H ave you ever wondered how iceberg lettuce became America’s lettuce of choice? Hint: It had nothing to do with taste. It all started in the late 19th century during the early days of refrigeration and what is known as the “cold chain.” Like a supply chain, it’s a system of climate-controlled warehouses and trucks that keeps food and other perishable goods safe to consume.
The invention changed almost every aspect of the food industry, from the way we store food, to what we eat and how it’s grown. Nicola Twilley , who wrote Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves and is co-host of the podcast Gastropod , said iceberg lettuce became popular because it was so sturdy that it was able to withstand long journeys from California to the East Coast. “You had to just basically pile ice into refrigerated train cars and top it up regularly along the track,” Twilley said on LAist’s daily news program AirTalk , which airs on 89.
3 FM. Without modern refrigeration, Twilley said California would not be able to grow about 50% of the nation’s produce, but there are also some downsides. Early farmers bred for produce that could be shipped and stored for longer periods of time instead of focusing on flavor and nutrients.
That has led to complaints that supermarket produce tends to lack flavor, according to Twilley. While doing research, Twilley spent a week doing shift work at AmeriCold Warehouse in Ontario to see “the places we’ve built for.
