Climate change has hit your salad bowl.
Weather weirdness In the last few weeks (and expected to continue until Christmas) has drastically reduced the volume and quality of lettuce available on grocery shelves. And since about 90% of the lettuce consumed in the US comes from California and Arizona, the prices are skyrocketing.
First came soil viruses in the Salinas Valley CA, then water allocations were drastically cut in Huron CA. Next came heat in Yuma AZ, which hit early in the season and caused lettuce to bolt and develop a seed stem. Heads were smaller and volumes down. Then as a final blow, came the cold. Growth in Yuma is down, and harvest is delayed.[1]
So what can you do? You don’t have to buy scrawny heads of lettuce with brown edges. You don’t even have to buy lettuce at all.
You can make your salads with all kinds of crunchy leafy greens, fruits, and vegetables. Here’s a short shopping list for you:
- Kale – the younger and smaller, the better
- Collard greens
- Chard
- Spinach
- Bok Choy
- Arugula
- Apples and pears
- Cabbage – green, red, napa cabbage
- Celery root
- Fennel bulb
- Sprouts and micro greens – grow your own, just remember to use good food safety precautions. And if you or a family member is pregnant, sprouts are off the table.
The best thing you can do is to reduce your dependence on supermarket lettuce and plan for spring foraging and gardening. Just a few of the early greens you might find in your own yard are Miner’s Lettuce, Chickweed, Purslane, and Dandelion.
For home gardeners, nothing beats seed catalogs arriving in January. Whether you plant in pots, raised beds, or in the ground, greens and herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow.
[1] Yuma, Arizona region offers up its own challenges for lettuce supplies, https://www.freshplaza.com/north-america/article/9482684/yuma-arizona-region-offers-up-its-own-challenges-for-lettuce-supplies/