Some text from the book:
-Tomatoes are the second most consumed vegetable in the U.S. Between fresh and processed tomatoes the average American eats more than 85 pounds of tomato a year.
-The tomato was first eaten and grown in Central and South America. The word tomato comes from the Spanish tomate, which came from the Aztec tomtl. The tomato spread into the agricultural and culinary word following the Spanish colonization of Mexico.
-From 1846 to 1848 the United State seized parts of Mexico in the Mexican American war. People say: we did not cross the border, it crossed us.
-Many of the farm workers picking our tomatoes are Mexican immigrants. Nobody else wants these jobs. Because of them, you can buy tomatoes for less than $2 a pound in most grocery stores. These tomatoes have been bred to all look the same (red and round) and to ripen at the same time. (The tomatoes painted are from an organic farm in rural Wisconsin) |