17:17 EDT Tuesday Energy surcharge added to lettuce

Salinas Valley lettuce shippers are adding an energy surcharge to each carton starting today, according to the California Farm Bureau.

The shippers say they need the surcharge to offset rising costs for packing and cooling lettuce.

Different shippers will raise prices by different amounts. The surcharge is expected to be between a nickel and 10 cents a box, according to the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner's office.

Monterey County produces about $300 million worth of head and leaf lettuce a year, making it one of the largest producers of lettuce in the country.

http://sanjose.bcentral.com/sanjose/stories/2001/04/30/daily23.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 01, 2001