Hello Tunza Family, In this report I would like to share about my review of a book which I read around 7-8 years back. It is a very interesting titled, Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit and It is authored by Barry Estabrook. It addresses the issue of how modern greedy industry is forcing growers to offer cheaper and cheaper tomatoes that look perfect but tastes like nothing. We all must have experienced such issues in some parts of life and it’s not just the story of Tomato, nowadays almost every single fruit or vegetable have a more or less same story to tell.

Coming to the central theme of the book, this book covers Florida’s industry as well as an expose of today’s agriculture reality, which we all know is highly exploitative of both workers and the environment. The main focus of this book is the environmental and human costs of multi-billion dollar industry with the fast food industry and supermarket forcing growers to offer cheaper and cheaper tomatoes that look perfect but where TASTE does not enter the equation, they have fostered an industry that thrives under slavery conditions.

Actually tomato growing in Florida is a weird business all the way around. Florida is too humid to grow tomato well and the soil is basically sand and is devoid of nutrients also the conditions that are bad for tomatoes are excellent for tomato loving insects. Florida growers crop by blasting the bags with pesticides and pumping the soil with fertilizers, neither of which are good for the laborers or environment. With the final chapter there is hope that perhaps the day will come when consumer demand will supplant the factory and we will get what we want, a tasty tomato.

This book is an eye-opener- Fantastically readable and tremendously informative. Each chapter addresses a new topic. I learned a lot of new, important and interesting facts. It has changed the way I shop and I would recommend this book to all. Anyone who has ever eaten a tomato must read this book- A fascinating account of the history of the tomato and the Florida tomato industry. After reading this book you will never look at a tomato the same. I learned about it from every aspect’s somehow that’s more interesting that I thought it would be and much of the book tells the story promised by the subtitle- How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit. Also you’ll learn why “Salad tomatoes” feel and taste like Tennis Balls. Tomatoland also expose that How Modern Agriculture destroying our environment.