Empty supermarket shelves of spinach: what’s going on?
Have you noticed it too? Buying fresh spinach at the supermarket is more difficult than avoiding the TikTok queues in the Negen Straatjes in Amsterdam. The reason: the huge amount of rainfall recently. As a result, spinach is being completely washed away. Other (leafy) vegetables are also suffering from the changeable weather, such as lettuce and onions. What now?
This isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with spinach shortages on supermarket shelves. At the end of 2020, for example, the climate was so unpredictable (very hot and very wet) that spinach grew either too quickly or too slowly. A shame if, like me, you’re just craving a spinach salad (tip: this lukewarm spinach and carrot salad with lentils).
Neither sowing nor harvesting spinach
It’s not just sowing that’s a problem; harvesting is also difficult on soaking-wet farmland. My mood isn’t improving much either, but I don’t think this is the place for that. Anyway: some growers have already tried sowing spinach several times, without success. It just isn’t working. Harvesting is also a problem, because there’s a risk of mould or discoloured leaves. The latter doesn’t necessarily affect the taste. The problem, however, is that supermarkets only want to buy perfect, green spinach.
Frozen spinach
So buying fresh spinach at the supermarket is now (almost) not an option. Jumbo, Plus and Albert Heijn all say they are experiencing supply problems. This will probably last for several weeks, because harvesting spinach at this time of year takes around five weeks. Let’s just hope the weather improves soon, so it can be sown again and things will be a little more cheerful at home too.
Still want to eat spinach? Frozen spinach and creamed spinach are not affected by the crazy weather. They were grown earlier and can be stored for longer.
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