It’s tomato season, and this year I’m issuing a Tomato Manifesto. I am making a deliberate decision to pursue great tomatoes, great farmers, and a great life!
- I will grow my own tomatoes when I am able, understanding that the best way to understand the value of something is to produce it myself.
- I will know the farmer who grows my tomatoes by name.
- I will buy ugly tomatoes. (I take task with the American standard of perfection, whether it be a blemish-free tomato produced with gallons of chemicals, or a photoshopped model on the cover of a magazine.)
- I will not remind my farmer that I can buy cheaper tomatoes at {insert Big Box Mart store name here}.
- I will happily pay a higher price for a tomato that I know has been produced naturally, by a family striving to make ends meet, right in my own community.
- I will thank the farmer who grows my tomatoes for nourishing my family and the land that they work.
- I will savor the flavor of a farm fresh tomato—appreciating the complexities and intricacies that don’t exist in a perfectly round red hothouse tomato that has been hauled 2,000 miles in a semi across the continent.
- I will share a delicious, organic, heirloom tomato with someone this season who could not afford it to purchase it on their own.
Want to make a public stance in favor of a great tomato? You can sign your name to the manifesto by leaving a comment or let others know your stance by sharing on Facebook or Twitter.
Three cheers for great tomatoes!
I will (and do) raise my own tomatoes!…….and this year, with the drought, having to buy some for canning, I do know the name of my farmer. Landon Taylor!