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I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

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Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#71

Post by throwaway439893 »

A couple things come to mind here:

The cultivar of tomato determines how "stiff" it is, and somewhat how long until ripe. A different cultivar might result in a slight change in percentage damaged.

Heat ruining the crop? But tomatoes love heat. I know rot can set in much quicker as the tomato matures, if rot or nutrient deficiency was already an issue; for pristine 'maters, they can sit around for weeks at room temperature with no issue. Perhaps part of the issue is tomato health, and another part is ventilation / passive temperature regulation. So maybe someone could construct a cheap filler material that promotes airflow and put between the baskets.

The basket design could be altered to allow tighter packing of baskets. Currently they are circular, and so don't fit very tightly against the truck or each other. If they can be packed tighter, the baskets will help reinforce each other and prevent deflection. Square baskets may be best. There are many different designs for square woven baskets. In addition they can be made smaller which will provide more reinforcement material per pound tomato (this may increase the basket price somewhat but also reduce loss, making it a net gain).

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#72

Post by treeman79 »

hnzix wrote: post #62
atombender wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Supposedly because they contain glycoalkaloids. I'm not sure who invented the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), but it seems to have the same scientifically questionable origins as Leaky Gut Syndrome. I have yet to see any scientific evidence supporting AIP. There's one study hypothesizing that glycoalkaloids can increase/aggravate intestinal permeability (which is a real thing), but this study only looked at mice [1]. The…

> I have yet to see any scientific evidence supporting AIP. The food elimination diet is very scientific - you add items back in one at a time to test if they cause a negative reaction to your particular physiology.

That’s what I ended up doing. Ate nothing but sweet potatoes for a month. It was the only food I was sure didn’t cause a problem.

Most boring month ever. Felt amazing at the end of it.

Was shocking when I introduced things back in.

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#73

Post by optymizer »

I'm a big fan of tomatoes - we used to grow them at home in Europe, and I swear to you I have found 0 tasty tomatoes in the US, aside from this one tomato that my friend's boss grew in his garden, which tasted almost like a tomato should. Sometimes I feel like entire generations of people in the US don't know what a good tomato tastes like because they've never had a proper tomato.

I find the tomatoes in US stores bland and watery. They must be collected when green and ripe on the truck or in the store. I even grew my own tomatoes here from organic seeds and they ended up being just mildly better tasting than store-bought tomatoes. What happened to the tomatoes in the US?

Can someone demystify this for me: where are all the good US tomatoes at?

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#74

Post by kyteland »

yissp wrote: post #69
fy20 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone who didn't know this: tomato, tomatillo, potato, eggplant, pepper and tobacco are all from the same family Solanaceae aka nightshade. There are many other plants in the same family (they have worldwide distribution), but a lot of them are poisonous. Even more fun: It's possible to graft plants of different species within the family, so you can create a plant that grows both potatoes and tomatoes. https://e…

I remember reading that when they were first brought to Europe via the Columbian exchange people were reluctant to eat them fearing they were also poisonous. Now it's hard to imagine, e.g. Italian cuisine without tomatoes.

They feared that because people were being poisoned. Pewter plates were common at the time and the tomatoes acid leached the lead out causing acute lead poisoning!

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#75

Post by decebalus1 »

optymizer wrote: post #73

I'm a big fan of tomatoes - we used to grow them at home in Europe, and I swear to you I have found 0 tasty tomatoes in the US, aside from this one tomato that my friend's boss grew in his garden, which tasted almost like a tomato should. Sometimes I feel like entire generations of people in the US don't know what a good tomato tastes like because they've never had a proper tomato. I find the tomatoes in US stores bl…

> where are all the good US tomatoes at?

At the farmer's market. Look for heirloom tomatoes. I get them during the summer from either the farmer's market or a food cooperative in the Seattle area (PCC). Heirloom tomatoes are the only tomatoes I tasted on this continent that are on par with the tomatoes my parents grow in their garden in Europe.

