Make your supermarket staff aware that you would be willing to buy “alternatively” attractive tomatoes. National retailers Whole Foods and Walmart recently ended their pilot programs to try and sell blemished fruits and vegetables to customers at a discount, citing a lack of popularity with customers.Ask your farmer if they have any “seconds:” produce that is fine to eat but perhaps not pretty enough to make it to the display table.Go for variety - your taste buds will thank you. Try not to demand that every tomato looks like it was pressed out of the same mold.Of course, any significant infestation, rot or mold makes your tomatoes a better candidate for the compost than your dinner plate. If you have a bit of hail or sun damage, a little nibble from a passing bug or minimal bruising, just cut it off and get on with your recipe. In the farmers’ market, don’t shy away from tomatoes that have had a life.Subscription programs such as Imperfect Produce are delivering less-than-perfect food directly to eaters’ doors, creating a retail stream for such products.Īnd we eaters can do our part to eat up cosmetically challenged produce: Efforts such as the Campaign aim to raise awareness about the delicious possibilities of tasty, if not lovely produce. Fortunately, some pioneering action is already underway. In a growing population where many go hungry, it’s unconscionable to discard nutritious, wholesome food because it simply isn’t cute enough. Tips for Choosing Better Quality, Flavorful Tomatoes
A gorgeous, fully ripe, juicy, tender, if somewhat misshapen heirloom tomato? It would never make it through the system. Any deviation - a tomato that is slightly too big or too small, one that has a slightly lopsided shape, has a slight discoloration, or a small amount of scarring from the natural elements such as too much sun - and the tomato is rejected. The cosmetic standards for tomatoes (and all produce) are very strict there are all manner of reasons that the fruit might be kicked to the curb.
Tomatoes that do not fit into this system are culled. Industrialized crops are designed to have consistent size and shape to fit into the mechanical harvesters, processors and packers sturdy constitutions that can handle the bumps and bounces of shipping and handling and the obedience to turn from unripe and green to stop sign red when blasted with ethylene gas before being put on display. Why Choose Locally Grown Tomatoes Over Supermarket PerfectionĬommercially grown tomatoes, those grown on a scale that can keep large groceries in constant supply, are raised with a list of characteristics in mind unfortunately, flavor doesn’t happen to be one of them.
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