Florida tomato industry in "complete collapse"

[dkf]

By Jane Sutton

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's tomato industry is in "complete collapse" and $40 million worth of tomatoes will rot unless federal regulators quickly trace the source of a salmonella outbreak and clear the state's produce, an industry official said on Tuesday.

"We probably have $40 million worth of product we can't sell. We've had to stop packing, stop picking," said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Saturday warned U.S. consumers that the outbreak was linked to eating certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, and products containing these tomatoes. Several major restaurant and grocery chains have stopped selling those varieties.

"It fundamentally shut down the industry," he said. "The stuff that should have been harvested over the weekend won't survive more than another day or so. The stuff we have in storage is getting riper every minute and at some point it will have to be disposed of."

Florida is the largest tomato-producing state, with a crop valued at $500 million to $700 million annually, he said. The state produces more than 90 percent of the nation's tomatoes this time of year, Brown said.

The FDA has said that it is safe to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached. But those varieties account for only a tiny portion of the industry, Brown said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN6A33595920080610?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

[whistle]

1. use of animal manure as fertilizer

[yardwork]

4. or run-off from animal processing plants.

That's what caused the bacteria in lettuce and spinach in California - run-off from huge animal processing plants next door.

[A HERETIC I AM]

34. I don't think you would find that to be the case in Florida

While this state produces large numbers of beef cattle, the amount processed here is minute. Even less so the case with Hogs.

It is highly unlikely the cause of this contamination is "run-off from huge animal processing plants next door".

Unlikely to the point of having virtually zero chance of being the cause.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/FarmIncome/firkdmuXLS.htm#group

edited to add the USDA link.

[yardwork]

49. Where do all those animals raised in Florida poop, and where is the poop stored?

[A HERETIC I AM]

53. Florida has a large cattle ranching industry, so the cattle poop in the fields...

what you insinuated was the tomato fields were next door to processing plants. I am saying that is not the case.

Go to www.wikimapia.com and zoom in on Immokalee (East of Fort Myers, a HUGE tomato growing area) and see if you can find a meat processing plant.

You won't.

[yardwork]

57. No, no. I didn't mean just meat processing. I meant any area where animals are raised for meat.

The way the meat industry works today, the animals are "processed" from the minute they're born.

In California, a lot of the lettuce and spinach contamination turned out to be from run-off of fields next to the vegetables - fields where animals were being raised for meat.

In North Carolina, we have "hog lagoons." These are enormous cesspools that hold hog waste. When they spill they contaminate everything in sight. They're run by what is essentially organized crime and are mostly untouchable.

I will bet anything that the source of contamination for these tomatoes will turn out to be animals, because of the horrific way that this country now treats animals being raised for meat.

[A HERETIC I AM]

59. You might not have meant just meat processing, but you said.....

or run-off from animal processing plants.

That's what caused the bacteria in lettuce and spinach in California - run-off from huge animal processing plants next door.

"Huge animal processing plants" - "Plants" means factory, facility, a building in which a process takes place.

I am familiar with waste lagoons and the problems they create, but I reiterate, Florida is WAAAY down the list of states that process hogs and cattle and the likelihood that this is the case with this instance is REMOTE.

If you'll bet anything, I'll take that bet. Let's just say a $20.00 DU donation, ok? If it turns out the Florida tomatoes that are contaminated became that way specifically in the way suggested by you - that it is "run-off from a plant" I'll donate twenty bucks to DU in your name.

Deal?

[A HERETIC I AM]

63. As it turns out, Florida tomatoes are safe, according to the FDA

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=82304

I heard this first on NPR early this afternoon.

[whistle]

39. That also, we have no idea what goes on in these corporate farm operations

[dkf]

6. Because the other stuff is getting expensive?

I know certain fertilizer stocks are going through the roof lately.

[whistle]

40. Right, petroleum based fertilizers have been subject to the same 435% rise

...in crude oil prices since Bush started the Iraq War, so I am sure the fruit and vegetable growers are using other forms of fertilizer

[kestrel91316]

21. UNTREATED manure is the problem. If it's properly composted,

or they use it first to produce biogas and the sludge has sat for a LONG time before application, that's different. My guess is, they did NEITHER.

[SpiralHawk]

35. Is the way to go -- if it is properly composted

Mega-farm corporations that just spread the hormone-infested crap from vast industrial feedlots create the problems. This has been known for decades and decades. Proper composting of manure from healthy field-grazed cattle, with other organic materials and amendments, is THE WAY FORWARD.

[whistle]

42. Proper composting takes time and time is money, spread the raw shit

...so what is a few hundred thousand people get ill, blah blah blah.

It is the same corporate profit driven mentality we have faced for over a century and BushCo neoconservatives have taken us right back to the unregulated food growing, harvesting, distributing, storing processing times of the late 19th century up to the FDR New Deal era when consumer protection became law

[Selatius]

61. They don't care. The corporations exist to maximize profit, often to the point of cutting corners.

Only after disasters like this happen do they think twice, but after a few years, they forget again. The money is too much of a temptation not to start cutting corners again several years later. This is why the FDA existed in the first place, but now it's stacked by corporatists.

[DJ13]

2. I predict the prices of processed tomato products (ketchup, etc) will fall

The growers can sell to food processors who cook the tomatoes, which will kill the bacteria.

[BrotherBuzz]

26. The tomato is a small percent of the cost of catsup

Energy is a big part of making catsup, that and fuel. Catsup will go up in price like every other food product.

[whistle]

43. canned tomatoes also in all forms, but more irradiation sterilization will be allowed

[elehhhhna]

44. the big tomato brokers will simply get windfall profits from buying cheap.

don't hold thy breath for discounts at the grocer. The "tomato shortage" is a great marketing excuse for jacking all tomato prices up.

