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🍅 Inflation close to home | Morning Newsletter

And when Democrats disagree

    by Kerith Gabriel
    Published 

    The Morning Newsletter

    Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

Don’t let today’s rainy forecast fool you. We’re expected to have temperatures approaching the high 70s. And that rain? Not supposed to arrive until evening.

Today we add your favorite fruits and vegetables to the rising cost of everything due to inflation.

And Democrats running for Senate in Pennsylvania mostly agree on the issues. Here’s where they don’t.

— Kerith Gabriel (@sprtswtr, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Inflation is even hitting Philly’s fruit and vegetable wholesalers

That gala apple you put in your morning smoothie or pack for lunch might be costing you almost 6% more than it did this time last year.

The cost of fruits and vegetables jumped 5.6% over the 12 months that ended Jan. 31. That’s four times the average annual increase over the last 20 years, according to USDA data. Retailers and wholesalers are both feeling the pinch. Just ask the distributors at the massive Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market on Essington Avenue.

Costs are hitting just about every piece of produce in the warehouse. And apples? Apples could cost as much as a quarter more a pound by spring, according to Tom Kovacevich, one of the market’s 20 major distributors.

Other notable rising costs include:

🍗 Meat and poultry: up 12% over the same period last year, more than four times the 20-year average.

🛢️ Gasoline: up 40% over the last year.

🌾 Wheat: up 22% since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

🌽 Corn: up 7% since the Russian invasion on Ukraine.

The latter two are significant, considering that Russia and Ukraine account for 28% of the world’s wheat and 15% of corn exports. Our reporter Joseph N. DiStefano has more on these rising costs and why the running joke is now that “you need a loan to buy chicken breasts.”

What you should know today

  1. Ukraine says Russia has stepped up shelling of residential areas.

  2. A weekend of rallies and the Montco church where hundreds gathered to show support for Ukraine.

  3. Whether or not the 12-year-old boy who Philly police shot in the back was holding a gun remains a mystery.

  4. Penn State president Eric Barron reflects on eight years at the helm.

  5. How the most destructive nor’easter in Shore history primed beach towns for a building boom.

  6. A Cobbs Creek mother and son have been charged in the 2020 killing of a North Philadelphia man.

  7. And our columnist Elizabeth Wellington writes that seeing actors of color in Broadway classics such as Oklahoma makes it all the more realistic.

  8. Local Coronavirus Numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.

Democrats running for Senate largely agree on the issues. Here’s where they differ

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman believes he can unite rural working-class and progressive voters. U.S. Rep Conor Lamb says he can re-create Joe Biden’s 2020 coalition. North Philly native and State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta argues he can excite young voters and voters of color.

Democrats running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania spend a lot of time talking about why they’re the candidate who can win the state in a general election. But there’s significantly less discussion of policy differences.

Our reporter Julia Terruso looks at where the Democratic candidates agree and disagree.

🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠

This former Philly college hoops coach who we thought would never coach again is back at it — temporarily — at the University of Michigan, during Wolverines head coach Juwan Howard’s five-game suspension. Today’s question: Who’s at the helm for the Blue? Take a guess and find the answer here.

a. Larry Brown

b. Phil Martelli

c. Fran Dunphy

What we’re…

🤞🏾 Hoping: That something can be done to preserve this piece of history in North Philadelphia.

💦 Wondering: When did having a bidet in your home become the “it thing” to do, Philly?

👀 Viewing: These photos from Independence Visitor Center of a recreation of the Beatles’ famous 1969 rooftop concert.

🧩 Unscramble the Anagram 🧩

It’s said under an elm tree in this park, peace was found.

RENT KARP YENAPT

Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shoutout to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shoutout is to Sandy Brillhart from Imperial Beach, California (but formerly of Oxford Circle), who correctly guessed GRACE KELLY as last Friday’s answer.

Photo of the day

Thanks for letting me and The Inquirer get your day started. Here’s hoping you have a great week. Catch you tomorrow. ✌️