Recent outbreaks of foodborne illnesses have generally been bad news for lettuce growers nationwide, but one greenhouse operation in snowy Superior reports its sales actually have been bolstered as consumers search for healthy alternatives to field-grown greens.
Bay Produce has found a strong market for the red and green butterhead lettuces it grows in the wake of a national lettuce scare.
"It seems like any time there's a lettuce recall, our sales go up," said Don Gitz, a specialist for Bay Produce.
Most recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers to avoid eating romaine lettuce harvested in California's Salinas Valley — a prolific agricultural region often referred to as the nation's salad bowl. This latest E. coli outbreak resulted in more than 100 reported cases of illness in 23 states. But regulators advised people that there was no reason to avoid hydroponic and greenhouse-grown lettuce.
Bay Produce fits that bill to a T. It grows lettuce, basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant inside a 1 1/2-acre greenhouse equipped with hydroponics.