Crop disease is ravaging lettuce fields in the Salinas Valley
Don’t look now — the price of lettuce is soaring across the Bay Area.
It’s $5.99 for a head of romaine at Country Sun Natural Foods in Palo Alto. Nearly $10 for little gem lettuce at Draeger’s Market in Los Altos. And a whopping $10.99 for iceberg at Piedmont Grocery in Oakland.
Nationwide, the average cost of a head of romaine is currently just $2.50, according to federal data. But that’s still a 47% jump from October. Produce prices can vary widely across regions and even individual stores due to a range of factors, including local seasonal growing trends and the contracts grocers can negotiate with farmers and suppliers.
The reason for the spike? It’s not just inflation and supply-chain problems.
Crop disease is ravaging lettuce fields in Salinas Valley — the “Salad Bowl of the World” — causing a shortage across the country. And as farmers and researchers desperately search for a remedy for the insect-spread virus, shoppers, grocers and restaurant owners are left to face the sticker shock.
“Seven dollars for a head of lettuce — iceberg lettuce, not the fancy stuff?” said Candice Schwab in disbelief as she pushed her shopping cart down the produce aisle at the high-end Draeger’s. “It’s outrageous.” . . . more
I'm not that fond of lettuce, so I'm willing to go without for a while. It's other things that concern me, food staples that nobody likes to do without that are rising outrageously in price.
I spend $8 per dozen eggs and $14 per gallon of milk.
It's about $3.50/doz for large browns and about $5/gallon in the northeast. I think the uncaged/free range? eggs are about $6/doz here.
cage free
Doesn't mean cage free, it just means the cage has a door the birds have access to. Doesn't need to be open or unlocked.
Pasture raised + Organic
Is the one you want.
Crop disease
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