Hang On Little Tomato

Grow your own tomatoes ... and when you don't, buy from local farmers!

Kim O'Donnell
Washington Post
A Mighty Appetite

Are tomatoes from local growers (farmer's markets etc.) safe provided they are washed thoroughly?

The FDA has issued a very long dizzying list of domestic and international tomato spots NOT affected by the outbreak, and if you can come up with a way to make sense of it, give me a call.

Here's my personal, unscientific rule of thumb: Buy local tomatoes. Like we learned from the horrible spinach scare in 2006, the source of contamination came from industrial-scale farms (via bagged supermarket spinach), not from your local farmer's market. Here in Washington, vine tomatoes are still at least a month away, and if you do see them on display at your local market, it means they're probably from a greenhouse. But that's the beauty of going to the farmer's market -- there's a real person behind the stand available for consultation and guidance, someone who can tell you how the tomato was grown and handled.

So, to minimize your chances of eating contaminated food: Buy local and seasonal. Thoroughly wash all raw produce. And wash your hands!

Sorting Through the Tomato Pulp

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Now playing: Pink Martini - Hang On Little Tomato
via FoxyTunes

The sun has left and forgotten me
It`s dark, I cannot see
Why does this rain pour down
I`m gonna drown
In a sea
Of deep confusion

Somebody told me, I don`t know who
Whenever you are sad and blue
And you`re feelin` all alone and left behind
Just take a look inside and you will find

You gotta hold on, hold on through the night
Hang on, things will be all right
Even when it`s dark
And not a bit of sparkling
Sing-song sunshine from above
Spreading rays of sunny love

Just hang on, hang on to the vine
Stay on, soon you`ll be divine
If you start to cry, look up to the sky
Something`s coming up ahead
To turn your tears to dew instead

And so I hold on to his advice
When change is hard and not so nice
If you listen to your heart the whole night through
Your sunny someday will come one day soon to you.