The US sugar industry, a $14.9 billion behemoth that supports over 140,000 good American jobs, has had a rough go of it lately.
First there are the tariffs and trade wars, which are harming American farms in all kinds of ways.
Then there’s the sudden, widespread crackdown on soda and junk food, which of course further reduces demand for sugar.
Add to that the general negative economic outlook, even in previously bright spots like Texas, and – well – things don’t look good.
Bad to worse
Unfortunately, the hits keep coming – with two factory closures that will cause big disruptions.
The first is the permanent shutdown of the Spreckels sugar beet refinery in California, which wraps up at the end of this year’s harvest. This was the last refinery on the West Coast, meaning that local farmers – lacking a nearby place to drop off their crops and unable to pay to have them shipped to other states for processing – will likely have to abandon the crop in future years.
To make matters worse, the Domino Sugar factory in Yonkers, New York just announced that it’s winding down operations by the end of the year. It’s a sad state of affairs when a refinery that’s been operating for 130 years disappears forever.
Moving forward
The US sugar industry has been in a gradual decline for years due to global competition, and unfortunately this double-whammy of bad news is not going to change that trajectory.
So it’s left to us to think of the impacted workers and communities.
If you have ideas for how to support them into this next phase, please leave a comment and share.
Links on this page may be affiliate links, for which the site earns a small commission, but the price for you is the same
Leave a Comment