected but more so are the third world countries with extreme poverty. They will often forgo fresh fruits and vegetables all together to make ends meet. Farmers are also being affected with lower crop yields due to extreme weather from climate change such as massive flooding etc. 

-      Sources: 

1.    https://www.wfp.org/stories/how-high-food-prices-affect-worlds-poor

2.    https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/05/30/extreme-weather-is-pummeling-midwest-farmers-are-deep-trouble/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5f7b1a8893ad

·     Testing the What: Essentially all crops are currently being affected but not necessarily all are experience a negative impact. Some types of crops are actually benefitting from the longer growing seasons due to warmer temps but with the warmer temps also comes extreme weather such as droughts and flooding. Among the top two most affected staple crops of the world are wheat and corn.

-      Sources

1.    : https://www.nationalgeographic.com/climate-change/how-to-live-with-it/crops.html

2.    https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/10/25/658588158/5-major-crops-in-the-crosshairs-of-climate-change

·     Testing the Why: Produce prices are increasing due to the speeding up of climate change caused by our CO2 emissions and other gasses contributing to the greenhouse effect. Crops are being affected and farmers are unable to produce enough yields to sell there produce for cheaper prices. There are still those who believe climate change is not real or not a big enough threat to our environment and they may blame the increased prices on taxes or inflation which could also be a contributing factor to the price hikes. 

·     Interview #1: Female upper middle class. This person definitely notices the price hikes in produce but relates it more to seasonal differences. She believes it’s more expensive in the winter because the produce has to be imported from other states and overseas and cheaper in the summer because more of the produce is grown locally. Due to this she purchases less produce in the winter months. Higher prices are an issue for her but it does not prevent her from buying because she has enough income. 

·     Interview #2: Male lower class and disabled.He relies on money from a disability check to purchase his food so he has to be very careful with spending so as to make it last for the entire month. He notices the price hikes on a regular basis because of his limited income so he mainly purchases frozen or canned vegetables to make ends meet. 

·     Interview #3: Male middle class. He notices the increase in produce prices but it doesn’t really affect his purchasing of it because he is very into health and fitness so he is willing to pay the higher prices to maintain his healthy diet. He does not have any children to support so this also affects his decision. He does not associate the price increases with climate change but more with inflation.

·     Interview #4: Female middle class. She is very aware of the price increases in produce. She has a family of four to feed so she relies heavily on purchasing frozen vegetables in bulk from Sam’s Club instead of fresh produce to save money. She would prefer to buy fresh produce but it is not feasible to do on a daily basis and pay all her bills. She associates the price raises with import fees and believes we should be relying less on foreign countries for our produce and growing more locally. 

·     Interview #5: Male student. He is aware of high produce prices. He used to go grocery shopping for fresh produce but was barely able to pay all his bills as well as grocery shop. Due to this he purchased the meal plan from his university because it was much cheaper than shopping on his own and he was able to have access to a variety of fresh produce this way without having to pay the steep prices of a grocery store. 

·      Given your interviews, what do you know about the opportunity that you didn't know before?  After the interviews I conducted I realized that financial class as well as family circumstances plays a huge role in individuals who are affected by price increases in produce. Lower-middle to lower class individuals seem to be much more affected by it. However, there are exceptions to this. If individuals are in the middle to upper-middle class financial bracket and have a large family to support this can also affect their spending patterns on produce. Food preferences are another factor that seem to affect spending decisions. The final realization I came to is that most people do not associate price raises in produce with the effects of climate change yielding lower crop productions. Most people associate it with taxes, tariffs, and inflation.