So apparently you should not eat this

November 20, 2018 12:45 PM

CDC is advising that U.S. consumers not eat any romaine lettuce. In a rather stunning advisory, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are advising people not to eat romaine lettuce and to throw away any such lettuce they have on hand. The Public Health Agency of Canada has issues a similar warning. The reason: Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria. The CDC is advising that consumers do not eat any romaine lettuce because no common supplier or brand of romaine lettuce has been identified.
posted by GuyZero (95 comments total)

So it looks like it's a Boston or Iceberg kind of US Thanksgiving this year.
posted by GuyZero at 12:46 PM on November 20, 2018

merges this thread with yesterday's pun thread
posted by wellred at 12:51 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

merges this thread with yesterday's pun thread

lettuce... shut down your kidneys
posted by GuyZero at 12:53 PM on November 20, 2018 [11 favorites]

Romaine calm, GuyZero.
posted by wellred at 12:53 PM on November 20, 2018 [17 favorites]

The other day my wife texted me from the grocery store and asked if I needed anything and I said "get some lettuce for turkey sandwiches. Iceberg!" I suggested iceberg because I like the cool crispness in a sandwich. She texted back suggesting romaine because she likes it and it's crispy like iceberg and that's what she bought and now Thanksgiving is ruined.
posted by bondcliff at 12:56 PM on November 20, 2018 [32 favorites]

now Thanksgiving is ruined.

The CDC warning did not extend to ruined marriages or holidays, just the thing about toxic kidney failure.
posted by GuyZero at 12:58 PM on November 20, 2018 [6 favorites]

I'm making salad but
I'm kind of lazy
So here's some romaine
E. Coli maybe
posted by phooky at 1:02 PM on November 20, 2018 [65 favorites]

11 people got sick. This seems a little extreme
posted by fshgrl at 1:03 PM on November 20, 2018

The lady who runs the iceberg lettuce cartel is going to have a field day. She should Caesar opportunity while it lasts.
posted by Snowflake at 1:06 PM on November 20, 2018 [9 favorites]

This seems a little extreme

i mean. no one can actually prevent you, personally, from eating the doodoo lettuce if that is what you are determined to do. it's an advisory, not a declaration of martial law where the armed forces of the US will slaughter individual doodoo lettuce eaters.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:08 PM on November 20, 2018 [53 favorites]

11 people got sick. This seems a little extreme

32 cases including 13 hospitalizations on the US CDC site now. But I still do wonder what makes this different from one of those recalls where they just post it on their website and do nothing. Why is this the "throw everything away and sterilize your refrigerator!!" recall?
posted by salvia at 1:09 PM on November 20, 2018 [7 favorites]

because they don't know which supplier in which area the tainted lettuce is coming from, and in 2 days the entire US will be spending a full day eating together in large family groups all over the country? presumably?
posted by poffin boffin at 1:11 PM on November 20, 2018 [50 favorites]

Maybe it's the particular strain of E. coli, seems like a baddie.

Better leaf it on the shelf.
posted by wellred at 1:12 PM on November 20, 2018 [3 favorites]

11 people got sick. This seems a little extreme

I mean it is the sort of thing that could kill you.

My wife caught e. coli. last time around (we were disappointed that she didn't make it onto the CDC's map even though they gave her a call) and she was out of commission for a solid week. I'll happy make jokes about it but this a bit more than catching the sniffles.

UPDATE: She made it on the map! They just have a slow turnaround time, I guess. Looks like the summer outbreak killed 5 people and hospitalized 96. I suppose driving to work is riskier, but at least I can easily avoid lettuce.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 1:14 PM on November 20, 2018 [23 favorites]

I swear all the romaine in Ontario comes from southern California, the ubiquitous ANDY BOY, that motherfucker staring sullenly up from the black plastic spaghetti vegetable trays. Except the romaine from the farm gate sellers, in season.

I'll check the fridge, though my partner's away. I'm allergic to lettuce; the "latex" gives me eczema. Any plant that doesn't want to be eaten pisses off my skin. Thanks, glyphosate!
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:15 PM on November 20, 2018 [4 favorites]

I don’t think Thanksgiving is the reason. Who the heck eats a green salad at Thanksgiving? That is not a traditional Thanksgiving food, is it? Unless you’re using it as a garnish under a Jell-O salad? Probably someone out there is all “mmmm green salad at Thanksgiving like mom used to make” because it’s a big and diverse country but still. I think it’s likely the CDC has a threshold of certainty they need to not sound thr alarm and didn’t get what they needed.

