Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is the world’s most widely grown salad vegetable. It has been cultivated for at least 4,500 years, originating from a wild ancestor in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Today it comes in dozens of varieties grouped into broad types: crisphead (iceberg), cos or romaine, butterhead, and loose-leaf.
Each type has a distinct character. Iceberg is crunchy and mild, romaine is sturdy and slightly bitter (the classic Caesar salad lettuce), butterhead is soft and sweet, and loose-leaf varieties offer a range of colours, shapes, and flavours. Lettuce is overwhelmingly eaten raw in salads, sandwiches, wraps, and burgers, though it is occasionally cooked in soups and stir-fries in some food traditions.
In Australia, lettuce is available year-round thanks to production shifting between warmer and cooler growing regions with the seasons. It is one of the most commonly purchased fresh vegetables in the country.
How it's produced
Lettuce is a fast-growing, cool-season crop that is typically ready to harvest within six to ten weeks of planting, depending on the variety. It is grown from seed, either direct-sown or transplanted as seedlings, in open fields or under protective structures. Lettuce is also one of the most common crops grown hydroponically, particularly for loose-leaf and baby-leaf varieties sold in pre-packed salad mixes.
Harvesting is destructive — the whole plant is cut at the base. For head lettuces, this is done by hand or machine in the field. For baby-leaf and salad-mix products, mechanical harvesters cut the leaves, which may regrow for a second or third harvest. In Australia, major lettuce-growing regions include the Lockyer Valley in Queensland, Werribee and the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, and the Sydney Basin in New South Wales.
What it costs the planet (per kilo)
* Based on what it takes to produce, from farm to factory gate.
Keeping it
Keep it: in the fridge crisper drawer.
Advice from Cubud’s own keeping notes — how to keep it, not a measured number.
What comes from this
Your household's take
One thumb per person, shared with your household — it steers what the wider-web shelf and the swap chips offer you. Tap again to take it back.
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