Editorial "Stewing about tomatoes," (printed Aug. 24, 2007)
This week, Aug. 24 to Aug. 31, is “Maine Tomato Tasting Week,” sponsored by the state dept. of agriculture.
Be prepared to see promotions for this event at local farm stands, farmers markets and retail stores that sell locally grown tomatoes throughout the state. That is if you ever visit such places.
As we have learned in stories we’ve researched and press releases we’ve received at the Sentry, for proponents of buying locally grown produce, the benefits of such a practice are manifold.
When we buy locally grown produce, whether through farm share programs, farmer’s markets, beach markets or the supermarket, we support the local economy, help preserve the state’s agricultural infrastructure, reduce sprawl (by keeping farming more lucrative and profitable, making the farmers less susceptible to the entreaties of developers) and reduce pollution (by decreasing the demand for produce trucked long distances).
Produce grown nearby, proponents argue, is tastier and better for us because it has spent more time on the vine and less time in a refrigerated compartment, where it loses nutritional value and collects pollutants. Many types of produce are now selected for their ability to survive long bumpy rides in ships and trucks and still look good on the store shelf, if not taste particularly good in a salad.
There is also the accountability factor. With the recent spate of product recalls and less recent health scares attributed to produce, many people find comfort in knowing where their food is grown.
Yet, there is one supermarket chain that operates locally that may not embrace this Maine tomato promotion.
On several occasions, trips to one particular store in South Portland yielded a bounty of tomato choices– different shapes, sizes and variations of red. Yet all these choices had a single common denominator– each one had a description that started with the word, “imported.”
One might expect to see such a lack of local produce if it were January or even April, but by mid-August, surely Mainers need not rely on Beefsteak Tomatoes grown in Mexico (or wherever they were “imported” from). Considering the dept. of agriculture is promoting local tomatoes one would assume that the supply exists.
In our busy lives “one stop shopping,” has become less of a convenience and more of a necessity. When squeezing a shopping errand for soap, coffee and other incidental necessities in between work and dinner, many will chose to pick up tomatoes, wherever their origin, rather than add an extra stop for the real thing (especially with the perception that the real thing comes at a premium price).
But we pay in other ways. One stop shopping requires a centralized distribution system that opts out of local wholesale markets– more money leaving the state and less variety from region to region; more smog and less open space; more of the same and less of the truly good things in life.
–Ward Peck
Be prepared to see promotions for this event at local farm stands, farmers markets and retail stores that sell locally grown tomatoes throughout the state. That is if you ever visit such places.
As we have learned in stories we’ve researched and press releases we’ve received at the Sentry, for proponents of buying locally grown produce, the benefits of such a practice are manifold.
When we buy locally grown produce, whether through farm share programs, farmer’s markets, beach markets or the supermarket, we support the local economy, help preserve the state’s agricultural infrastructure, reduce sprawl (by keeping farming more lucrative and profitable, making the farmers less susceptible to the entreaties of developers) and reduce pollution (by decreasing the demand for produce trucked long distances).
Produce grown nearby, proponents argue, is tastier and better for us because it has spent more time on the vine and less time in a refrigerated compartment, where it loses nutritional value and collects pollutants. Many types of produce are now selected for their ability to survive long bumpy rides in ships and trucks and still look good on the store shelf, if not taste particularly good in a salad.
There is also the accountability factor. With the recent spate of product recalls and less recent health scares attributed to produce, many people find comfort in knowing where their food is grown.
Yet, there is one supermarket chain that operates locally that may not embrace this Maine tomato promotion.
On several occasions, trips to one particular store in South Portland yielded a bounty of tomato choices– different shapes, sizes and variations of red. Yet all these choices had a single common denominator– each one had a description that started with the word, “imported.”
One might expect to see such a lack of local produce if it were January or even April, but by mid-August, surely Mainers need not rely on Beefsteak Tomatoes grown in Mexico (or wherever they were “imported” from). Considering the dept. of agriculture is promoting local tomatoes one would assume that the supply exists.
In our busy lives “one stop shopping,” has become less of a convenience and more of a necessity. When squeezing a shopping errand for soap, coffee and other incidental necessities in between work and dinner, many will chose to pick up tomatoes, wherever their origin, rather than add an extra stop for the real thing (especially with the perception that the real thing comes at a premium price).
But we pay in other ways. One stop shopping requires a centralized distribution system that opts out of local wholesale markets– more money leaving the state and less variety from region to region; more smog and less open space; more of the same and less of the truly good things in life.
–Ward Peck
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