Sorry, romaine only _ steep lettuce prices force creativity at nation's salad bars

<br>WOODSTOCK, Ga. (AP) _ The Hickory Flat Elementary salad bar is filled with dark little flecks these days _ spinach and other greens are being mixed in to make the iceberg go further. <br><br>Want romaine

Thursday, March 28th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WOODSTOCK, Ga. (AP) _ The Hickory Flat Elementary salad bar is filled with dark little flecks these days _ spinach and other greens are being mixed in to make the iceberg go further.

Want romaine at the Ruby Tuesday restaurant a few miles away? It's on ``request only'' status.

Lettuce is in short supply nationwide, with prices quadrupling in some spots. Blame it on freezing weather in lettuce-growing areas of Arizona and California, where quality and quantity have taken a dive this year.

The sticker shock is showing up at school cafeterias and restaurants, where lettuce is a staple not easily replaced.

``We're trying to stretch it as far as we can,'' said Faye Lynn Sams, the cafeteria manager at Hickory Flat, where some 950 students and teachers plow through 200 pounds of iceberg each week. The school is paying $62 per case _ $2.58 a head _ nearly four times the usual price.

``I haven't looked at the numbers this week _ I'm scared,'' said Clint Shackelford, chief financial officer of Souper Salad, a chain of all-you-can-eat soup and salad restaurants in 16 states that buys $1 million worth of iceberg each year.

``It's the highest we've ever seen it. We're used to paying in the teens and now we're looking at $50 a case,'' he said. ``It will definitely have an effect on our profitability.''

For many Americans, salad means iceberg lettuce, the industry behemoth even though a host of more exotic varieties has found a niche in supermarkets and restaurant salad bars.

Americans eat more than three times more iceberg than other kinds of lettuce _ about 25 pounds per year per person _ according to researchers at Arizona State University.

The shortage began with freezing weather that cut per-acre yields by more than half in parts of California, where more than half the nation's supply is grown. At the same time, many farmers grew less lettuce, fearing a drop in demand after Sept. 11 because many people dined out less.

The result has been high prices. In some parts of the country, iceberg lettuce has topped $3 per head at grocery stores, up from the regular $1 to $2.

Prices are expected to drop to their usual levels in the next two to three weeks as new supplies catch up to demand, said Ashraf Zaki, a market price reporter for the Agriculture Department in Forest Park, Ga.

``But right now it's pretty darn expensive,'' Zaki said.

Lucy Campbell, a stay-home mom in suburban Atlanta, said she stopped buying lettuce last month to help the budget.

``I will not buy it when it's $3 a head,'' she said, adding that other green vegetables can fill in for lettuce. ``If bread were $5 a loaf we'd still have to buy it. But lettuce is not that important in our family.''

Souper Salad has raised its salad bar price a dime, to $5.09. The company also increased drink prices by 10 cents because of the lettuce crunch and began mixing more spinach and romaine into the iceberg bins, Shackelford said.

Many schools are trying to get by without raising prices.

``We're just taking the hit for right now,'' said Carol McCann, president of the Texas School Food Service Association and a food service director in Glen Rose, Texas. ``A lot of them really count on (salad) being their lunch.''

At Colquitt County High School in Moultrie, cafeteria manager Jane Barwick stopped buying iceberg two weeks ago when her $24.90 case of 24 heads soared to nearly $60.

Leaf and romaine now serve as the lettuce, with robust portions of spinach, carrots and radishes tossed in. Colquitt High's ``pizza day'' now comes with fruit instead of lettuce salad.

``I've been assured by my produce man that it's probably only a six-week problem,'' Barwick said.

Jean Davis, a retiree in High Point, N.C., said each week seems to bring a hike in lettuce prices at the local store.

``It's not quite $5 yet, but that's what they're saying,'' Davis said. ``I'll go back to it if it goes back down, but not if it stays like this. It's the principle of it. I just don't think (lettuce) is that necessary.''