The great lettuce shortage of 2018

TacosOtherHalf

Post   » Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:02 pm


While romaine is still not back on out store shelves people have been buying out all the red and green leaf lettuce in my area. The stores have also raised rates by more than double for the lettuce for the 2 hours a week it's on the shelves. I live in a small town and there's not a lot of variety although I do have access to radicchio at $4/lbs. My pigs will run out of veggies tomorrow and I have searched all the stores in town for lettuce and asked when their new shipments come in. Unfortunately, as of currently it'll be about a week before I see any progress in the lettuce department. Should I just replace their usual 1 1/2 cups green and red leaf with radicchio? Or should I just feed more pellets than usual and supplement them with the bell pepper and herbs I usually feed with a bit of radicchio each day?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:12 pm


I'd increase the radicchio, but I wouldn't give the whole allotment.

Can you get any salad mixes that don't have romaine?

TacosOtherHalf

Post   » Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:44 pm


Unfortunately, there aren't any mixes without romaine in the grocery stores around here. I didn't even realize that was a thing! The only pre-made boxes of lettuce left are just spinach or an iceberg lettuce mix. I immediately counted both out.

User avatar
GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Wed Dec 05, 2018 12:34 pm


We're having a problem finding organic red & green leaf lettuces. All the lettuce we do find is really small. Once in a while husband (who does the shopping) will run across some butter, otherwise we have to drive 50 miles up the road to find anything decent.

rjespicer

Post   » Wed Dec 05, 2018 1:30 pm


We stopped giving our girls romaine when there was the previous health scare. I know it is not that common everywhere but we also give things like Escarole, Endive and Watercress. They also get Wheat Grass but again that is not that common everywhere.

We seem to have been spared the great lettuce shortage in SF.

Are you in a position to grow your own? Ok I know it wont help in the short therm but it would provide a little bit of a buffer in future. Maybe I was lucky but when I was growing up in the UK my folks would grow their own fruit and veg (and have been doing so for 50+ years now) so we always had a steady supply, in fact in some cases more than we could eat.

https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/growin ... /8573.html

SSLee

Post   » Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:36 pm


@rjespicer, where do you find escarole in San Francisco? I have no problem locating red, green, and butter lettuces but no luck with escarole.

Some of the Costco stores now carry organic butter lettuce and if you are near Trader Joe, they have prepackage mixes including butter with radicchio. I get my endive and butternut squashes there also.

rjespicer

Post   » Wed Dec 05, 2018 4:54 pm


Gus's

They have 3 locations in SF, I have been able to pick it up from them when we are in the Haight but I would assume the other locations also have it.

https://gussmarket.com/market-locations/

They are also a good source of Wheatgrass.

On a sad side note it appears they are still no closer to tracking down who ever killed Gus in that hit and Run last year. He was a really nice guy.

SSLee

Post   » Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:56 am


Thank you for information and I will head on over on Saturday as I will be in the Haight area.

Yes, it is sad that the hit and run driver has yet to be tracked down. I am glad the family is continuing the store business.

User avatar
GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Fri Dec 07, 2018 1:33 pm


I have to be in Olympia next week. I'll check out Trader Joe's since we drive right by it. The girls might like a change of lettuces.

User avatar
Catie Cavy
Supporter 2011-2020

Post   » Sat Dec 08, 2018 12:04 pm


I went grocery shopping yesterday. My store finally had good stocks of a variety of lettuces available, including romaine. Unfortunately, most of it was selling for $3.99 a pound. I don’t every remember seeing the basic lettuces being that much. They were $1.99 per pound before this latest e coli outbreak.

User avatar
ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sat Dec 08, 2018 12:16 pm


Our local Aldi’s had mini artisan lettuces for $1.99. Four varieties in a plastic box. I think Aldi’s and Trader Joe’s are the same company. And Lund’s Byerly store has nice red and green leaf for $1.99. Our store has a local supplier who grows greenhouse lettuce with no chemicals and using only a fraction of the water that field grown lettuce needs. I couldn’t figure out how they could make a profit on something like that, but the e-coli issue sure turned the market around.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sat Dec 08, 2018 12:17 pm


That's a ridiculous price for lettuce. It doesn't sell by the pound here, but by the head. Even in the dead of winter it's usually no more than $1.29 a head,and in the summer it's either $.69 or $.79 per head.

Post Reply