A good time to stock up the spice drawer

There’s an elephant in the room that home cooks in the US cannot ignore: the effect that tariffs might have on their grocery bills. Most of the herbs and spices used in American kitchens come from outside of the US, so it’s wise to stock up on these items (as well as other flavorings like vanilla beans or extract) before higher prices put a dent in your food budget.

It’s interesting to note that while the farm-to-table movement embraced locally grown produce (including soft herbs), spices never received the same treatment even though it is possible to grow many of them here. After all, the continental US encompasses a wide range of climate zones so there are many things we could raise here. NPR had a story on this issue several years ago, noting that crops like galangal, saffron, ginger, coriander, and mustard could be grown in the US but aren’t for a host of reasons.

In 2023, Eater published an article indicating that there has been movement toward growing spices in the US but it’s still a nascent industry. And there are items such as vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg that would be difficult if not impossible to grow anywhere in the US except Hawaii. Even if we did have farms in Hawaii growing those things, it’s unlikely that small archipelago could produce enough to supply the entire country.

US residents have become accustomed to having the world’s produce at their fingertips at a relatively low price, but if trade wars intensify, it will become a lot more expensive to keep enjoying the same foods they have been eating cheaply for decades. Conversely, those items could become less expensive in other places as the US market is huge, and countries like China and India will look elsewhere to sell their farmers’ goods. If there is a glut of spices, people living in the UK, Europe, Australia, or New Zealand may be able to take advantage of discounted prices.