Lettuce club facts for kids
Have you ever heard of a club where people race to eat a whole head of lettuce? That's exactly what a lettuce club is! It's a fun group for students who love a challenge. Members compete to see who can finish eating an entire head of lettuce the fastest.
This unusual idea first started at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics. It became super popular after a post about it went viral on Tumblr, spreading to schools and colleges everywhere.
Lettuce Clubs at Colleges and Universities
Lettuce clubs have popped up at many colleges and universities across North America. Students join these clubs for fun, competition, and sometimes even to raise money for good causes.
University of South Carolina
A lettuce club started at the University of South Carolina in 2020. It quickly grew to over 80 members in its first year! The club holds one meeting each semester. The student who wins the eating competition is named "Head of Lettuce." This winner then gets to plan the next semester's meeting.
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota also has a lettuce club that meets twice a year. For their fall 2021 competition, students had to bring their own iceberg lettuce. Only students who were in their last semester of college could join this special competition. This event was even featured in a documentary film by Barstool Sports!
McGill University
In 2021, a lettuce club began at McGill University in Canada. The first meeting had more than 150 students! Competitors needed to bring their own iceberg lettuce that weighed at least 500 grams (about 1.1 pounds). The first winner finished his lettuce in just three minutes and 45 seconds. He became the "Head of Lettuce" and planned the next meeting. In 2022, over 200 students attended, and the winner finished in an amazing one minute and 54 seconds!
Carleton University
Carleton University started its lettuce club in 2020. Their first competition was held online using Discord! The winner finished in three minutes and 28 seconds. The next year, the club met in person. This time, it was also a fundraiser for breast cancer, raising over $800 CAD.
University of Waterloo
The Engineering Society at the University of Waterloo also hosts a lettuce club. They have three competitions a year, one for each school term. The winner earns the title of "Head Lettuce" and gets to host the next competition. Students can bring water or salad dressing to help them eat, but no power tools like blenders!
There are two leagues: competitive and non-competitive. To join the competitive league, your lettuce must weigh over 500 grams. During a lettuce shortage, this was lowered to 300g, but it will go back to 500g soon. At UWaterloo, winners are judged by how many grams per second they eat. In September 2022, one student ate 300g of lettuce in one minute and 46 seconds, eating at a rate of 2.81 grams per second!
University of Guelph
The University of Guelph formed a lettuce club in March 2024. They used Instagram and Reddit to spread the word. Over 100 students came to the first meeting, and most of them participated! One student accidentally brought a cabbage instead of lettuce. When someone finished their lettuce first, they ran to grab the cabbage from the middle of the circle. Two other participants finished their lettuce just seconds later. The University of Guelph plans to have more lettuce club meetings in the future.
Lettuce Clubs at High Schools
Lettuce clubs aren't just for colleges; they're popular in high schools too!
Maine School of Science and Mathematics
The very first lettuce club started at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics. For their competitions, the lettuce is bought from Walmart. The first student to finish eating their head of lettuce is named "Head Lettuce" and wins a special championship belt!
Heritage High School (Frisco, Texas)
A lettuce club was founded at Heritage High School in Frisco, Texas in 2017. The idea came from a Twitter post one of the founders saw. As of 2018, the club held its main competition at the end of each school year. The winner of the competition became the club's new president. During the 2018 competition, fun music from the 1980s, like "Eye of the Tiger", was played to cheer on the eaters!
Hopewell Valley Central High School
After the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, a lettuce club officially started at Hopewell Valley Central High School (HVCHS) in Pennington, New Jersey, in March 2021. Their very first lettuce eating competition was held online using Zoom because of ongoing restrictions. Now, the HVCHS Lettuce Club meets in person and is still very active today.
