It’s one of the coldest summers on record, despite what people would have you believe. And that means less food:

It hasn’t been the coolest summer on record, but it’s been close, forecasters say.

The average temperature in July was 79 degrees, five degrees below normal, and the first eight days of this month also have been five to six degrees below normal, weather experts said.

Sounds nice right? Wrong:

But some plants could be affected by the cold nights and cooler mornings, Morganelli said. Citing only what she’s seen happening this summer at the Arboretum, where overnight lows have dipped into the mid-50s, Morganelli said she’s noticed more yellow in the leaves of some flowering plants, particularly roses.

“The fruits and vegetables, the tomatoes and a lot of the citrus and things like raspberries are not ripening up because it’s not getting hot long enough,” she said, adding that some fruit could taste less sweet because less sun means less sugar content.

Morganalli said she has picked just one fully ripened tomato so far from her own summer garden.

Not by Fire but by Ice.

Bummer for gardeners, but really bad news for consumers as agriculture struggles with the crops. Food inflation, as I’ve said over and over, is about to be your biggest concern, and access to nutritious fruits and vegetables are something we’ve learned to take for granted. Maybe not any more. Get prepared.

h/t Drudge