Lettuce Is Best Best Buy of the Week : Florida Sweet Corn Brought In to Meet Market Demand

Lettuce tops the list of good values in the vegetable department this week, but it has plenty of company with many vegetables in plentiful supply, the Fresh Produce Council said.

The biggest exception to this within the vegetable category is sweet corn. Supplies from Coachella have not met the demand, and Florida corn has been brought in. The next California area to move into corn production will be the Irvine area between Saturday and next Thursday, followed by the Arvin area. In order to have a truly abundant corn situation, two production areas within the state will need to overlap.

Mushroom supplies continue to be good, with movement better than average for this time of year. Prices are reasonable and quality is very good.

The Salinas Valley is providing excellent supplies and outstanding quality broccoli, cauliflower and celery.

Carrots and cucumbers continue to be reasonably priced with steady supplies.

Asparagus from Washington state has excellent quality and prices remain very good for consumers.

Potato production on the Centennial Russet variety out of Bakersfield has begun, but is off to a fairly slow start due to cool weather. As temperatures warm up, the potatoes will mature quickly and plentiful supplies of good quality fresh potatoes will be available.

The onion situation remains steady across the category.