A few years ago, while living here in SoWal, we found UglyRipe tomatoes at Publix. These were by far the best tasting tomatoes I ever ate (and I'm from New Orleans, so I've had more than my share of creoles), and yes, they were ugly. Too ugly, in fact, to sell. Did you know that tomatoes, according to the Florida Tomato Committee (I swear I am not making this up) have to have a certain "roundness" in order to be sold? Of course, this group consists of competing growers - imagine that.
Our government says we can smoke cigarettes, ingest artificial sweeteners and more foreign chemicals than we can imagine, even eat rat poop in hot dogs - but God help you if you try to sell a tomato that isn't round enough!
BUT, we do have a chance to change the law. Please go to
http://www.uglyripe.com to help change this ridiculous law. And no, I do not have any financial interest in the company. I'm just sick and tired of stupidity running amok in the name of government. Whew. . . I feel better now.
And thanks for the warning about the current salmonella outbreak. I always scrub my produce with baking soda. Would that be enough to avoid the bacteria, or does it penetrate the fruit?
