Food shoppers in Turkey are now experiencing sticker shock when they go out to buy tomatoes. The humble staple of Turkish cooking has now become a luxury item, with prices per kilo reaching nine Turkish lira (about $6), up several hundred percent from only a few weeks ago.
Due to a combination of bad weather and an attack by a plant-destroying moth, Turkey's late-summer and early fall tomato harvest has taken a serious hit. So serious that the country -- the world's number 3 exporter of tomatoes -- is being forced to import hothouse tomatoes from Holland. To put things in perspective, imagine the Dutch resorting to importing erstatz Gouda cheese from Turkey. Today's Zaman has the full scoop on Turkey's tomato crisis here.
Tomatoes, have also been in the news in Turkey for other reasons. More details here.
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