It’s possible 2020 will be remembered as a turning point in American history, a moment after which the nation becomes irretrievably different.

That’s right, it could be the year consumption of romaine and other leaf lettuce finally surpasses iceberg https://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

It’s been quite the comedown over the past three decades for America’s iceberg lettuce, introduced by seed purveyor W. Atlee Burpee & Co in 1894.

So how did the so-called “polyester of greens” fall out of favor? https://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

In 1961, Julia Child + Simone Beck’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” & Craig Claiborne’s “The New York Times Cookbook” led to the great American food awakening.

More flavorful greens entered the U.S. diet:

Arugula
Radicchio
Frisee
Mesclun http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

Head lettuce consumption didn’t peak nationally until 1989.

That’s when, after 20 years of trying, California grower Fresh Express finally figured out how to put pre-cut, pre-washed salad greens in a bag and keep them fresh http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

Leafy green numbers can tell some interesting stories. Consider kale:

Per-capita availability quadrupled from 2006 to 2017 http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

Last year, @amandamull unleashed a brief, intense debate over kale by asserting that, after emerging “as a status symbol for a generation of young adults drawn to conspicuous health-consciousness,” kale is on the way out because it doesn’t taste good http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

Sales did stop rising a couple of years ago, but oversupply may be part of the explanation, too. The acres of kale harvested in the U.S. jumped massively:

2012: 6,256
2017: 15,235 http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

It’s possible the nation’s farmers got a bit ahead of the market. Kale is now planted in every state, with even nine acres in Alaska.

Overall, consumption of dark, leafy greens such as kale seems to be on a modest uptrend http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

Spinach has been having a moment for a while, but how it makes its way into our kitchens has changed a lot:

In 1960, cans and frozen packages dominated
Now, 75% is purchased fresh http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

Canning has also lost market share among cabbage eaters, for cultural reasons.

While @foxjust has been keeping up his sauerkraut consumption, the rest of us have been slacking. The same goes for coleslaw http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

Escarole has also fallen out of favor. It's largely associated with Italian food, but it hasn’t gone mainstream like pizza.

It’s not for lack of trying. In 1996, Alice Waters devoted 11 pages to the chicory family in her book “Chez Panisse Vegetables” http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

What this all appears to be is the compounding of two trends.

The first is the pushing aside of long-time American staples such as coleslaw and iceberg lettuce in favor of more sophisticated fare http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

The second trend is the disappearance of certain ethnic food traditions & the emergence of others.

As German-Americans become, well, just American, the taste for sauerkraut has disappeared http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

Meanwhile, the availability of processed chili peppers has more than doubled since the early 1980s.

And cabbage isn’t quite out yet; it’s also a key ingredient in the Korean staple kimchi, which saw sales skyrocket in the early days of the pandemic http://trib.al/4iwpnC2 

What's your favorite leafy green?