A lettuce club is a student organization that holds events in which members compete to be the first to finish eating an entire head of lettuce. Originating at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, the phenomenon of lettuce clubs spread after being mentioned in a viral Tumblr post.[1]
A lettuce club at the University of Maryland, College Park was founded in 2017 and held two competitions that year before ceasing activity. Because the lettuce club had not been officially recognized by the university, Stamp Student Union declined to host further club events, contributing to the group's decline.[2]
A lettuce club was founded at the University of South Carolina in 2020 by a student in the school's Honors College, recruiting over 80 members in its first year of operation after gaining official recognition from the school, and holding one meeting per semester. The winner of the competition at a given meeting is named "Head of Lettuce" and charged with planning the next semester's meeting.[3]
Lettuce compete today with honor, glory, and most importantly a mild appetite for leafy vegetables. If we find ourselves growing weak, let the strength of the mighty iceberg carry us. Even if we do not win, we will be grateful for this little gem of a club and for those of us that will go on to compete in the future, we butter be prepared to toss salad once again.
– The Lettuce Creed as delivered by Jack Walsh, president of the lettuce club at the University of Minnesota[4]
A lettuce club at the University of Minnesota was holding two meetings per year as of 2021. For the club's fall 2021 competition, which was the subject of a documentary film by Barstool Sports, members were asked to bring their own lettuce; only iceberg lettuce was allowed, and only students with one semester remaining were allowed to participate.[4]
500g Iceberg is regulation. Do not bring a cabbage.
– Arielle Lok, Founder of McGill University's Lettuce Club[5]
A lettuce club was founded at McGill University in 2021, with the first meeting drawing more than 150 attendees. Competitors were required to bring their own head of iceberg lettuce weighing no less than 500 grams (18 oz). The winner finished his lettuce in three minutes and 45 seconds, and was placed in charge of planning the next meeting in his role as "Head of Lettuce".[6][7] Another meeting was successfully hosted in 2022 with the same ruleset, drawing more than 200 attendees. The 2022 winner finished his lettuce in a minute and 54 seconds.[8]
A lettuce club was founded at Carleton University in 2020, with the first gathering occurring on Discord with the help of a Discord bot programmed for Lettuce purposes. The winner finished in 3 minutes and 28 seconds. The subsequent Lettuce Club (2021) was held in person and also served as a fundraiser for breast cancer, raising over $800 CAD.
Moreover, Engineering Society at the University of Waterloo also hosts their division of Lettuce Club. The competition runs 3 times a year, once every school term, with the winner earning the title of "Head Lettuce" and the responsibility to host the next competition. Competitors are encouraged to bring water, salad dressing, or anything else to complete the challenge, with the exception of power-tools, such as blenders. There are both competitive and non competitive leagues for this elite division of dedicated engineering students. In order to enter the competitive league, one must bring a lettuce weighing over 500 grams. Due to a lettuce shortage during COVID, the requirement has been reduced to 300g, but will soon return to 500g. UWaterloo scores their participants not on time but instead on the average Grams per Second (g/sec) they consume their lettuce at. Recently in Sept 2022, 1 member consumed 300g of lettuce in 1 min 46 sec, leading to the winning rate of 2.81 g/sec.
At the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, where the first lettuce club originated, the lettuce for competitions is purchased from Walmart; the first contestant to finish eating their head of lettuce is named "Head Lettuce" and awarded a championship belt.[9]
A lettuce club was founded at Heritage High School in Frisco, Texas in 2017, inspired by a post one of the founders saw on Twitter about lettuce clubs elsewhere. As of 2018, the club held its annual competitions at the end of each school year. The winner of a competition became the club's new president. At the 2018 competition, music from the 1980s including "Eye of the Tiger" was played during the competition.[10]
Following the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, in March of 2021, a lettuce club was chartered at Hopewell Valley Central High School (HVCHS) in Pennington, New Jersey. The first lettuce eating competition was over zoom due to ongoing restrictions. The HVCHS Lettuce Club now meets in person[11] and remains active today.[12]