Tomatoes - Qualitative

Qualitative

- The English called it the "love apple," and English romancers presented it as a token of affection; Sir Walter Raleigh is said to have presented one to Queen Elizabeth.

- The early American colonists regarded the tomato as poison because it's related to the deadly nightshade plant (but so is the potato!). Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson stood on the steps of the Salem, New Jersey courthouse in 1820 and ate a tomato-and then a few more-without any adverse effects, to the town's amazement. However, another source claims that a certain M. F. Corne is the first man to eat a tomato, His fellow citizens of Newport, Rhode Island, erected a monument to him, because the tomato was considered poisonous until Mr. Corne dared to eat one.

• Bathing in tomato juice is an effective way to remove the smell if a skunk sprays you or a pet;

• Wash your hair with them after swimming in a pool in order to remove the chlorine from your hair;

• To tenderize meats; and

- To clean copper pots instead of using harsh or abrasive chemicals.

- Tomato juice is the official state beverage of Ohio. Arkansas' official state vegetable is the vine ripe pink tomato (of South Arkansas).

- The jelly-like substance around the seeds contains the highest concentration of vitamin C.

- There has always been a debate concerning whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable; in 1863 the Supreme Court ruled that tomatoes were to be considered vegetables.

- More than 60 million tons are produced each year. This is 16 million more tons than our friend the banana, the second most popular. The third most popular are apples (36 million), then oranges (34 million), and watermelons (22 million)

- If you suffer from a skin disease, a tomato a day may keep the doctor away. Tomatine, tomato's principle alkaloid, heals certain fungus disorder

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Value

o What is the cost of production, distribution & sustainability?

- Tomato is one of the most commonly grown fresh vegetables. 

- Tomatoes are both high yielding and labor intensive so most farmers don’t grow more than one acre 

- Tomatoes yield 650 to 800 boxes (30 lbs. each) per acre in the the central US. This equals between 19,000 and 25,000 lbs or 10 to 13 tons per acre. 

o In 1990, the tomato yield nationwide was 25,100 per acre

- Production and marketing costs can be over $4,000 per acre with an expected return of $4,000 to $8,000 per acre. 

- Efficient harvesting, handling, and marketing techniques are extremely important in the production of this highly perishable crop. 

o Labor intensive = estimated 350 hours of work for each staked acre. 

- For storage and shippin, it can be picked at the “breaker” stage of maturity, when the blossom end turns pink. 

- Post-harvest temperature management is critical to maintain quality. 

- Tomatoes may be damaged when stored below 55 degrees Fahrenheit

- For the longest shelf life a tomato should be stored from 55 to 70 degrees F

- Tomato market fluctuates with growing season -> starts high and drops as summer season progresses. 

o Plasticulture and hoop house production are techniques which increase earliness or extend the tomato season which is why they have become so popular. 

- Tomatoes are often picked unripe and then ripened with ethylene. 

- Tomatoes are often grown in greenhouses in cooler climates. 

Variety Selection

- Selection of tomato varieties include market demands, disease resistance, suitability to production systems, and regional adaptability. 

Suitability to Production Systems

- Tomatoes have growth habits ranging from determinate (bush) to indeterminate (vining). 

o Limited access, closed – sometimes overlap

o The privilege of rents

- No dominant coalition is permanent. Stability is maintained through the balance of interests in the rent-creation process.

Production in the US

- In 2004, Florida had 42,000 acres of tomatoes and California had 37,000 acres. 

- China produces the most tomatoes in the world, with the US right behind it. 

- Percentage of fresh tomato supply that is exported is 6 percent. 

- Mexico accounts for 71% of the American imports.

Signification

o How does this object go beyond initial interpretation?When it comes to dreams, tomatoes have two meaning
- You are tented by a love story
- You have too much passionate love stories
But then there are distinctions that have to be made:
-green tomatoes= your life is too superficial
or because of your impatience, you are going to miss your chance
- If you pick tomatoes: you are going to deal with strong emotions
- If you buy tomatoes: you are going to obtain what you want
- If you grow tomatoes: unexpected and happy changes are coming
A well known expression dealing with tomatoes:
To be as red as a tomato means to be all red Apparue dès 1690, "être rouge comme une tomate" est une référence à la couleur rouge qui teinte parfois les joues d'une personne lorsque celle-ci est sous le coup d'une émotion forte.

The other names of the tomatoes
- In France, pomme d’amour due to a red color which stands for the passion, as they thought them to have stimulating aphrodisiacal properties. It might also be due to a bad translation of the Italian “pomo d'amore” which comes from “pomme des Maures”
It also embodies summer, spain, south and warmth
o Does it have a cultural legacy whether it is for the mass, the elite?- It was not consummated by the American autochthonous
- It was adopted by Mexicans who obtain from it lots of varieties
-
The Moors who invaded Spain were spellbound by the heart-shaped vegetable that sang the love. They embarked it in their luggage to conquer the entire Mediterranean basin. Attractive, bewitching, tomato alters radically the kitchen and also seduces the French during the revolution.

-It was introduced in Spain thanks to the conquest in the 16th. Spanish and Italian were the 1st to adopt it as an aliment. Italian found in the tomatoes the perfect complement for their pasta and they invented the different ways of cultivating it.
- It was used in a recipe book in the 18th only. Why? Due to the smell of its stems and leaves (not really engaging) and its resemblance with toxic plants (mandragore).
- It was cultivated as a strange object only in private and botanic garden
- The Italians when they immigrated to the US, tried to introduce it. But the US (due to their English legacy) were very suspicious towards tomatoes. English people used to recommend to boil the tomatoes during 3 hours in order to erase their toxic part (John Gerard wrote a memoir in which he explained that the tomato was toxic). Until the end of 20th, the average American thinks that the tomato is poisonous plant. And the puritans thought it was too red and too seducing, hence it was a sin to consume it. Only the Louisianans (under the French influence) will consume it from 1810 and Jefferson, Bennet (New York Times)
- In China, it will only be adopted in the 20th even if it was introduced three centuries ago
- Even the witches thought it was associated with evil.
- In 1897, soup mogul Joseph Campbell came out with condensed tomato soup, a move that set the company on the road to wealth as well as further endearing the tomato to the general public.
- Now they are cultivated in lots of ways although before it was just a product without any commercial importance. Very popular.
- Now Americans obtain more of their vitamins from tomatoes than from any other vegetable.

We love tomatoes