Never pass up a chance to sit down or relieve yourself. -old Apache saying

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Tomatoland

Finished another book, this one "Tomatoland" by Barry Estabrook.  Published in 2011, the author first travels to South America in search of ancestral wild tomatoes, then to Florida to examine the exploitation of migrant farm workers, especially concerning the picking of tomatoes for market.  

Estabrook uncovers some instances of modern-day slavery in Florida, a reminder that big business will ruthlessly exploit the least-powerful workers, unless and until they are checked.  He spends a lot of time on the legal struggles and victories of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), an amazing "union" of migratory workers striving to improve the living and working conditions of the migrant pickers.  The CIW fueled the successful "Penny-Per-Pound" campaign against Taco Bell and others.  Presently, they are succeeding with their "Campaign for Fair Food."  Thanks to the bright lights of publicity, conditions have improved for a number of migrants.  They remain, however, some of the lowest-paid workers in America, exempt even from minimum-wage laws.  

Estabrook wraps up the book on hopeful notes by highlighting some small, organic farmers who are carving a niche for themselves by providing superior-tasting tomatoes to targeted markets    

Tomatoland is a good overview of the modern-day tomato industry, and it feeds into the present-day popular foodie push for better-tasting, localized, more-sustainable food supplies.  Highly recommended.  And thanks especially to D&J for loaning it to me.  I'd been trying to check it out of the local library for a few weeks now with no luck!  

(Oh yeah!  Speaking of tomatoes, it looks like we're going to have a HUGE crop this fall!!)  



No comments:

He's always watching

He's always watching