COMICS & HUMOR
PUZZLES & GAMES
COOKBOOKS
HOME & CRAFTS
NON-FICTION
KEEPSAKE & GIFT
CHILDREN'S
CALENDARS
Tomatolandby Barry Estabrook
Price: $15.99
ISBN-13: 9781449423452
ISBN-10: 1449423450
Format: Paperback
Size: 5.5 x 8.5 in.
Page Count: 256 pages
Tomatolandby Barry Estabrook
Price: $19.99
ISBN-13: 9781449401092
ISBN-10: 1449401090
Format: Hardcover
Size: 6 x 9 in.
Page Count: 240 pages
“Smart and important book.”
—Sam Sifton, The New York Times
“The pleasures of Tomatoland are real. They’re strong but subtle and sustained. Mr. Estabrook’s prose contains a mix of sweetness and acid, like a perfect homegrown tomato itself.”
—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
“If you care about social justice—or eat tomatoes—read this account of the past, present, and future of a ubiquitous fruit.”
—Corby Kummer, TheAtlantic.com
“Tomatoland (is) in the tradition of the best muckraking journalism, from Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle to Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.”
— Jane Black, The Washington Post
“Masterful.”
—Mark Bittman, New York Times Opinion blog
“Eye-opening exposé . . . thought-provoking.”
—Publishers Weekly
INTRODUCTION: ON THE TOMATO TRAIL
The modern, industrial tomato has been stripped of flavor and nutrition. Tomatoland is the story of how that happened and how it can be fixed.
ROOTS
Author Barry Estabrook follows the path of a small, wild, nearly inedible berry native to the harsh coastal deserts of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile as it migrates to what is now Mexico, then to Europe, and eventually to the United States, where it is now our second-most-popular produce item.
A TOMATO GROWS IN FLORIDA
With its high levels of humidity, voracious insects, and nutrient-deficient soil, Florida is one of the worst places you could choose to grow tomatoes commercially. Yet the state grows 90 percent of the tomatoes sold in the United States at certain times of year. How do growers do it? With tons of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers—and a high environmental and human cost.
CHEMICAL WARFARE
During a two-month period in the agricultural town of Immokalee, FL, three horribly disfigured babies were born. Their mothers were neighbors who toiled in the same tomato field where they were often sprayed with chemicals when they were pregnant. While looking at the broader picture of the misuse of agricultural chemicals in Florida, this chapter tells the story of the lawyer who battled one of the country’s largest agricultural companies in an attempt to bring justice to one of those babies.
Now available in paperback and with a new afterword, Tomatoland (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $15.99, April 2012) is award-winning investigative food journalist Barry Estabrook’s exposé into the huge human and environmental cost of the $10 billion fresh-tomato industry. The story begins simply, with Barry finding himself behind a heavy truck in Florida, laden with what appear to be green apples. Some of these orbs begin to fly off the truck, but they turn out to be tomatoes “so plasticine and so identical they could have been stamped out by a machine.” A few have cracks, most are unblemished, and not one is smashed, despite the long drop at 60 mph.
The story ends with Tomatoland, a hard look at today’s agribusiness systems, which produce industrial tomatoes as lacking in nutrition as they are flavor. Of all the fruits and vegetables we eat, none suffers at the hand of factory farming more than a tomato grown in the winter fields of Florida, which accounts for one-third of the fresh tomatoes grown in the United States. Modern agribusiness can’t deliver a decent-tasting tomato in large part because it’s essentially against the law; regulations set by the Florida Tomato Committee determine what a tomato should look like, and the older, tasty varieties don’t conform to the rules of color and shape.
As Barry explains in this fact-filled yet approachable book, consumers and society pay a price when we take taste and thought out of our food purchases:
• The tomato got its start in the arid climates of South America, making Florida’s humid weather possibly the worst place for tomato growing. This results in heavy use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
• The underpaid workers in Florida’s tomato fields are exposed to chemicals daily, with a toll including cancers, respiratory ailments, and severe birth defects among newborns. That’s not all—one assistant U.S. attorney referred to Florida’s tomato fields as “ground zero for modern-day slavery,” complete with beatings and being “sold” to crew bosses to pay debts.
• A tomato today contains less vitamin C, thiamin, niacin, and calcium and 14 times as much sodium as its 1960s counterpart.
There’s no doubt Americans, or anyone who longs for the flavor and texture of a truly home-grown tomato, will want to hear the messages of Tomatoland. Tomatoes are our second-most popular produce behind lettuce, with Americans buying $5 billion worth of commercially grown fresh tomatoes in 2009. And nearly nine out of 10 backyard gardens include tomatoes.
