Title: There Might Be a Shortage of Lettuce, Experts Warn | Eat This Not That
Headings: A Shortage of This Popular Produce Is Looming, Experts Warn
A Shortage of This Popular Produce Is Looming, Experts Warn
Urvija Banerji
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Content: There Might Be a Shortage of Lettuce, Experts Warn | Eat This Not That
Groceries
A Shortage of This Popular Produce Is Looming, Experts Warn
Unseasonable weather has caused widespread lettuce crop losses in California. By Urvija Banerji
November 20, 2020
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You might not see many heads of lettuce in the grocery store crisper in the coming weeks—and your fast-food sandwich might be short a few shreds, too. A number of shortages plagued the country in 2020, including toilet paper, cranberries, and even foreign beer. Causes ranged from bankruptcy to lockdown stockpiling, but unusual weather is behind this latest shortage. ( Related: 8 Grocery Items That May Soon Be in Short Supply Again .) California experienced unseasonably hot weather earlier this year, which impacted the lettuce crop in the state. " We had two heat events in mid-August and early September," Richard Smith, a farm advisor for vegetable crop production at the University of California, tells Eat This, Not That!. " They did cause some quality issues, but the bigger issue is that they set off a disease on the lettuce that caused extensive crop loss." The outbreak of the disease, known as Pythium wilt, was unprecedented in its widespread severity.