Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed our Most Alluring Fruit

As soon as I saw that title I had to know more. The book by Barry Estabrook uncovers some very disturbing truths about a food item we love and use in great quantities. Here are a few significant details:

• Compared to nutrient data from the 1960′s (the delectable tomatoes of my youth), today’s commercially grown tomatoes have 30% less Vitamin C, 30 % less thiamine, 19% less niacin and 62% less calcium.
• There’s a Florida Tomato Committee that imposes export controls on tomatoes shipped out of state for fresh use. It stipulates all tomatoes must be flawlessly smooth, evenly round and of a certain size….not a word about taste (that explains a lot).
• Field tomatoes grown for export are picked green and hard then gassed with ethylene to turn them red. There is no ripening going on in the true sense of the word – they may be red but they are still stone hard.
• Florida is a bad actor in the realm of tomato growing with an appalling history of labour abuse.

And here is how I’ve changed my food life after reading this book:

• For sauces and cooking I use canned tomatoes. I found these links to the best-liked brands….but frankly, I buy what’s on sale. A Canadian Foodie , America’s Test Kitchen  (registration required)

• I love tasty tomatoes in my salad and on my sandwiches. When there are no farmer’s markets or if I’m in a hurry, I get cherry or grape tomatoes from the grocery store because they usually have some flavour. I sometimes buy the vine ripe tomato clusters, but I now look for a country of origin on the sticker, preferring local and avoiding Florida.
• You never know how a tomato is going to taste until you get it home and you’ll never really know what it’s been through (pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, chlorination, gassed or maybe misted with mineral oil) unless you grow your own. I don’t have much sun in my nicely treed neighbourhood but I do have large planters that will accommodate 4 or 5 tomato plants and this summer I will remind myself what a real, fresh picked tomato tastes like (and that sometimes they are bumpy with weird folds…).

A review of the Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada has me looking at my food labels more carefully. While I have been diligently checking the fibre content of my breakfast cereals, my sodium intake has gone unchecked. Cereals are nowhere near the worst offenders when it comes to salt in our diets but why is it there at all?
 

 Here are some numbers taken from products in my pantry:
• All Bran Original 1/2c. (36g) = 180 mg sodium (8% DV)
• Fibre 1 Honey Clusters 1c. (54g) = 280 mg sodium (14% DV)
• Multi Grain Cheerios 1c. (30gm) = 160 mg sodium (7% DV)
• Compliments Wheat Squares 11/4c. (55g) = 330mg sodium (14% DV)
• Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Regular I pack (28g) = 180 mg (8%)
• Spoon Size Shredded Wheat 11/4c. (59g) = 0 mg sodium (0% DV)
• Blue Menu Steel Cut Oats 1/4c. (40g) = 0 mg sodium (0% DV)
• Quaker Large Flake Oats (bulk) 1/3 c. (30g) = 0 mg sodium (0% DV)

For added interest, I looked these up on the Internet:
• Kelloggs Corn Flakes 11/4c. (30g) = 220 mg sodium (9% DV)
• Kelloggs Special K 11/4c. (29g) = 230 mg sodium (10% DV)

So what?
I rely on cereals as a source of B vitamins and fibre. So I will still be eating cereals for breakfast but they will be cooked up on the stove top…..a batch of Oatmeal or 7 grain or Red River. I will prep two or three days worth and each morning scoop 1/2 cup, add milk and microwave. Then I will sprinkle it with a bit of chopped or dried fruits and nuts. Yumm.

Value your food labels! Whether it’s cereal or any processed food, check the label before you buy. Choose items which deliver 5% DV (Daily Value) or less. Click this link to download valuable information on sodium and what to look for on those labels.

I love making bread in my bread machine, adding all the seeds and grains I can imagine. My current favourite has flax, sesame and poppy seeds.

Two slices (ie., the sandwich I’m about to make) deliver great taste, great texture and 2 Tbsp of seeds – that’s nutritional variety I would otherwise have missed! BTW, the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) recommends 3–5 weekly servings of nuts, seeds and dry beans – check it out here.
I buy seeds from wherever I feel there is high turnover – the bulk food store, health food store or my local ethnic market. Always natural – not processed, not salted. Here are my proportions, just combine and add to your ingredients for a 1½ pound loaf (10 slices):
• 6 Tbsp flax seeds (I grind all but 1-2 Tbsp using a coffee grinder)
• 2½ Tbsp sesame seeds (if I cannot find them dry roasted I do it myself in a non-stick fry pan over a low heat, shaking or stirring constantly until they develop a golden colour – the flavour is much enhanced)
• 1½ Tbsp poppy seeds
Mix up a double or triple batch and keep it in the freezer for your next loaf…just bring it to room temperature before using it in your bread machine.

This blog needs some action! I will be doing more news and views on current hot topics and how I incorporate them into everyday living. In the mean time, here is something to chew on as I do a bit of blog work. Feel free to post your answers, and to challenge any responses! Have fun….

Q1. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

Q2. Of all vegetables, only two continue to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

Q3. At holiday time you can buy pear brandy with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn’t been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

Q4. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.

The scale is telling me I must curtail my intake so I can be ready for the next round of holiday feasting. So….I’ve changed my breakfast routine from cereals to home-made smoothies. I find smoothies refreshing and filling, keeping me away from the carbs I crave at lunch. My readings verify that whey protein does indeed effect how full you feel, plus it has a beneficial effect on blood glucose and insulin response. My smoothie delivers about 10 gm protein, not the 40 gm shown to have the strongest effects. Regardless, it does the trick and I find them delicious.

This morning’s smoothie was made with skim milk and low fat yogurt, frozen fruits I have stashed in my freezer,