Source: Chip Carter, SOUTHEAST FARM PRODUCE, 6/8/18


You probably have to be over 50 to realize it, but there was a time when Florida tomatoes – especially those from the Ruskin area – had the same kind of éclat and market appeal as onions from Vidalia, GA, or garlic from Gilroy, CA. It’s hard to remember because Florida growers gave all that up over a period of several decades in exchange for fat contracts from fast food purveyors, like Burger King and Taco Bell and McDonald’s, all of whom were looking for beautiful, unscarred, bright red tomatoes with shelf life — taste and aroma be damned.

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