3 Reasons to Hold the Lettuce

This lettuce, I would eat

Over the past few weeks, I've been served some pretty disgusting lettuce in restaurants.  That got me to thinking: Why, exactly, do I eat lettuce when I'm dining out, anyway?  Is there any benefit whatsoever, to my palate or my health?

In short, I've decided there isn't.  And so, from now on, I'm going to skip eating lettuce when I go out to eat.  Here's why:

It's dripping with pesticides.  Lettuce is on the "dirty dozen" list of foods you should buy organic.  If I wouldn't purchase conventionally grown lettuce at the supermarket, why would I eat it anywhere else?

It tastes bad.  Have you ever eaten a bite of non-organic lettuce, all by itself, with nothing else on your fork - no salad dressing, no tomato, just plain old lettuce?  The pesticides have a distinct, metallic flavor, which is completely revolting.

It's nutritionally worthless.  Let's face it - the average eatery isn't going to use green leaf lettuce, romaine, or another super-healthy variety.  Restaurant meals are usually served with plain old iceberg, which is a nutritionally empty food - in addition to being bland and flavorless.

So, restaurant lettuce and I are finished - unless, of course, I'm dining some place with organically grown greens.  What about you?  Do you eat lettuce when you go out to eat?