What’s a hamburger without it? And a BLT would be, well, just a BT if you didn’t have lettuce, that age-old vegetable that puts the crunch in your sandwich. But with the proliferation of all of those fancy greens, iceberg lettuce may no longer be at the head of the class. Still, each of us eats about 30 pounds of it a year.

It’s said that the name “iceberg” comes from the fact that heads of lettuce were covered with chunks of ice to keep them cool during the trip back east before the advent of refrigerated rail cars.

Today, while California produces 70 percent of the iceberg lettuce in the United States, Yuma, Arizona in the desert southwest is not far behind.

John Boelts of Coronation Peak Ranches grows iceberg lettuce for Dole Fresh Vegetables and Nunes Vegetables. “The different varieties we use these days really respond well to a desert climate,” he says, “And it’s becoming an ideal place to grow lettuce since we’re blessed with Colorado River water.”

Lettuce is considered one of the easier crops to produce. It starts from a seed and takes about 60 to 90 days to grow, forming a tight head and that’s why iceberg is sometimes called “head” lettuce. Harvesting is done by hand to protect the leafy vegetable.

The lettuce is transported from the field to a warehouse where it goes through a process called “vacuum-cooling” before it’s transported in refrigerated trucks to stores and restaurants.

For years, iceberg lettuce virtually dropped from restaurant menus. Today a number of chefs in upscale establishments are giving it a comeback. For instance, at the Esquire Bar and Grill in Sacramento, California, Chef Andrew Tescher says there seems to be a consumer backlash against so-called “designer greens”. He recalls that “years ago when we first introduced them we called them ‘weed salads’. Salads made with weeds.”

Tescher adds that in the last few years it’s been tough to get quality baby greens because of weather conditions, so that’s given a boost to the much maligned, but easy to obtain iceberg.

The mass producers in Yuma, Salinas in California and northern Mexico have plenty of product ready to go especially in the winter when vegetables are harder to come by.

Iceberg is also a staple for the ever-popular packaged salad blends and a “must have” for fast food restaurants that serve it with everything from salads to sandwiches. So growers like John Boelts and chef Tescher predict that humble iceberg will be around for a long time to come.

Yuma celebrates its lettuce harvest every winter at its Lettuce Days Festival. This city is one of the sunniest in the United States and is popular with “snowbirds” seeking warm winter weather.

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