And 11 people confirmed is a lot for a country where normal is 0.
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:19 PM on November 20, 2018 [4 favorites]

I guess everyone needs to leaf it be.

Best not be getting ahead of ourselves.

I'd assume the reason for the absolute blanket recall is that they can't find a source for it, which means you treat none of it as safe. Seems kinda cold, but better to crunch down on it now than be out in the cold on an iceberg.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 1:25 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

Public Alert: The CDC Has Issued A Recall For All Romaine Lettuce Because It’s Time For Pizza! (Clickhole, 4/23/18)
posted by BungaDunga at 1:39 PM on November 20, 2018 [7 favorites]

There's shit in the salad.
posted by scruss at 1:40 PM on November 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

I have eaten
the lettuce
that was in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
going
to toss
Forgive me
it was delicious
so sweet
and so cold
posted by BungaDunga at 1:42 PM on November 20, 2018 [8 favorites]

Brings new meaning to the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trot.
posted by peeedro at 1:43 PM on November 20, 2018 [3 favorites]

I'm guessing there is a rush on butter and leaf lettuce across the country now.
posted by nestor_makhno at 1:49 PM on November 20, 2018

I swear all the romaine in Ontario comes from southern California

71% of all lettuce comes from California overall with 29% from Arizona. There's probably some greenhouse lettuce produced in Canada and Ontario actually gets great local romaine for like a month a year but that's negligible in terms of commercial quantity.

And when I say that 71% of lettuce comes from California, it's all concentrated in one tiny region, the Salinas Valley. This report breaks down where it all comes from. However this time of year it's probably not from Salinas but from Imperial County which is practically Arizona and/or Mexico.

I'm sure the cutover between regions complicates the task of identifying the root cause (sic) of these e coli infections as lettuce is probably coming from all over right now.
posted by GuyZero at 1:50 PM on November 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

You butter believe those are leafing the store faster than you can find it.
posted by mephron at 1:51 PM on November 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

I also want to add that a lot of these leafy green outbreaks are related to how poorly the people who pick our food are treated.
posted by nestor_makhno at 1:51 PM on November 20, 2018 [34 favorites]

So, I guess nothing was learned from the investigation earlier this year?

Paranoid-Conspiracy-Guy.... It's almost like the government wants people to live in fear - and/or the ones who don't vote "correctly" (i.e. left-wing salad munchers) to be removed from the rolls completely...
posted by jkaczor at 1:55 PM on November 20, 2018 [3 favorites]

Throw it out or the CDC will forcibly Caesar salad.
posted by vverse23 at 1:59 PM on November 20, 2018 [15 favorites]

I also want to add that a lot of these leafy green outbreaks are related to how poorly the people who pick our food are treated.

Farmers enforce pretty strict hygiene standards on field workers although yes, they're barely paid.

But the last time this happened, per jkaczor's link, it was bad water that had manure in it.

It's really about how the US loves beef so much that they let cows shit everywhere and then it gets into the water used to irrigate crops, which is bad.

So sure, go worker's rights, but maybe eat less beef?
posted by GuyZero at 2:01 PM on November 20, 2018 [21 favorites]

I don’t think Thanksgiving is the reason. Who the heck eats a green salad at Thanksgiving?

Lots of people? I don't think I've ever been to a Thanksgiving dinner without a salad.
posted by zombieflanders at 2:19 PM on November 20, 2018 [17 favorites]

11 people got sick. This seems a little extreme

The CDC's job is to protect people's health. They know that for a month, romaine has been giving e.coli, which is deadly, to people. But they don't know who's producing the tainted romaine.

So they do a pretty basic cost/benefit analysis. If they don't issue this warning, more people will get sick and some will die.

If they do issue this warning, people choose a different leafy green, and hopefully nobody else will get sick. And they get to do their investigation knowing that fewer people will get sick or die.

