Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Lettuce Celebrate National Salad Month

Lettuce Celebrate National Salad Month

Nifa Authors
Matt Browning, Public Affairs Specialist

May is National Salad Month. Created by the Association for Dressing and Sauces in 1992, National Salad Month encourages people to incorporate more salads into their daily food regimen.

What is arguably the foundational ingredient in salad? Lettuce! USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) supports research that is leading to stronger, healthier, more disease-resistant lettuce cultivars. Current funded projects in California and Illinois include the following:

The USDA Agricultural Research Service, Pacific West Area, in Albany, California, is working to improve the safety and survival of lettuce during fresh-cut processing and cold storage. Mechanical damage of processed leaf tissue offers new opportunities for the proliferation of E. coli, the main bacterial agent that causes lettuce-linked foodborne outbreaks. Researchers are working to identify lettuce cultivars that effectively reduce population sizes of E. coli upon shredding and cold storage and characterize defense responses on cut tissue. 

The USDA Agricultural Research Service in Berkeley, California, is studying the prevention of pathogen contamination in agriculture water in lettuce production. Researchers are developing and implementing a screening tool to test the effectiveness of sanitizer, antimicrobial resistance and tolerance to oxidizing compounds, and provide recommendations on keeping resistant strains from developing. 

The University of California – Davis is enhancing the use of resources to increase sustainable lettuce production in changing climates. This research project seeks to improve water, nitrogen and phosphate use in lettuce, and determine heat/cold/saline tolerance, to improve lettuce’s resilience. The research findings will be shared with breeders and students.   

The University of Chicago is modifying lettuce by altering its genetic makeup without introducing genetically modified genes. Researchers are using tiny fibers to inject substances that will enable changing the gene content of lettuce. 

In forthcoming National Salad Month blogs, we will spotlight research projects focusing on salad mainstays like cucumbers and tomatoes.
 

Farm Bill Priority Areas
Plant health, production, and products
U.S. States and Territories
California
Illinois

Your feedback is important to us.

Take the Website Survey