[ggm]

The supply chain logistics which let asparagus importers get stock from Peru in the off season are the same ones which means they can't just ring up on a whim and ask for some more, in the "on" season. Australian Quarantine and Customs Inspection service is pretty strong on vegitative matter, especially live vegitative matter: You need a LOT of paperwork, to be able to bring fresh produce into Australia.

And this local supply disaster noted, we kinda like it that way.

[Andaith]

What's wild to me is that apparently there's only one place on this continent that grows lettuce. It seems like a bit of an all-your-eggs-in-one-basket thing to have one valley in QLD(I think) that does lettuce for the nation, and they have some bad weather and suddenly we're all sans-lettuce.

[defrost]

Many rural areas in Ausralia have small scale local area market gardens, here in W.Australia most everything I eat is sourced within a 15 - 20 km radius be it flour, olive oil, lambs, oranges, etc (even the odd banana and a fw mangos) - but that's a far cry from the dedicated single crop volumes required to supply cities and for export.

Worldwide there's an issue with regions being devoted to mainly a single crop intended to supply tens of millions across several cities, often overseas.

Good when it works, better have a backup alternative when that fails.

[boffinAudio]

>(even the odd banana and a fw mangos)

Carnarvon represent!

[10u152]

Yes....and no.

Lettuce likes some pretty specific conditions. If there's one area that's perfectly suited to growing lettuce with the minimum resources (fertiliser/water etc) then grow it there. Better than trying to grow it in the desert or somewhere much too cold.

If Australians go without lettuce for a month or so nobody is going to die. Eat rocket, spinach and cabbage instead.

[twicetwice]

For Americans (and others?) who are OOTL, rocket == arugula. It has a bunch of other names too, apparently.

[distances]

For continental Europeans: they mean rucola

[BoiledCabbage]

Interesting - arugula and rucola are very similar phonetically.

[dbetteridge]

WA has plenty of lettuce, not sure where that's coming from though.

[sturadnidge]

Same in NSW… no $12 iceberg heads around here!

[rootw0rm]

Get some spinach, arugula, cabbage, or any other leafy green?

[paranoidrobot]

> cabbage

There was big social media/news thing when KFC announced they were replacing lettuce with cabbage on their burgers.

A lot of unhappy campers there - tbh I think if they went further and made it a nice slaw with a sharp/tangy dressing then it'd be a massive improvement to their usual soggy, greasy chicken, and undercooked/limp chips (fries)