"Tomatoland" by Barry Estabrook

More tomatoes from Tom's vegetable garden in our yard

In a previous post for a tomato soup recipe, I commented on an interview with Barry Estabrook I heard on National Public Radio a few weeks ago.  Here is a link to that interview. 

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/28/137371975/how-industrial-farming-destroyed-the-tasty-tomato

Tomatoland: How Modern Industrialized Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit is the title of the book by Barry Estabrook that exposes the agricultural practices used in Florida to produce tomatoes.  He documents the use of nearly 110 pesticides, fungicides and insecticides to produce the tomatoes, and how the durability of a tomato for cross-country transport is the top priority rather than taste.  He also exposes the abject slavery of workers used in the tomato industry in Florida.   

I look at the tomatoes my husband lovingly grew from heirloom seeds and admire their lack of uniformity, along with their lack of pesticides and insecticides and chemicals.  I will savor each one as I puree them into delicious soup!  We have several more ripening in paper bags that will soon be ready to use. 




Heirloom tomatoes and an onion