Serious Food Shortage Expected to Impact New York’s Holiday Baking Season

New Yorkers are being urged to stockpile a key ingredient needed for their favorite seasonal baked goods.

First it was a toilet paper shortage that morphed into a paper towel shortage in 2020. Then, we were hit with the great egg shortage the following year that continues to this day.

Now there's to be a shortage of cows ahead of the holiday season. Whats going on here?

From Martha Stewart's lips to your ears, she's urging her fans to start stockpiling butter now.

You heard right: butter!

Chances are you've already noticed it's become a little more expensive over the past few weeks and, like me, probably chalked it up to price gouging ahead of the holidays.

While price gouging is technically illegal, most Americans are somewhat unfazed by ridiculous jumps in food prices after dealing with it over the past five-ish years.

At this point, it's like a fact of life... like taxes and death.

So Why Will There Be a "Butter Shortage"?

Great question! Apparently, it's because cows are not producing as much milk as before.

Martha explains, "The uptick in butter prices is largely due to the decrease in milk supply, which is a result of diseases in dairy cows in Europe."

Sounds like what happened when avian influenza began culling millions of chickens in the United States - a problem that persists to this day and continues to drive up prices.

Martha explains that this latest dairy issue isn't affecting the price of milk because demand of it remains low (think all the other "milk" options up for grabs) but the same can't be said for butter.

I Can't Believe It's All about Butter

What's even worse is the milk shortage is forcing farmers to be more selective about their available products.

Since supplies are limited and milk is required to make many ingredients, dairy farmers are opting to produce more profitable products—such as cheese.

Cheese is a year-round staple, so it's understandable why cheese prices are remaining somewhat stagnant.

The same can't be said for butter, which becomes the produce golden child around the holidays.

This means as less butter is being made to favor cheese production, butter prices will cut deeper into our wallets this holiday season.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), butter prices have risen to $3 per pound, up 15 percent from last year due to fewer cows and less milk produced.

Brand name butter is selling for nearly $6 a package in New Hartford, but family members in Connecticut say they're forking over $8! It seems the full force of the price jumps haven't hit New York yet... but we all know it's coming.

Demand for butter has already started and is expected to grow stronger as we head into the holiday baking season.

Those pies, pierogies, pastas, popcorn, and potato dishes aren't going to make themselves!

When Will the Madness End?

Hold onto your toilet paper, eggs, and butter - because it seems no one knows the answer to that.

That's because no one can predict when a mysterious cow disease will magically go away, right?

Riviera Produce, a restaurant food distributor serving New Jersey, thinks this latest butter crisis will stick around "at least for another few months" as of their notice posted late last month.

The article also cites "worker shortages at several U.S. dairy farms" in addition to lower-than-expected milk production as the cause of the shortage.

Pair that with inflation, they say that's the reason why getting some Kerrygold or Land o Lakes is so pricey right now.

Read More: Over 1,500 Lose Jobs after Massive NY Facility Abruptly Closes

Riviera Produce adds it's not just butter that'll be in short supply during the holidays.

They estimate 10 other foods in all will also start disappearing from shelves or go up exponentially in price.

Here are 10 other foods they say will be "hard to get in 2024" - are you ready

Basically... the most popular foods around the holidays, am I right?

Interestingly enough, the article did say there's a cow shortage.

Last year, a drought in Texas resulted in less grass feed for cows. At the same time, alternative feeds were expensive, so farmers sold their cattle earlier than anticipated. Their female cows were unable to have new calves, so we won’t see as many cows available for slaughter until the herds replenish.

Isn't that something? Love that we came full circle.

Anyways, if you must have your bubbly, bread, beef, and butter this holiday season - it's probably a good idea to stock up now or budget ahead before prices get really ugly.

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