A relief in the nationwide lettuce shortages means dining services will be back to serving lettuce, after high prices cut distribution.

Lettuce prices rose after Arizona growers saw a warm, early winter through November and December that caused too much lettuce to grow too quickly, said Stephen Skuba, officer in charge at the United States Department of Agriculture vegetable market news branch. Lettuce had to be harvested ahead of schedule, causing a period with very little lettuce production.

Then, Skuba said, production moved to California in late December and growers across the state saw a prolonged cold snap in December, January and February, which caused a delay in harvesting and the size and weight of the lettuce to decrease.

Dining services at Carman, Stevenson, Taylor and Thomas halls had found ways to cut down on the amount of lettuce they used in order to compensate for higher prices, but serving will be back to normal Tuesday and continue as usual as long as prices hold, said Jody Horn, director of residence hall food service, said in an e-mail.

Dining services with salad bars cut down on lettuce by serving it only once a day at lunch and cutting out dinner distribution, Horn said.

“(The shortage) has affected us significantly,” said Glen Greer, assistant director of Carman dining.

Instead, salad bars have offered more spinach, carrots and other vegetables to compensate for the lack of lettuce.

Stevenson Hall Dining, which does not have a salad bar, but sells prepared salads, cut down the amount of lettuce in each salad sold and the amount of shredded lettuce served on sandwiches.

Mary Lou Beals, assistant food manager, said that at the height of the shortage, about two weeks ago, Stevenson tried eliminating shredded lettuce on sandwiches, but student complaints became too numerous.

However, Skuba said as prices are beginning to fall back to average and as production increases, food services like Eastern’s dining service can start to return to normal.

“Today a 24-count shipment of lettuce would cost $50, but weeks ago it could have cost $60,” he said.

He said $50 a shipment is still a higher than average price, last year 24 count shipment would have cost $8, but as production continues to increase, prices will continue to fall.

Horn said she had some complaints about the lack of lettuce in dining services, but most students were understanding and aware of the shortage.