From Spain to Germany, Farmers Warn of Fresh Food Shortages

In his three decades growing strawberries and blueberries, Cristobal Picon has learned how to grapple with problems ranging from droughts and driving winds to floods and freezes. But this year, the coronavirus outbreak has proven too much.

Every spring, Picon’s fields in Huelva, on the Atlantic coast of Spain tucked between Seville and the border with Portugal, are normally teeming with some 200 workers mostly from Morocco and Romania pulling the delicate berries from the plants and packing them for shipment. But this year, there are fewer than 100, largely locals — and Picon has no clue how he’s going to get the harvest in.