Jun 23 2008
More Tomato Talk
The tomato investigation that I talked about last week is ongoing. In the meantime, one of the owners of Farm Fresh To You, which delivers delicious produce to my doorstep every week, put some perspective on the whole tomato harvesting issue.
Red round tomatoes are harvested when they’re still hard and green. They are harvested by hand into buckets, and those buckets are in turn dumped into large bins. The bins are then dumped into a wash tank, and the tomatoes are washed and then run through a mechanical sizing system. From there they are packed into boxes and stored to be sold on an as needed basis. Only when they are sold are they ripened by a gas which turns them from green to red.
This convenient system obviously has a big problem–namely that if one batch of tomatoes is contaminated, they contaminate the wash water and all the tomatoes that water comes in contact with. Not only that, but if the mechanical packing system is contaminated, tomatoes will continue to be contaminated. Because the system relies on economy of scale, it also makes it hard to track down where contaminated tomatoes came from, and what other crops they have been in contact with.
Farm Fresh To You is able to maintain cleaner standards because the crop size is smaller, which means while everyone else is worried if the tomatoes they are buying are clean or not, I know the ones in my house are.
Green Festival™ hits Washington, D.C., November 8 & 9 at the Washington Convention Center, and San Francisco, Calif., November 14, 15 & 16 at the Concourse Exhibition Center.
Green Festival is a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America, is akin to a walk through a sustainable community.
The festival features more than 125 renowned authors, leaders [...]
If you’ve ever contemplated going vegan, now’s the time during World Go Vegan Days, which started October 25 and run through October 31.
Created by In Defense of Animals (IDA), World Go Vegan Days is an annual event to educate people about the vegan lifestyle. During World Go Vegan Days, IDA encourages people to become conscious of what [...]
Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons (my wedding anniversary is in October, I love Halloween–scary movies in particular, we adopted our dog in October, the trees are pretty, the air is crisp and clean, etc.).
Plus, I start seeing one of my favorite types of produce in the stores this time of [...]
Don’t know beans about beans? Never fear!
Here’s a quick lesson on beans, which pack quite a powerful healthy punch (they are high in protein, and may also help protect against heart disease, diabetes, and obesity).
Kidney Beans (pictured above)
These red beans are often found in chili and contain almost as much antioxidant power as wild blueberries.
Navy [...]
Leave it to New York City to not only host one of the coolest foodie events ever, but also provide the backdrop for the ever-addictive “Top Chef” on Bravo.
But before we talk boob tube, let’s talk festival.
Thursday, October 9, through Sunday, October 12, The Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival takes a [...]