Kent School District pulls salads off student menus, citing high prices, lower quality of lettuce

Published 3:26 pm Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Kent School District has temporarily stopped serving certain entrée and side salads because the district’s source for most of its lettuce experienced severe rain and cold weather. Much of the crop was damaged or destroyed. As a result, the district has seen the price of lettuce rise dramatically because there is little product available for purchase. Additionally, the quality of the lettuce has deteriorated due to the weather conditions in the fields.

“I’m not happy about this situation, but product quality, availability, and pricing drove this decision to remove salads temporarily,” said Tom Ogg, food and nutrition services supervisor. “We look forward to bringing salads back once the price readjusts, and the availability of quality product returns.”

The district anticipates most salads will remain off the menu until the end of March.