What is the "Perfect" Tomato?

When I hear complaints about not being able to find a "good Jersey tomato" anymore, especially comments like "... years ago! That's when tomatoes had flavor!", I usually break out singing my Ode to the Jersey Tomato to the tune of Billy Joel's Piano Man:

  "Son, can you [grow] me a memory. I'm not really sure how it goes, ... but it's [plump] and it's sweet, and I knew it complete, when I wore a younger man's clothes. Oh la, la, la, ditty dah..." 

RickVanVranken

Well, in response to author Barry Estabrook's book 'Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit', which takes direct aim at the quality of Florida tomatoes, CNN just posted on their Eatocracy blog an interview the Florida Tomato Committee's manager Reggie Brown.

Sourcing Pumpkins and other Fall Crops

Eighteen participating states have their
own MarketMaker homepages now.

July's heat followed by the excessive rains through August have farm market operators concerned about having enough pumpkins and other crops for the lucrative Fall season. Pennsylvania, New York and DelMarVa have also been inundated with flooding rains lately, so crops may be tight there too. That's forcing us to search further west, but how does one start making contacts?

Update on Jersey Fresh Sitings

Turns out it was not an anonymous post, but the owner of the Fresh Produce group forwarded a blog post by a pompous New Yorker writing at gothamist.com. You can see the original post here.
Rick VanVranken

Jersey Fresh Sitings

A week or so ago, on The Packer's Linked-In Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group, some wise guy anonymously posted "Is "Jersey Fresh" Supposed to be a Good Thing?". I couldn't help but think of that post this past weekend when I walked into an Amish Country Farm Market in upstate NY to be greeted by the prominent display in the photo. It must be good for something!

Rick VanVranken