# So what shortages are you personally seeing?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone
**Tags:** covid-quarantine
**Created:** [July 24, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268 "2020-07-24T23:28:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 76
### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1502 "2022-12-01T22:17:33Z")
My nearby Big Lots had IBC cream soda just yesterday.
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### Author:  [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1503 "2022-12-02T21:46:08Z")
Yep, I should have mentioned that - my Kroger always had IBC but it’s such a rip-off ($5 for four little bottles) that I always ignored it. Cans and two liters of either Big K or A&W is what was missing. They didn’t (and still don’t) have the latter at Wal-Mart when I checked the closest two.
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### Author:  [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1504 "2022-12-06T16:16:28Z")
Lettuce. Ordinary old standard heads of Iceberg lettuce. Over the Covid era, they’ve gone from an ordinary price of $1.50 or so, up to $1.99, and then $2.50.
But last trip the price had leapt to $3.99! And the heads were super lightweight and airy, weighing less than half they used to. And on top of that, there were only SIX heads in the usually chock full bin! There was a stocker nearby, and I asked her if they just hadn’t had time to bring more out, but nope. Apparently they only got in like 1/4 as many cartons as usual AND all the heads were these miserable little light weights.
What’s up with that? Probably something to do with weather wherever lettuce comes from.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1505 "2022-12-06T16:21:35Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#):
>
> Ordinary old standard heads of Iceberg lettuce.
Huh. We haven’t purchased iceberg lettuce in years, preferring the bags of spring greens or heads of Romain.
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### Author:  [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1506 "2022-12-06T16:22:35Z")
I’m leary of Romaine. There have just been too many recalls over the past few years.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1507 "2022-12-06T16:26:58Z")
Seasonally, we buy Romaine from our neighbor’s farm market that they’ve grown. They start them in a greenhouse and the lettuce is delicious. Out of season, Aldi has been a good source. If I ever wind up with e coli or salmonella I might change my mind.
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2022, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1508 "2022-12-07T23:51:39Z")
Similarly we don’t buy a lot of head lettuce, but now the sign I saw at a local restaurant makes a lot more sense. It was apologizing for having to raise salad prices due to lettuce shortages.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1509 "2022-12-08T00:05:20Z")
That also explains the composition of my taco salad yesterday. No iceberg at all, just roughly torn Romaine and butter lettuce. Was delicious, but weird.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2022, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1510 "2022-12-08T01:12:01Z")
Had baby arugula today. Delicious. No idea the cost, my gf shops.
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### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1511 "2022-12-09T20:01:13Z")
> [@Balthisar](#):
>
> It was apologizing for having to raise salad prices due to lettuce shortages.
I’m not seeing any real shortages, but prices have gone up a lot. Just today, I saw a rather small rib roast on sale for $55 Canadian. Even a chicken was about $25. A pack of six chicken thighs was $12.
But pork roasts are dirt cheap right now. Did the pigs lose a war to the chickens, or something?
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2022, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1512 "2022-12-10T01:14:57Z")
The stores around here are selling lettuce pre-washed, in plastic bins.
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### Author:  [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2022, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1513 "2022-12-10T02:19:20Z")
The heads of lettuce that they are selling around here are really small and very loose, so perhaps they’re really washing the crap out of them. Or perhaps off of them.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2022, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1514 "2022-12-10T03:27:14Z")
Washing isn’t going to turn a dense head of lettuce into a loose one; at least, not without doing it massive and obvious damage in the process.
Some varieties of lettuce are normally like that. Varieties that do normally have large and dense heads will be smaller and looser if they’re harvested younger. If the farmers are running out of water (a lot of lettuce is grown where it relies mostly on irrigation water), maybe they’re harvesting the crop early – and if that’s the reason, the next thing up may be a full scale shortage; especially if it’s so dry that they don’t plant the next succession. [thorny plans to try to have plenty of lettuce at market next spring . . .]
oh – they might also be harvesting early in the hope of getting the crop before a virus does:
> **[Thanks in part to climate change, vegetable prices have soared in the U.S.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/climate-change-vegetable-prices-have-soared-in-the-us-195525306.html)**
>
> Vegetable prices in the United States rose nearly 40% in November over the previous month, according to new figures from the Labor Department, and climate change is one of the reasons why.
or before it bolts due to excessive heat:
> **[Yuma, Arizona region offers up its own challenges for lettuce supplies](https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9482897/yuma-arizona-region-offers-up-its-own-challenges-for-lettuce-supplies/)**
>
> It’s starting to feel like Mother Nature just keeps coming for North America’s lettuce supplies as they continue to be limited. Lettuce volume at the end of the Salinas Valley, California…
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### Author:  [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2022, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1515 "2022-12-10T05:29:07Z")
The zucchini at the store today was FOUR DOLLARS a pound! Pretty much double what it was last month.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2022, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1516 "2022-12-11T06:17:31Z")
Carrots update.
A couple of months ago, Marianos stopped stocking Bolthouse 5-lb. bags of carrots and switched to Kroger-brand carrots. Bolthouse carrots have better taste and overall better quality.
Jewel still has very few pre-bagged carrots.
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### Author:  [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1517 "2022-12-13T00:23:55Z")
> [@Horatius](#):
>
> I’m not seeing any real shortages, but prices have gone up a lot.
And not just on food! It’s Secret Santa time at work; this year, the cap was raised to $20 for the week. Reasonable, I thought…until I set foot in a store. I missed all the nice Black Friday and such deals (even online) on account of having to put up two live trees. Little things that were ‘stocking stuffers’ in previous years – hand creams, kitchen gadgets, etc. – are too pricey for the week’s budget, so I’ve ended up with bunches of snack and candy items. Some people are ignoring the budget, and some people are just giving $5 gift cards.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2022, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1518 "2022-12-13T12:52:17Z")
After waiting two months our refrigerator part arrived and was installed. The repair guy had visited us three times to reset things while we waited for the part. Whirlpool lost money on the sale.
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1519 "2022-12-13T17:11:09Z")
I saw small heads of iceberg for $4.99 this weekend. And a three-pack of romaine hearts was an outrageous $7.99!
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1520 "2022-12-13T18:01:58Z")
We’ve been used to massive amounts of produce grown with mined water in areas where the rain doesn’t fall, so the growers can take advantage of lots of sunshine for faster growth.
The mined aquifers are running out, and the rain has become less, not more; and also in less reliable patterns – too much will ruin your lettuce as fast as too little.
You can grow lettuce in a windowbox, and/or under a moderate plant light – you’re only growing leaf, not bud or fruit, and don’t need as much light or full spectrum.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/1521 "2022-12-13T18:05:16Z")
Lettuce and other greens can be grown in greenhouses or vertical farms or ever converted shipping containers (the latter with artificial lighting). I have no idea how much they would need to charge for a head of lettuce when it’s produced like this.
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