Real Life Slavery, Pesticides and The Tomato That Would Not Die.

"When I asked Molloy if it was safe to assume that a consumer who has eaten a fresh tomato from a grocery store, fast food restaurant, or food-service company in the winter has eaten a fruit picked by the hand of a slave, he corrected my choice of words. "It's not an assumption. It is a fact."" 


This is an excert from Barry Estabrook's new book, Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit. He used to be a contributing editor for Gourmet Mag and is also the author of his blog, politicsoftheplate.com. Mum showed me this book review from the NyTimes a while ago and have added it onto my list of books to read. I just came across this excerpt of the book where I copied the above quote from and it made me more excited to read the book - excited in that I am fascinated by it, not by what it's going to actually reveal about the world. Tomatoes are one of those fruits that we find everywhere - so commonplace that it seems like an incomplete salad or sandwich without it, let alone think about the condiment world of ketchup and salsas. I think I will be definitely more aware of where the tomatoes come from and who's picking them for me, if I really need it in the middle of winter, and if it's really necessary to add to a dish if there isn't actually any flavor but just an additional red slice of color.


 scary scary.