Farm Fresh Rhode Island blog
Soaring food prices, obesity and diabetes epidemics, record recalls of spinach, lettuce and beef. Just in case you didn’t doubt the ability of the industrial food system to feed us well, today brought this headline:
Supermarkets and restaurants nationwide have thrown away their fresh tomatoes after the FDA warned about potential salmonella contamination. Work has stopped across thousands of acres of tomato farms in Florida (just two weeks after the Coalition of Immokalee Workers reached a deal with Burger King to pay workers 1.5 cents more per pound). But did the rotten tomatoes originate in Florida? at a farm? or a processing plant? or none of the above? Unfortunately and as usual no one seems to know, “the FDA has said it does not know where the contaminated tomatoes originated”.
Our advice? We suggest going local for your tomatoes! Expect an early season crop this week from Moosup River Farm at the Armory on Thursday and from Wishing Stone Farm and Woodstock Farm at Hope High on Saturday. Direct from the farmer to you, it’s about flavor, community and food safety, too.