Egyptian artichokes are hurting producers in Italy

Egypt is kicking Sicilian artichokes to the curb: Sicilian purple artichoke producers are being swamped by produce from Egypt, according to Fresh Plaza. One producer says “prices are very low (for the Purple variety) because the domestic produce is being replaced by the Egyptian one. Markets and stores are literally flooded with large quantities of artichokes from Egypt, which are cultivated at a much lower cost.” He says Egypt artichokes are pushing prices below the cost of domestic produce. (We still won’t eat the things, happy as we may be about an export success story…)