Really there's no drawback to the aggressive warning, unless you sell untainted romaine. Or unless you just cant live without romaine.
posted by entropone at 2:20 PM on November 20, 2018 [8 favorites]

the task of identifying the root cause (sic) of these e coli

The (sic)est pun I have ever seen.
posted by srboisvert at 2:27 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

So they do a pretty basic cost/benefit analysis.

heh...
posted by jkaczor at 2:40 PM on November 20, 2018

I have eaten
the romaine
that was in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for thanksgiving

Forgive me
it was delicious
so...

so...

ohmygod
posted by Splunge at 2:41 PM on November 20, 2018 [29 favorites]

This came up in discussion with friends - it's possible the "nuke the site from orbit" approach comes from the large lag time between consumption and reporting of illness - up to 2-3 weeks. Symptoms can take up to 8 days (avg 3-4) to manifest after eating infected food. If you're a CDC analyst looking at a sudden spike in cases with a 2-3 week lag time and you have no idea what the source is, it probably makes sense to tell everyone to chuck their cheap bag of salad until the source is figured out and/or you know just how big the problem is.

CDC Timeline of Reported Cases
posted by m2ke at 2:42 PM on November 20, 2018 [7 favorites]

USDA warns that citizens should boil their romaine lettuce before eating to avoid potential contaminants.
posted by me3dia at 2:43 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

Don't forget this fact
You can't get it back
Romaine
posted by stevil at 2:43 PM on November 20, 2018 [8 favorites]

Grilled romaine is in fact quite tasty.

Apparently vegetables are the cause of most food poisoning in the US. I wonder when our agricultural practices will shift our culinary practices, and we start to view eating a salad the same way we view eating steak tartar.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 2:49 PM on November 20, 2018 [6 favorites]

Straight people don't know what you're about
They wolf you down and shoot you out
You gave to me a toilet seat
And soon the world will hate you sweet leaf, oh yeah baby
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 3:00 PM on November 20, 2018

There's only spinach, red leaf, and rocket in my fridge. For the moment, I am safe.

Unfortunately, though, the first thing that came to mind upon seeing this post was a Nicki Minaj song. :/
posted by droplet at 3:08 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

There are almost 100 million cattle in the US. Most beef cattle spend their lives sunk into their own shit. There's nowhere for all that manure to go, so it ends up in our waterways. There are a myriad of environmental benefits to eating less (or no) beef, and reducing bacterial outbreaks in non-beef foods is one of them. Lettuce puns are fun, but e coli is less so.
posted by missmary6 at 3:12 PM on November 20, 2018 [12 favorites]

I was most of the way through a caesar salad made with romaine lettuce when friends started posting about this on FaceBook. I finished the salad.
... and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ... - wait, drink? Not eat? Damn.
posted by King Sky Prawn at 3:24 PM on November 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

I was most of the way through a caesar salad made with romaine lettuce when friends started posting about this on FaceBook. I finished the salad.

Honestly I'm with you - halfway in? Fuck it.

That said, I hope you don't have a compromised immune system or existing kidney issues. And that you stay lucky.
posted by GuyZero at 3:25 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

I've wanted to grow my own Romaine, after reading that fresh-picked, baby lettuces taste 100x better, and I want to experience that once in my life.
Also, I almost never buy Romaine lettuce up here in Canada. I've literally bought it once. In most supermarkets, it always looks unfit for salad. Even the "living lettuces" sold in more and more places are wrapped wrong so the leaves are wet and starting to break and wilt.
posted by polymodus at 3:33 PM on November 20, 2018 [3 favorites]

When I was at Epcot, they were feeding the manatees romaine lettuce. Apparently that's all they eat. What will they do now? OH THE HUGE MANATEES.
posted by The otter lady at 3:38 PM on November 20, 2018 [23 favorites]

I had food poisoning(undercooked meat) 4 years ago, was extremely ill for several days, and it took weeks to feel close to normal. It became clear to my why food poisoning is fatal to old people or anyone not in excellent health. I had food poisoning(frozen meal) several days ago, had an unpleasant 24 hours, and am not yet feeling good. It can be a serious illness.

