Jennifer Rodriguez Perez started her Thursday as a typical 19-year-old UF marine science junior. She ended it with a new title: “head of the lettuce.”
A crowd of around 40 people gathered by a bench to watch 20 members of UF’s Lettuce Club, including Rodriguez Perez, compete in a lettuce eating competition. Many watched with their own pieces of lettuce in hand, and some even gripped personal bottles of dressing to complement the leafy greens.
The contest was Lettuce Club’s first meeting. It aims not only to teach other students about agriculture and help the Gainesville community, but to have fun while doing so, according to the club’s president.
Rodriguez Perez, the competition’s first-place winner, said she participated to try something new.
“It's my inner animal right now, and it just seemed like something fun to do that wasn't studying and staying inside my room all day,” Rodriguez Perez said.
After being told she was the underdog by other competitors, Rodriguez Perez said she felt an unusual competitive edge. She felt if she was close to winning, she might as well try.
“At first, I was eating leaf by leaf,” Rodriguez Perez said. “But then I realized that the whole thing of lettuce could fit in my mouth, so I just decided to take big bites.”
Rodriguez Perez finished her lettuce in about two minutes and 42 seconds, and the club crowned her the “head of lettuce.”
The club’s president, 19-year-old UF plant science freshman Madeleine Lile-Delfino, was inspired to organize the contest after hearing about a now non-active UF lettuce club from a few semesters ago. She also saw similar groups at other schools.
Lile-Delfino said she wanted the club to be not only informational, but also fun for all lettuce lovers around campus.
“This is to be able to have a fun, social club, where you can go and eat and meet people and talk to people and have a community,” she said, “but also to learn about agriculture and education and outreach.”
Lile-Delfino’s main approach to spreading the word about the club was to use social media, she said. After posting about the club and the competition, the club gained over 100 followers and had about 20 people come to compete.
“We advertise it as BYOL, bring your own lettuce,” Lile-Delfino said. “Just show up with a head of lettuce and have fun.”
Megan Woratyla, a 19 year-old UF biotechnology freshman, said she came across the lettuce competition flyer on the social media app YikYak. She decided to come out, enjoy the weather and watch the competition.
Woratyla thought it would be a casual competition until she saw the lettuce-eating capability of the competitors.
“At first, it started out kind of slow, and I was like, I could do better than that,” she said. “But it got really fast as time went on, and then before I knew it, someone was already done with a head of lettuce, and I thought that was really impressive.”
Amelia McKay, an 18 year-old UF environmental science freshman and Lettuce Club’s vice president, credits her roommate for the idea of the lettuce club.
“I would say our goal is kind of just to bring a bunch of people together who think that things like this are fun and interesting, ” McKay said.
With Thursday’s lettuce eating competition being the club’s first meeting, McKay said she didn’t expect a large crowd, but she was pleased with this meeting’s attendance.
Contact Lilianne Fernandez at lfernandez@alligator.org. Follow her on X @ltfernandez8.
Lilianne is a first-year English student and the University desk's Spring 2026 Santa Fe reporter. In her free time, she enjoys going on runs, hanging out with friends, or listening to music.
