Indoor farming, especially for leafy greens, is expanding rapidly in North America. Is it a threat to field-grown lettuce?
Historically, indoor lettuces have trended toward rooted butter heads, premium blends of tender baby leaves like kale, spring mix, and arugula, or whole head oak leaf varieties — “fancy lettuce” — while the workhorses of the category — romaine and iceberg — remain in the field.
I’m comparing a head of baby romaine* from Kalera Farms to a heart of romaine from the crisper drawer of my refrigerator to see how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go.
*I know baby romaine is not a heart of romaine, but we’re here to see what the difference is between what’s available indoors and what’s the market standard.