The answer is obv. Yes but, really people have salad at Thanksgiving?
posted by theora55 at 3:39 PM on November 20, 2018 [4 favorites]

Salad at Thanksgiving is so that one vegan relative can put a pile of leaves on their plate and be a passive-aggressive martyr at the gluttonous carnivory.
posted by The otter lady at 3:43 PM on November 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

Why You Want to Be the Hero Who Brings Salad to Thanksgiving
posted by Lexica at 3:45 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

Salad at Thanksgiving is a Western U.S. thing.
posted by mbrubeck at 3:45 PM on November 20, 2018 [9 favorites]

Sure salad at Thanksgiving. Something crisp and cool with a nice vinaigrette or ranch, a kind of piccolo to counter the big horns and strings of the rest of the meal. In conclusion, a tasty meal is a land of contrasts.
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:49 PM on November 20, 2018 [8 favorites]

I do not know why "doodoo lettuce" makes me laugh so hard
posted by gusandrews at 3:51 PM on November 20, 2018 [7 favorites]

Who the heck eats a green salad at Thanksgiving?

personally I prefer
turkey, gravy, and salad
but let's not forget
all cultures are valid
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:08 PM on November 20, 2018 [4 favorites]

Reporting in from my local discount grocery store. They still had bagged romaine in the produce isle but not the loose bunches. I let the manager know.
posted by nestor_makhno at 4:33 PM on November 20, 2018

If I had iceberg lettuce, I think I would risk eating it after a very very thorough washing. Scrubbing it with a sponge, even. Would that be enough?
posted by zardoz at 4:37 PM on November 20, 2018

Would that be enough?

No. Last time it was literally inside the lettuce.

But also iceberg hasn't been linked to any food illnesses. There's no reason to fear it any more than any random vegetable.
posted by GuyZero at 4:40 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

Nope, washing lettuce will not remove all e. coli. It must be discarded. But Iceberg lettuce is not Romaine lettuce.
posted by Justinian at 4:40 PM on November 20, 2018

*shakes fist*
posted by Justinian at 4:40 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

In many cultures, raw lettuce is not eaten for a reason. Stir fried lettuce is delicious (sample recipe).
posted by yonglin at 4:41 PM on November 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

Do none of you know the joys of seven layer salad? An excellent holiday tradition. Sure, you drown the lettuce in mayo, cheese, bacon, and eggs (with peas and onions as the last two layers), but it's important that there's lettuce underneath.
posted by ktkt at 4:43 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

MAKE AMERICA DYSENTERIC AGAIN
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:55 PM on November 20, 2018 [5 favorites]

You don't kill friends with salad!
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:07 PM on November 20, 2018 [8 favorites]

Email from Mom! She bought a head of Romaine at the store today! But got the text in time.
posted by thelonius at 5:30 PM on November 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

I meant romaine, not iceberg. Brainfart. And thanks for the info, I would've assumed washing would be ok but the more you know.
posted by zardoz at 5:32 PM on November 20, 2018

Paranoid-Conspiracy-Guy.... It's almost like the government wants people to live in fear - and/or the ones who don't vote "correctly" (i.e. left-wing salad munchers) to be removed from the rolls completely...

I'm sure Trump and his ilk would love for you to live in fear and distrust of the professional, nonpartisan civil service that does unglamorous but important work like monitoring foodborn illnesses.
posted by Emily's Fist at 6:59 PM on November 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

Things like this are in the back of my mind whenever I eat raw vegetables (which is pretty often). On the other hand, I once had a roommate from eastern China who told me that she was taught growing up that all vegetables had to be cooked.

Incidentally, my family, probably like millions of other immigrant families, modifies typical American Thanksgiving meals in accordance with their own culinary traditions. We have lots of different kinds of salad, although not with romaine, as far as I remember.
posted by a certain Sysoi Pafnut'evich at 8:48 PM on November 20, 2018

My braised romaine is fantastic! People look at me like I am crazy, look quizzically upon the dish, but when they taste it they generally freak out at how great it tastes (the reduced cream caramelized onion sauce helps a lot). I based my recipe on Julia Child's recipes from this episode of The French Chef on YouTube. It's a great episode!
posted by W Grant at 10:37 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

I was at a Whole Foods today when they pulled all the romaine and things with romaine from the shelves. It was chaos. In the produce area people were arguing with the workers about the recall because they needed the lettuce for reasons. The produce workers asked them if they had a salad death wish. I got some other type of greens and helped a couple people pick out alternatives. In the prepared foods area some guy with a kid tried to convince the worker to give him some of the stuff that was being tossed. I went from hating being there to thinking this was the best trip to Whole Foods ever because I got to watch clueless rich people exceed my expectations of cluelessness.
posted by kendrak at 10:48 PM on November 20, 2018 [23 favorites]

zombieflanders: "Lots of people? I don't think I've ever been to a Thanksgiving dinner without a salad."