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#76

Post by hardwaregeek »

optymizer wrote: post #73

I'm a big fan of tomatoes - we used to grow them at home in Europe, and I swear to you I have found 0 tasty tomatoes in the US, aside from this one tomato that my friend's boss grew in his garden, which tasted almost like a tomato should. Sometimes I feel like entire generations of people in the US don't know what a good tomato tastes like because they've never had a proper tomato. I find the tomatoes in US stores bl…

If you can find a good Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, they'll give you good tomatoes. Granted you'll also get a bunch of other vegetables but it's good quality and saves you from having to buy groceries from July to November. I've had tomatoes from a CSA that tasted like candy.

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#77

Post by noodle »

optymizer wrote: post #73

I'm a big fan of tomatoes - we used to grow them at home in Europe, and I swear to you I have found 0 tasty tomatoes in the US, aside from this one tomato that my friend's boss grew in his garden, which tasted almost like a tomato should. Sometimes I feel like entire generations of people in the US don't know what a good tomato tastes like because they've never had a proper tomato. I find the tomatoes in US stores bl…

Like most veggies sold in grocery stories in the US, the varieties are engineered to line up with the supply chain needs. Tastier heirloom tomatoes tend to not do as well in transport, or don't last as long on the shelf, or whatever other reason.

As is already suggested, the good US tomatoes and fruit in general can be found at farmer's markets, local farms, and/or local grocery stores that have relationships with local farmers. Also, a lot of smaller local farms that grow tastier veggies tend to supply to locally sourced farm-to-table type restaurants directly instead of selling them in stores,

My parents get their tomatoes from a local hydroponics farm that only sells straight from the farm (in the middle of nowhere), and in bulk to local restaurants.

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#78

Post by QuarterReptile »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #38

Kind of a tangent but this really makes me think about this problem I see with thinking in Silicon Valley. It seems to be a common belief that if someone is solving a problem they have with some product or service, they are helping everyone in the world. But the rest of the world is very unlike Silicon Valley. Someone making an app to help them book a masseuse is not going to be solving problems for people who cannot…

I agree with your first paragraph.

But you are discounting the rarity of productive labor and the value of R&D. Yes, we have serious vices in the US with our spending on frivolous pursuits, but at the same time we're doing incredibly ambitious things. If we undercut the profitability of those ambitious pursuits, we lower the number of ways to get funding to those enterprises. In the face of low payoffs for big ideas, you just get all that effort put toward more apps to book a masseuse for your dog.

Wealthy people pay to have their problems solved, so undercutting intellectual property just directs more high achievers to cater to 'first world problems' rather than chasing big ideas.

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#79

Post by dustintrex »

hardwaregeek wrote: post #76
optymizer wrote: post #73

I'm a big fan of tomatoes - we used to grow them at home in Europe, and I swear to you I have found 0 tasty tomatoes in the US, aside from this one tomato that my friend's boss grew in his garden, which tasted almost like a tomato should. Sometimes I feel like entire generations of people in the US don't know what a good tomato tastes like because they've never had a proper tomato. I find the tomatoes in US stores bl…

If you can find a good Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, they'll give you good tomatoes. Granted you'll also get a bunch of other vegetables but it's good quality and saves you from having to buy groceries from July to November. I've had tomatoes from a CSA that tasted like candy.

McSweeney's has a not-inaccurate take on the joys of CSA membership: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/faq-about-your-csa

Re: I’ve been reading a whole lot about tomatoes

#80

Post by dustintrex »

nyanpasu64 wrote: post #10

> One of my former classmates in undergrad is a Visiting Researcher at Purdue in the Agricultural Engineering department; he tells me that many tomato transporters actually own or rent fuel tankers that they fill in the South to sell at a markup in the North. In order to make some extra cash on the trip South with the empty tanker, they carry tomatoes. > I know what you might be thinking: is it even sanitary to trans…

Welcome to the developing world. Here's where your meat comes from in Nigeria:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xscqgr

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