Yes, you read that correctly – this week will be devoted to strange associations to this monster of a bill, as they pop into my head. And they are not about low hanging fruit but real consequences for large and vulnerable populations in our country.

One thought that came to mind when reading the analysis of how the bill surreptitiously (or not so surreptitiously) guts healthcare is that people need to eat more fruit to ensure strong immune systems. Not that they will have the money to buy those fruit because climate change has affected the prices – we see a steady increase.

Changes in climate are decimating citrus fruit groves, apple orchards, avocado farms. Factors involved are increased heat; increased chill; fires; floods; increased frequency and strength of storms, to name a few.

https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/climate-change-what-it-means-for-fruits

Link below outlines the CA fire damage to orchards.

Back to buying fruit, now more expensive due to climate related shortages: even though the USDA strongly encourages people on food stamps to buy more fruit and vegetables (healthier, though less filling,) the folks who gave us the tax bill also plan to cut food stamps by 20 % over the next ten years.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tax-bill-entitlement-programs_us_5a280417e4b02d3bfc371f17.

I guess we will have to resign ourselves to seeing fruit not as the real thing, but in abstract representations: check out these Japanese shelters.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/konagai-japan-fruit-shaped-bus-stops

Or visit a banana museum:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/international-banana-club-museum

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bananenmuseum

Or stay in a fruit shaped guest house at some fancy Asian resort:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/banphasawan

And just think how many people will profit from the tax bill, so they can stay at the above resort in Thailand… (the very ones who had the funds to stay there all along.)