As Florida Citrus Collapse Continues, OJ A Symbol Of Today's Challenges - Obesity, Global Warming And Inflation

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But over the past two decades, orange juice has plummeted in popularity. Doctors say that the drink has as much sugar as a glass of soda, and they argue that juices in general are contributing to high rates of obesity and diabetes. At the same time, climate-change-fueled weather events and a bacterial disease have decimated orange groves in Florida and around the world.

In short, orange juice has increasingly moved from a symbol of health to a symbol of today’s challenges: inflation, disease and climate change. “Hurricanes hurt us more than any other place, and juice consumption has been going down,” said Tripti Vashisth, a professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida. “It’s just a changing time.”

This week, the Trump administration moved to change the Food and Drug Administration’s legal definition of orange juice from 10.5 percent dissolved solids (which are mostly sugar) to 10 percent. That small change was in response to two decades of struggle for citrus farmers in Florida, where a bacterial disease known as citrus greening disease, or huanglongbing, has devastated groves. The disease, which is spread by a small, invasive insect known as the Asian citrus psyllid, was first found in Florida orange groves in 2005. Once a tree is infected, it develops blotchy leaves and drops green, misshapen and bitter fruit too early. If exposed to the disease and under stress for too long, the tree can die.

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Still, the message — and rising costs — is spilling out into the wider public. Orange juice consumption has fallen by almost 50 percent in the United States over the past 20 years. Americans have gone from drinking six gallons of orange juice a year per person to less than three. Prices for concentrated orange juice have risen to $4.50 per 16 ounces, up from $2.70 a decade ago. At the same time, more and more Americans are skipping breakfast entirely.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/07/orange-juice-collapse-citrus-greening/