You’ve probably noticed that prices on several lettuce varieties have gone astronomically high.
A package of three heads of romaine lettuce is selling for $15 in some New York City markets, and red leaf and green leaf heads are up to $5 each. Iceberg prices are out-of-control.
According to Bloomberg, a pound of romaine now costs over $3, up a staggering 61% from a year ago, making it the highest price since 2006.
This represents the most significant price increase for any food product.
Lettuce prices and shortages are also forcing restaurants to change their menus, eliminating lettuces in sandwiches and in salads.
Farmers are purposefully planting less lettuce and other specific crops because they don’t want to be faced with an excess, given the market’s instability since the pandemic. The price of fertilizer has increased, and the cost of transporting food has increased due to a lack of truck drivers, contributing to the financial strains and hazards facing the agriculture industry.
Inflation isn’t the only reason behind the high prices of lettuce. A terrible virus that is affecting lettuce fields and causing a significant loss of harvest for farmers has an impact on pricing.
Director of TriCal Diagnostics in Hollister, California, Steven Koike, claims that impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV) and pythium wilt have been detected in laboratory testing on lettuce plants. This is nothing new, but it is a big problem this year.
Around three summers ago, INSV affliction struck the Salinas Valley in California. According to Penn State University, INSV produces “wilting, stunting, stem death, yellowing, poor flowering, ‘chicken pox like’ sunken patches on leaves, etches, or ring marks on leaves.” Farmers must examine all plants for symptoms to ensure they don’t infect other crops. If a plant is infected, the virus must be contained to that specific crop as it can spread quickly from crop to crop and severely harm the harvest, leading to fewer crops, increased demand, and prices.
Unfortunately, this is now the case for most of the lettuce harvests farmed in the United States. Director of Produce Merchandising at Baldor Specialty Foods Kenneth Bower says that while things have worsened yearly, this year has been especially disastrous. He noted that the region’s hot summer weather enhanced the symptoms of the virus and that all local farmers are now impacted, and a large portion of the crop cannot be harvested. Bower claims that the virus has affected various crops, including iceberg, romaine hearts, green leaf, red leaf, butter, jewels, and artisan lettuces.
He added that other growing regions don’t start to kick in with a higher supply volume until around the second week of November. The grocery store could be a little gloomy with a scarcity of conventional lettuces and unheard-of costs through November. But as produce starts coming in from Yuma, Arizona’s growing region, shoppers should start seeing supplies increase again by December.
Thankfully, INSV does not affect all leafy vegetables.
Baldor Specialty Foods urges customers to be inventive with various greens that are now in greater supply. Bower added that tender leaf products are all in good supply and give the same or better health advantages than the lettuces everyone knows and loves. These include spring mix, baby spinach, baby kale, endive, hydro butter, wild arugula, and radicchio.
