What’s with the price of lettuce…?

A feature of this year’s federal election was cost of living with food prices at the centre of the discussion. In the second televised leaders’ debate the question was put directly to the Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese ‘What can you do to actually reduce the cost of lettuce…?’. This question prompted an explosion in lettuce-themed internet memes that highlighted rise in grocery prices rising and the impacts of this on household budgets.

The focus on lettuce prices related back to a highly publicised image of an iceberg lettuce that was priced at $5.50 on the shelves of a major supermarket back in March and the price has continued to climb since then with reports of a single head of iceberg lettuce going for as much as $11.50. This price spike is the result of a pile-on of factors at the time including the pandemic, east-coast floods, labour shortages, fuel costs rise, fertiliser costs rises and global commodity prices rising on the back of the war in Ukraine.

Whilst the $11.50 lettuce example was a snapshot in time, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report that fruit and vegetable price increases are running at 6.7% which is higher than the (already high) inflation rate of 5.1% and this looks set to continue as the global impacts continue.

The good news for Diggers members and gardeners generally is that our seed prices have not risen this year so gardeners can save money and grow nutritious and tasty heirloom vegetables like lettuce at home.

Right across Australia now is the perfect time to sow lettuce, spinach, and Asian greens seed. At $10 a lettuce this is roughly the same cost 250 lettuce seeds, so a quick and simple way to save money and make a positive impact on your food security is to grow your own.