Apparently it's regional? There was a map going around on Twitter that showed what the big side dish for Thanksgiving was, and it was salad in the Western states. But I'm from PA, and I've never been at a Thanksgiving *with* salad.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:54 PM on November 20, 2018

Which on reading further, I see has already been linked, oy.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:55 PM on November 20, 2018

I'm Chinese American and the whole Asian cooked veggies thing is ... important to understand culturally but yet kind of bullshit. We don't cook the cilantro, we don't cook the scallions especially the green parts, or the minced ginger or chili peppers, and that's just off the top of my head. We don't have to cook tomatoes and tomatoes are vegetables amirite? We "cook" whole chicken but the blood leaks out when it's "done".

I've recently been served Taiwanese lettuce raw, in salad form. I have not researched whether/how that is historical, only that my mom told me it's a normal dish.

Anyways, there are plenty of Asians and Asian Americans who love salad. The French gave America salad, and together we are a better culture for it.

Also, the myth that one group boils everything for "food safety" reasons is kind of science-free. It's not that eating raw veggies is dangerous, it's dangerous if contaminated due to agricultural conditions/practices, as well as if you are immunocompromised.
posted by polymodus at 1:01 AM on November 21, 2018 [8 favorites]

How long do you microwave a head of romaine?
posted by TedW at 1:30 AM on November 21, 2018 [6 favorites]

It's not the side effects of the romaine
I'm thinkin' that it must be love
posted by kryptondog at 3:42 AM on November 21, 2018 [4 favorites]

Apparently it's regional? There was a map going around on Twitter that showed what the big side dish for Thanksgiving was, and it was salad in the Western states. But I'm from PA, and I've never been at a Thanksgiving *with* salad.

Huh, TIL. Although in my case it's DC by way of Brooklyn and Boston, so ‾\_(ツ)_/‾.
posted by zombieflanders at 4:55 AM on November 21, 2018

I get no kick from romaine
Mere chlorophyll doesn't make me so ill
So tell me, why should it be true
I've got to eat the salade-doudou?
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:04 AM on November 21, 2018 [8 favorites]

I'm still astonished that people eat a green chopped salad at Thanksgiving...it's a fall holiday, not a holiday for summer vegetables. All the food is supposed to be food you could get in November in New England. Hence all the root vegetables and game.

I mean that doesn't excuse Jell-O salad but at least you can kind of squint and accept it as a presentation for canned goods, which are a winter food.
posted by blnkfrnk at 7:23 AM on November 21, 2018

do you get driven from your homeland for your rigid religious fanatacism, not bathe for 4 months, and then steal land from native americans on thanksgiving too? for the rigorous adherence to historical accuracy i mean.
posted by poffin boffin at 7:38 AM on November 21, 2018 [14 favorites]

doesn't excuse Jell-O salad but at least you can kind of squint and accept it as a presentation for canned goods

Naw, that counts as a "game" or a meat preservation technique... (Gelatin...)

Sigh, hope I am not ruining life for unknowing vegetarians with that little tidbit... (And... marshmallows too...)

Ugh... still remember some seasonal "treats" this time of year growing up... "head cheese"...

Oh look! There’s lips, and nose, and ears, and tongues.
“Come on, Wally, let’s get us some.”
It all right there is a gelatin base. Put ‘em all together got a animal face.
posted by jkaczor at 8:21 AM on November 21, 2018

Romaine to Eric Clapton's Cocaine.
posted by notreally at 8:41 AM on November 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

@NewEng_DadLife:

Why is it that when the CDC says to throw out your romaine lettuce everyone takes it as gospel yet when the same agency tells you vaccines save lives they’re part of the Illuminati

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:46 AM on November 21, 2018 [15 favorites]

We will endivour to persevere.
posted by Chitownfats at 8:53 AM on November 21, 2018

We "cook" whole chicken but the blood leaks out when it's "done".

