Americans love iceberg crunch in a sandwich

Tag : lettuce
You'd never know it by taking a head count at the supermarket, buticeberg lettuce is losing favor with consumers looking for moreflavor and nutrition from their salad greens. Iceberg has beencontemptuously called the polyester of all the lettuce types, andcritics claim it has about as much dietary value as sticking ablade of grass between your teeth. Iceberg is 95 to 96 percentwater, although it brings a little fiber and folic acid to thetable, said David Still, a plant science professor at CaliforniaState Polytechnic University at Pomona. "Compared to others,though, its nutrient content is unbelievably low  aboutone-twentieth the amount of vitamins as the darker leafy greens."

For the past half-dozen years, Still has been trying to develop aniceberg variety that is easier to grow, has a longer shelf lifeafter harvest and packs more nutritional value. So far he hasmanaged to cross iceberg lettuce with some butter lettuces,boosting its levels of antioxidants and vitamins A, C, E and K. Wedon't think it (hybridization) will change the iceberg's taste thatmuch but it is one of the things we're watching, Still said.We're aware that iceberg's mild taste has been popular.

It will be at least a couple of years before a more wholesomeiceberg variety is ready to market, he said. There was a time wheniceberg was the most celebrated of lettuces, said George Ball,chairman and chief executive officer of W. Atlee Burpee & Co.,the Pennsylvania seed house where the variety was developed in thelate 19th Century. The whole thing about iceberg is the crunch,Ball said. Americans love that crunch in a sandwich. But in the'60s and '70s, the trend started moving toward leaf lettuces.Romaine in Caesar salads, for instance. It was getting harder tofind an iceberg being served in restaurants.

The fragility of leaf lettuces  that they don't take well tofreezing, drying or canning, and wilt quickly after being cut fromthe garden  made them something of a localized market item beforethe iceberg came along, Ball said. The convergence of iceberglettuce and boxcar icing  heaping green heads resembling icebergsupon arrival  meant salads could be served fresh anywhere in thenation at any time of year.

It shipped easily, Ball said. You can't hurt it. Then came thefall from favor, or flavor. In 2006, the nation's growers harvested175,600 acres of iceberg lettuce, mostly in California and Texas.That was down from 198,500 acres in 1998, the U.S. Department ofAgriculture said. The romaine lettuce crop during that same periodgrew from 36,450 acres to some 61,000 acres. Leaf lettuces rosefrom 46,220 acres to 71,100 acres.

Yet Americans continue eating more iceberg lettuce than any othervariety, about 22 pounds per person per year in 2005, the USDAsaid. Romaine ran a distant second, about 8 pounds per capita.Iceberg also is popular with weight watchers since it's virtuallyfat and cholesterol free. A medium-size head contains only about 70calories. So until the healthier varieties come along, here aresome simple ways to give iceberg lettuce a nutritious lift:

* Mix it with greener greens that contain heavier concentrations ofcalcium, vitamins and proteins. Try spinach, arugula, chicory andendive.

* Wrap the outer leaves around slices of meat and cheese, making acarbohydrate-neutral substitute for sliced breads.

* Sweeten salads with fruits. Fresh strawberries and pineapplechunks are flavorful candidates in the summer.

If nothing else, remember that variety is as important as quantityin the human diet.

No single fruit or vegetable provides all the nutrients you needto be healthy, a Harvard School of Public Health fact sheet says.The key lies in the variety of different vegetables and fruitsthat you eat.


Source: msnbc.msn.com


Publication date: 9/24/2008