After reading Tomatoland, we should never look at a tomato the same way again, or settle for inferior produce.
“[Tomatoland is] a classic story of the way application of an industrial model of agriculture has degraded not only the product being sold, but the land, the health of the workers, and the political system it corrupts in order to maintain dominance.” ––Bookslut http://bit.ly/opcg9Y
“As the title suggests, a whimsical history of the tomato, this is not. He dispenses with the interesting anecdotes … in the first chapter, and then gets on to his real story, which is about how badly we treat the environment, and especially the workers, needed to grow off-season winter tomatoes in Florida.” ––The Daily Green http://bit.ly/pfJYGL
“Never eat a tomato from Florida. And to be safe, never eat a tomato in the wintertime. This excellent advice from Barry Estabrook, in his new book “Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed our Most Alluring Fruit,” is based on his investigation into where tomatoes originated (the high deserts of South America), and the damage to our food supply wrought by the Florida Tomato Committee wielding absolute power over the size, shape, and degree of ripeness of every tomato that leaves Florida. Taste is not a consideration.” ––Daily Herald http://bit.ly/rmV92r
“If you are looking for a feel-good book, Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook isn’t it. In fact, if you aren’t prepared to be deeply disturbed, upset, angry, and disgusted, I don’t recommend reading this book at all. If, however, you are prepared to take the red pill, go down the rabbit hole, and wake up to some realities of the world, read Tomatoland. Read it now.” ––Blog Critics http://bit.ly/nVVd8n
“To Estabrook, the way we raise our tomatoes—and the way we eat them—shows our real food priorities. Constant availability—regardless of seasonality—matters more than taste or nutrition or the environment or labor rights. That’s life in Tomatoland. His book is well worth checking out.” ––Time http://ti.me/oKD6id
Author says he’s found rotten truth about tomatoes : MyFoxTAMPABAY.com
In Tomatoland, based on his James Beard Award-winning article, investigative food journalist Barry Estabrook reveals the huge human and environmental cost of the $10 billion fresh-tomato industry. The story begins simply, with Barry finding himself behind a heavy truck in Florida, laden with what appear to be green Granny Smith apples. Some of these orbs begin to fly off the truck, but they turn out to be tomatoes “so plasticine and so identical they could have been stamped out by a machine.” A few have cracks, most are unblemished, and not one is smashed, despite the long drop at 60 mph.
The story ends with Tomatoland, an exposé of today’s agribusiness systems, which produce industrial tomatoes as lacking in nutrition as they are flavor. Of all the fruits and vegetables we eat, none suffers at the hand of factory farming more than a tomato grown in the winter fields of Florida, which accounts for one-third of the fresh tomatoes grown in the United States. Modern agribusiness can’t deliver a decent-tasting tomato in large part because it’s essentially against the law; regulations set by the Florida Tomato Committee determine what a tomato should look like, and the older, tasty varieties don’t conform to the rules of color and shape.
As Barry explains in this fact-filled yet approachable book, consumers and society pay a price when we take taste and thought out of our food purchases:
• The tomato got its start in the arid climates of South America, making Florida’s humid weather possibly the worst place for tomato growing. This results in heavy use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
• The underpaid workers in Florida’s tomato fields are exposed to chemicals daily, with a toll including cancers, respiratory ailments, and severe birth defects among newborns. That’s not all—one assistant U.S. attorney referred to Florida’s tomato fields as “ground zero for modern-day slavery,” complete with beatings and being “sold” to crew bosses to pay debts.
• A tomato today contains less vitamin C, thiamin, niacin, and calcium and 14 times as much sodium as its 1960s counterpart.
There’s no doubt Americans—anyone who longs for the flavor and texture of a truly home-grown tomato—will want to hear the messages of Tomatoland. Tomatoes are our second-most popular produce behind lettuce, with Americans buying $5 billion worth of commercially grown fresh tomatoes in 2009. And nearly nine out of 10 backyard gardens include tomatoes.
After reading Tomatoland, we should never look at a tomato the same way again—or settle for inferior produce.
Investigative journalist Barry Estabrook’s 2009 article for Gourmet magazine, “Politics of the Plate: The Price of a Tomato,” won a James Beard Award in 2010. In 2011, his blog, politicsoftheplate.com, won a James Beard Award. In addition to being a Gourmet contributing editor, Barry was founding editor of EatingWell magazine and has written for The New York Times Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health, and The Washington Post. He contributes regularly to The Atlantic’s Web site. He has been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows. Barry tends his tomato patch at home in Vermont.