I am told that the "blood" around the drumstick bones in a properly poached chicken is myoglobin and not undercooked blood. So I'm going to stick with that since overcooking it is a sin.
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 10:35 AM on November 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

It's really about how the US loves beef so much that they let cows shit everywhere and then it gets into the water used to irrigate crops, which is bad.
Yeah, I remember this was listed as a cause of another vegetable e coli outbreak a few years back. Now we get several every year and I hear zip about the cause.
posted by soelo at 12:38 PM on November 21, 2018

I hear zip about the cause.

There is a nice summary on the CBC website.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:02 PM on November 21, 2018

I went from hating being there to thinking this was the best trip to Whole Foods ever because I got to watch clueless rich people exceed my expectations of cluelessness.

have previously worked at a Whole Foods and can confirm that this is literally what every day is like -- a little less concentrated during the average shift but you experienced a distilled form of that magical everyday! i also worked at a Trader Joe's during The Great Gyoza Crisis of '06 and boy howdy let me tell you about some uncheckable rage

it's a fall holiday, not a holiday for summer vegetables.

fall greens are a Thing, though? more arugula and endive than romaine, admittedly, in most temperate climes, but fall greens are A+ the best.
posted by halation at 2:15 PM on November 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

It's really about how the US loves beef so much that they let cows shit everywhere and then it gets into the water used to irrigate crops, which is bad.

Not a lot of cattle in the Imperial Valley though. It's a desert. They import water from the Colorado and that canal water is tested a lot. So be interesting to see the final source on this.
posted by fshgrl at 2:26 PM on November 21, 2018

FWIW, most of our CSA salad greens come in the fall.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:03 PM on November 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm confused by the warnings to sterilize fridge parts. Does this mean that I have to throw out other vegetables which were in the drawer with the salad, too?
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:09 PM on November 21, 2018

They would likely tell you yes. They also always err way way on the side of caution. For example, government food safety people still tell you to cook steak until it's charcoal or you'll immediately die.

Only you can judge the risks but no-one will tell you not to follow those guidelines, including me, since it would open up too much liability. And unless those vegetables are super expensive specialty ingredients or you're running on a knife's edge budget it doesn't seem like it would cost that much to be safe in this case.
posted by Justinian at 4:25 PM on November 21, 2018

The route I take is never to eat lettuce. So far I have avoided e. coli so clearly this is the safest course under all circumstances.
posted by Justinian at 4:26 PM on November 21, 2018

I went to the grocery store around noon today and they still had all these packs of Romaine lettuce on the shelves. I would have expected them to have been cleared out by then.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:31 PM on November 21, 2018

Speaking of opening up liability...
posted by Justinian at 4:33 PM on November 21, 2018

I've wanted to grow my own Romaine, after reading that fresh-picked, baby lettuces taste 100x better

polymodus may I suggest you try growing Little Gem lettuces? They are Romaines that stay small and have really nice texture and flavor.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 5:10 PM on November 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

I accidentally some small amount of Romaine today. Please roast me well at my funeral, MeFites.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:10 PM on November 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I remain suspicious of any American salad ever since I heard about "snickers salad".
posted by lucidium at 5:51 AM on November 23, 2018

Reveal, September 27, 2018 : 5 people died from eating lettuce, but Trump’s FDA still won’t make farms test water for bacteria: Congress ordered a fix to a gaping hole in food safety years ago. But the administration postponed a remedy that could prevent deadly outbreaks.

For more than a decade, it’s been clear that there’s a gaping hole in American food safety: Growers aren’t required to test their irrigation water for pathogens such as E. coli. As a result, contaminated water can end up on fruits and vegetables.

After several high-profile disease outbreaks linked to food, Congress in 2011 ordered a fix, and produce growers this year would have begun testing their water under rules crafted by the Obama administration’s Food and Drug Administration.

But six months before people were sickened by the contaminated romaine, President Donald Trump’s FDA – responding to pressure from the farm industry and Trump’s order to eliminate regulations – shelved the water-testing rules for at least four years.

posted by homunculus at 6:16 PM on November 24, 2018 [3 favorites]

The Science Is Clear: Dirty Farm Water Is Making Us Sick

The Trump Era Has Been Unkind to Soybean Farmers. Also Salad Eaters. We're Making America Great Again! Don't you see? Hello?
posted by homunculus at 4:36 PM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]