Cafeterias Withhold the Lettuce
Luis Ortiz’s sandwich had ham, cheese and pickles. But something was missing from the lunch he bought for a dollar in Hollywood High School’s cafeteria: lettuce.
The 17-year-old junior frowned when he examined the sandwich through the plastic wrapping and noticed the green stuff was absent.
It was also missing from other sandwiches, salad bars and side dishes at many schools throughout California this week. With the worst lettuce shortage in 15 years and sharply rising prices, schools across the state have at least temporarily stopped or cut back on serving the leafy vegetable in all its crunchy and limp varieties.
The Los Angeles Unified School District, which reduced its normal weekly lettuce purchase of 50,000 pounds to 2,500, substituted with coleslaw, fruit, carrots or cooked veggies such as green beans.
Saddleback Valley Unified School District in Orange County turned to alternatives such as spinach.
Other districts such as Santa Monica Unified, Pasadena Unified and the Buena Park School District have done likewise or tossed a cheaper salad blend of lettuce mixed with cabbage. Some call it a “crisis blend,” said Buena Park food services clerk Maria Gross, who added: “I had some today and it was very good.”
Others have gone cold turkey.
Luis, however, did not care about the reasons or the replacements. He didn’t want to hear about predictions that lettuce may return in cafeteria fare in a few weeks. He wanted his lettuce now or a price cut.
“I’ve always paid a dollar and it comes with lettuce and tomato. And in the past few days they’ve started changing things.... I think they’re taking advantage of us,” he said.
Produce experts say prices may return to a reasonable level within a month and lettuce will once again add a hint of green to the normally dull-colored tuna sandwich or hamburger. Until then, schools and consumers will have to cope with prices that are four to five times higher than normal.
Rudy Rios, owner of Highland Produce in Orange County, which supplies lettuce to several Southern California school districts, said there is simply not enough available. He is selling a lot more shredded cabbage and carrot substitute, “but kids don’t like that,” he said. “They like the salads.”
Elizabeth Zamora, 15, had been craving a lunch salad with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms for three days. But every time the ninth-grader geared herself up for a healthy lunch in Gardena Senior High School’s cafeteria this week, she was disappointed. She passed by the hot vegetables and the raw carrots and celery.
Some classmates turned to snack machines, but not Zamora, who skipped lunch altogether.
“They should have more money for food,” Zamora said. “The salad’s the only thing that’s nutritious.”
Mayra Colindres, 40, a cafeteria worker at Hollywood High, said she feels bad because some students have complained.
“We who have children who eat in the cafeteria are really worried,” she said. “But I am not sure about those on the top. It seems like they don’t care. They say they are worried about the nutrition of our kids, but they keep on reducing the food.”
Crystal Espinoza, 16, a student at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, said that sandwiches and hamburgers just don’t taste the same without lettuce. “It’s dry,” she said.
Los Angeles Unified, which serves about 323,000 lunches, usually pays 42 cents a pound for lettuce but now is being charged $1.90 a pound, said Pearl Iizuka, deputy business manager.
The lettuce they can afford is reserved for salad bars in some middle or high schools. Other districts such as Bassett Unified and Hacienda La Puente in the San Gabriel Valley stopped serving it entirely.
“It is not only because of the price, but the quality,” said Carolyn Wells, director of food services for Bassett. “It is soggy, not a lot of weight to it.... I don’t want to offer my students anything that isn’t going to look right.”
A cold spell in Arizona this year stunted most lettuce crops there, delaying the winter harvest, said Jesus Valencia, a farm advisor for the University of California. California produces 50% of the nation’s lettuce, but its harvests won’t be ready for at least a month, he said.
Maggie Masch, associate director of the Center for Food and Justice at Occidental College, said students are more likely to eat healthy foods with a touch of lettuce to make them more appealing. If there is no lettuce, they may turn to less healthy alternatives such as pizza, she said.
But Carmen Rita Nevarez, a medical director for the Public Health Institute, an independent nonprofit group based in Berkeley, said lettuce is not the most nutritious vegetable, although it is a good source of fiber. She said the shortage could be a great opportunity for schools and youngsters to get creative.
“They don’t have to be a slave to lettuce,” said Nevarez. “Substitute a banana. Substitute a mango. I happen to love Brussels sprouts.”
*
Times staff writers Sufiya Abdur-Rahman and Daniel Yi contributed to this article.
