This Isn't Helping The Tomato Shortage

A few million years ago in California we were driving behind a truck so overfilled that it was spewing tomatoes. I really wanted to stop and see if any could be salvaged. Well, that’s an exaggeration but I sure did wish it was possible.
 

I see the pear trucks. They kept talking about this on San Francisco news talk radio news, this morning. Apparently it took hours to clean up so I had to see it for myself.

I'll assume they were headed for a cannery someplace.
 
chic said:
There's a tomato shortage?
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I heard something about this about a month ago. There are some articles. I hope it doesn't start a hoarding situation. This truck was sure full of tomatoes.

And catsup was the one thing I forgot to buy yesterday at WINCO Foods. :oops:
 
Remy said:
I heard something about this about a month ago. There are some articles. I hope it doesn't start a hoarding situation. This truck was sure full of tomatoes.

And catsup was the one thing I forgot to buy yesterday at WINCO Foods. :oops:
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I hadn't heard about it and have enough to worry about right now without food shortage stress so I'll just adjust as we go along. I couldn't hoard produce anyway because fresh fruit won't keep. I only use tomatoes for salads anyway because of the high acid content. I can replace them with radishes if I need to. :unsure:
 
Holy moly...what a mess! I hadn't heard of the shortage. I very rarely buy tomatoes because they are on the Dirty Dozen list unless they are organic. My son got me a basket of organic cherry tomatoes about three weeks ago and they lasted longer than I thought they would. Maybe I'll have him get another soon. He wouldn't tell me the price so I wouldn't even be able to tell if the price has gone up.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Holy moly...what a mess! I hadn't heard of the shortage. I very rarely buy tomatoes because they are on the Dirty Dozen list unless they are organic. My son got me a basket of organic cherry tomatoes about three weeks ago and they lasted longer than I thought they would. Maybe I'll have him get another soon. He wouldn't tell me the price so I wouldn't even be able to tell if the price has gone up.
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Really? I thought tomatoes were pretty much a clean choice but we do eat the skins so they probably should be organic. :unsure:
 
chic said:
I hadn't heard about it and have enough to worry about right now without food shortage stress so I'll just adjust as we go along. I couldn't hoard produce anyway because fresh fruit won't keep. I only use tomatoes for salads anyway because of the high acid content. I can replace them with radishes if I need to. :unsure:
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Absolutely. The shortages were really manufactured IMO. Sure maybe there were some and some issues with delivery but there was still food at the stores and I didn't miss a meal.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Holy moly...what a mess! I hadn't heard of the shortage. I very rarely buy tomatoes because they are on the Dirty Dozen list unless they are organic. My son got me a basket of organic cherry tomatoes about three weeks ago and they lasted longer than I thought they would. Maybe I'll have him get another soon. He wouldn't tell me the price so I wouldn't even be able to tell if the price has gone up.
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They sure are. I've got two large tomatoes. Not organic. I wash them good but that probably isn't enough. I think strawberries are on that list also.
 
The USDA reported that since its peak in 2015, California's supply of processing tomatoes has dropped significantly from 14 million tons to just 11 million in 2021. The issue has largely been due to the ongoing drought the region has been experiencing.

These droughts are going to hurt our food supply for many foods.
 
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California produces several times as many tomatoes as the next most state. Driving east in our vast Central Valley one sometimes passes open top trucks full of processing tomatoes. At freeway cloverleaf junctions where the trucks accelerate at the curving entrances speeding up to enter traffic, there are sometimes tomatoes spilled on the road that rolling around given centrifugal force, managed to go over the white bin tops. Like a little kid having fun walking through mud puddles, seeing such red blobs ahead on the curving road, I'll sometimes purposely try to redirect my car to see if I can aim my tires to run some of them over, and of course always look back in my rear view mirror to see the deed. 🤪

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chic said:
Really? I thought tomatoes were pretty much a clean choice but we do eat the skins so they probably should be organic. :unsure:
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I read the article more closely (there are a few articles about the 12 and 15. In the one I posted, I noticed that even though tomatoes are on the dirty dozen list, it says they are likely to have less pesticides and only a relatively small percentage at that. That's a bit comforting. I don't buy tomatoes that often but when I do, I'd still prefer to get the organic ones. @Remy
 
Remy said:
That's a good idea and I sure will if I ever find a mobile in a park to buy. I get the morning sun at my apartment but probably not enough for tomato growing.
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ClickAndGrow.jpgI have an indoor garden, which works well if you like small cherry tomatoes. Got it on Amazon.
 

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