Tomatoes

Question 1

Corn and tomato comparisons: corn

Answer 1

 Cultivated by the Maya in Mexico combat climate.
 Genetically engineered for high yield, thicker stalks, stronger root systems—can grow closer together in corn cities & use of machines.
 In livestock feed & 2/3rds of all processed foods.

Question 2

Corn and tomato comparisons: tomatoes

Answer 2

 The Perfect Tomato: Cultivated for Blandness
 Regulations actually prohibit growers in the southern part of Florida from exporting many of the older tasty tomato varieties because their coloration and shape don’t conform to what the Florida Tomato Committee says a tomato should look like
 Wild ancestors came from deserts of northern Peru & southern Ecuador—modified & cultivated by Mayans in South Mexico & Northern CA
 In contrast, Florida’s climate is very humid. This makes tomatoes vulnerable to fungal diseases, beetles, worms, etc. that chomp on their roots, stems, leaves, and fruit. Makes tomato growing dependent on pesticides and herbicides.
 Environmental Problems: To get a successful crop, growers pump the sand full of chemical fertilizers and can blast the plants with more than 100 different herbicides and pesticides, including some of the most toxic in agribusiness’s arsenal. In 2006, Florida growers sprayed nearly 8 million pounds of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides on their tomato crops, nearly eight times as much as California growers used for a similar-size crop.
 Genetically engineered for hardness.
 Picked by farm workers, who are part of the food chain.
 According to the Farmworker Association of Florida, 92% of the agricultural workers in the region had been exposed to pesticides through a combination of aerial spraying, wind drifting from applications on adjacent fields, touching plants still wet with pesticides, and inhaling pesticides. Pesticide drifts enter churches, schools and recreation parks.
 Formed in 1993, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, CIW, is an organization of farmworkers in Immokalee, Florida to fight for better wages and working conditions. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a membership-led farmworker organization of mostly Latino, Haitian and Mayan Indian immigrants.
 Campaigns:
• Campaign for Fair Food
• Anti-Slavery Campaign
• Dine with Dignity

Question 3

The Perfect Tomato–At what costs?

Answer 3

• Makes tomato growing dependent on pesticides and herbicides.
• Environmental Problems: To get a successful crop, growers pump the sand full of chemical fertilizers and can blast the plants with more than 100 different herbicides and pesticides, including some of the most toxic in agribusiness’s arsenal. In 2006, Florida growers sprayed nearly 8 million pounds of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides on their tomato crops, nearly eight times as much as California growers used for a similar-size crop.
• Genetically engineered for hardness.
• Picked by farm workers, who are part of the food chain.
• According to the Farmworker Association of Florida, 92% of the agricultural workers in the region had been exposed to pesticides through a combination of aerial spraying, wind drifting from applications on adjacent fields, touching plants still wet with pesticides, and inhaling pesticides. Pesticide drifts enter churches, schools and recreation parks.
• Formed in 1993, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, CIW, is an organization of farmworkers in Immokalee, Florida to fight for better wages and working conditions. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a membership-led farmworker organization of mostly Latino, Haitian and Mayan Indian immigrants.