Lack of lettuce: Prices soar amid leafy greens shortage

There is more frustration on the food front, with the cost of lettuce soaring amid a shortage.

It has forced restaurants to pull the leafy greens off the menu, and some shoppers are leaving lettuce on grocery store shelves because they have to dish out more green to get the green.

"There’s not a lot of choice and the price is really high and sometimes the lettuce looks awful," one shopper told CTV News.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg, another shopper said the lacklustre lettuce has halted his wife's specialty.

“Mary is the best Caesar salad maker in Waterloo region. In Ontario. In Canada," the shopper said.

The pricing pressures are also being felt at Waterloo sandwich shop Jimmy's Feed Co. The establishment posted a note at its cash register that reads, "Due to the crazy increase in lettuce costs, we have suspended use of it temporarily."

Caption for the other pic: A note at the Jimmy’s Feed Co. cash register informing customers there is no lettuce available for sandwiches. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV News)

"As of yesterday, we've taken it off our menu," said the shop's owner, Jimmy Boone.

Jimmy's Feed Co. still has lots to pack between the bun, but they've joined other restaurants in tossing this staple to the side.

"I bought it for two weeks at the inflated price and I just absolutely couldn't do it anymore. It's just too high. It's quadruple the price of what it normally is," says Boone.

Food economists are pointing to a large area in California that supplies much of our iceberg and romaine lettuce. They say production has taken a hit because of extremely dry conditions.

"The drought then made it more susceptible to a virus which affected growth and quality, so there is less lettuce available for sale," said Mike von Massow, a food economist from the University of Guelph.

When it comes to cost, some relief is expected around early December, with supply set to arrive from Arizona.

"This is not the dawn of the $100 Caesar salad," von Massow said.

It's an encouraging sign for places like Jimmy's Feed Co., where a lack of lettuce is only temporary.

So for now, it seems the message is clear: we can all remain – or in this case romaine – calm.