Tomato Smartassery: Why I Leave My Red Friends Behind During The Winter Season

As old man winter comes rumbling through the northeast, it's appropriate timing for this post about tomatoes. I'm making a commitment this winter in terms of how and what I eat. Eating seasonally is always something I did when it seemed fitting, but this winter I will stick to my values and hold myself to them. Mark this down – I will not touch a tomato until it's seasonally appropriate. I'm doing this for a few reasons.

(1) They taste like shit – translucent, spongy and complete lack of flavor.

(2) My disdain for the tomato manufacturing business of "Sunny" Florida.

If you've never read about the tomato farms downs down in Florida, check out this read from Eatocracy.

These green tomatoes are picked when they are unripe, taken back to a warehouse, packed in boxes, which are stacked on pallets and moved into storage areas where they're exposed to ethylene gas. The gas forces the tomatoes to turn the right color; it doesn't ripen them. So, if you've ever wondered why your tomato caprese or mozzarella salad lacks flavor in late January – you know why. The great thing about technology is that everyone can understand how food is naturally grown and the demeaning processes used to serve you everything, everywhere at all times. You can't tell me when you walk into your Grocer in February and see all the pints of strawberries everywhere, that they are going to have the robust flavor and the plump juiciness you would expect from a summer strawberry right? Of course not.

For me it's not a passionate humanitarian mission or showing my disdain as I do for factory farming, it's just a matter of principal. I'm just tired of eating shitty tomatoes and I believe restaurants and grocers should consider removing them off the menu for this period of time.

Imagine that statement "Sorry everyone, we just don't want to serve you shitty tomatoes. Come back and see us in late spring."

That's what I call honesty and integrity at the highest level.