A recent story published by The New Republic claims that various foods, popular especially during the Christmas holiday season, are declining due to climate change, perhaps soon to disappear from store shelves entirely. This is false. Despite the anecdotal tales told by The New Republic about specific farmers’ respective plights, UN data clearly demonstrate a substantial growth in the production of each of the crops discussed over the past 35 years of global warming.
In the story, “Climate Change Is Coming for Your Favorite Holiday Foods,” New Republic intern Rachel Kahn writes, “Chocolate, vanilla, coffee, cinnamon: The ingredients for your favorite holiday foods are becoming increasingly harder to grow because of climate change.” If true, that would be news to the world market for these foods, each of which have seen substantial production growth since 2000 and before.
Climate Realism has repeatedly refuted past media claims that climate change is causing a decline in coffee and cocoa production, here, here, here, and here, for a few examples, and so we won’t spend further time on these thoroughly debunked claims, other than to point out, FAO data show that since 1990:
- Cocoa production has grown by more than 157 percent;
- In the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), cocoa bean production increased by more than 194 percent (nearly doubling, and setting a new record in 2023);
- In Ghana, cocoa bean production expanded by 122 percent;
- And in Nigeria, cocoa bean production grew by almost 17 percent.
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