Dag, i'm cynical today.

[DesertRat]

3. Grow your own if you can.

We have a bumper crop of early girls, cherry and grape tomatoes from our small home garden.

[whistle]

46. Exactly and here is a site that tells you how

<snip>
Growing Tomatoes from Seed

Click Here for technique tips with photos

If you love succulent tomatoes, mid-March to early April is the time to start your own plants from seed. It’s the only way to have the very best tasting and old fashioned heirloom varieties which are not usually available as nursery started plants. It’s fun to watch the whole growing cycle and the seed starting process is my favorite way to celebrate the gardening season as I watch baby seedlings grow into sturdy plants bearing wonderfully colored, superb tasting fruits to relish freshly picked.

Why Start Early

Tomatoes are heat-loving plants that need a long warm growing period to grow from seed to fruit. Except in the most tropical areas, all U.S. summers are too short for them to complete their fruiting cycles before summer’s end if started directly in the ground, since seeds won’t germinate until frosts have ended and weather warms up. We need to give plants a critical headstart by germinating and growing seedlings in the warm indoors in early spring. Then when it warms up outdoors in late spring, we can plant out sturdy, well-established seedlings to bear fruit before cold weather sets in.

When to Sow Seed Indoors

Generally, the time to start your seeds is about 6- 8 weeks before the last expected spring frost date in your area, planting the seedlings outdoors about 2 weeks after that date. Another way to figure is to plan on setting out sturdy seedlings in the garden when night temperatures stay in the mid-50 degree range both day and night. Count back and sow seeds 6 to 8 weeks before that date normally arrives. If you don’t feel confident about timing, consult an experienced gardening friend, or ask at a good garden center or seek the advice of your local Master Gardener program.

Getting Started

Your planting containers should be at least three inches deep, with small holes for drainage. Use plastic yogurt or cottage cheese containers, 3 or 4 inch plastic plant pots or half-gallon milk cartons cut lengthwise, all with drainage holes punched in the bottoms. I don’t recommend reusing egg cartons or old nursery “6 packs” as they don’t hold enough soil volume and dry out too easily. Buy and use a good quality seed starting mix, available from any good nursery or garden center. (Ordinary garden soil is not a good choice – it often contains weed seeds and fungus organisms and it compacts far too easily.) Seed starting mixes are sterile and blended to be light and porous so your fragile seedlings get both the moisture and oxygen they need to thrive.

In a big bucket, add water slowly to the seed starting mix and combine well. You want it to be thoroughly moistened but not soggy – about the consistency of a wrung-out sponge throughout before you fill your containers. Fill each container to an inch below the top and tap it on the tabletop to settle the mix. Use a plastic or wooden marker with the variety name and sowing date and slide it into the container. With the side of a pencil or chopstick, make a seed furrow about 1/4 inch deep and carefully drop in individual seeds about an inch apart. Sift some more starting mix between your hands to fill the furrows and firm gently to be sure the seeds have good contact. Use a spray bottle to water the seeds in with a fine mist.

Germinating and Growing

Tomatoes need warm 75 to 85 degree conditions to start germinating. Put the containers in a warm place where they’ll get bottom heat like on top of the water heater or refrigerator or use a fluorescent shop light suspended just 1 or 2 inches above the container and it will provide warmth . Keep the container moist, but not soggy. You can cover it with plastic wrap or an old piece of rigid clear plastic to conserve moisture if you like, but be sure to pull it up to check daily to be sure they aren’t drying out. Water as necessary with a very gentle spray of water. If container should get too dry, you’ll need to set it in a pan of water so it can soak up water again from below. Expect germination to take 5 to 10 days. Don’t keep your containers in the windowsill during the germination period; cold air at night will affect germination. Check often!

Just as soon as any baby seedlings begin to emerge above the soil level, it’s critical to give them light right away. Remove any covering immediately and provide a strong light source. While a south-facing windowsill is traditional, it’s far from ideal, and dimly-lit plants become tall and spindly. I like to start my containers from the beginning under grow lights or a simple fluorescent shop light suspended from chains so I can move the lights up as the plants grow. The fluorescent lights under your kitchen counter will also work quite well for this. Raise your flats closer to them (4” to 5”) with some bricks or fat cookbooks. Tomato seedlings grow best in the 65-75 degree temperature range.

Pricking Out and Potting Up

When seedlings are 2 to 3 inches tall and have several sets of true leaves, it’s time to move them to deeper containers or individual pots so they have room to grow. Fill the new containers with pre-moistened mix. With the help of a fork thrust to the bottom, lift the seedlings gently from your germinating container. Try to get all the roots and disturb them as little as possible. Make a planting hole in the new container and nestle the seedling into its new home a little deeper than it was originally. If your tomato plants are spindly with long stems, you can actually bury the stems right up to the topmost cluster of leaves and new roots will grow along the buried stems. Gently press the mix around the transplanted seedlings and water them gently to settle the soil. Now is the time to begin feeding your plants once a week because starting mixes contain little if any plant food and the seedlings will have used up the entire stored food source available in its mother seed. Use a good liquid fertilizer or fish emulsion diluted to half normal recommended strength. Continue to give your rapidly growing seedlings as much light as possible and rotate them regularly so they grow evenly and don’t lean in one direction.

Planting Seedlings in the Garden

In 3 or 4 weeks, or when the weather outdoors has warmed into the 50 degree range at night, it’s time to “harden off” or gradually over 4 to 6 days to acclimate your seedlings to outdoor conditions. Put them outside in a protected shady spot for a half day at first, then 2 or 3 full days, then gradually move them into full sun, starting with mornings then all day long. Plan to transplant into the garden in the late afternoon or on a hazy or cloudy day to minimize stress. Set them about 3 feet apart in the garden into rich well-amended soil in full sun. Tomato plants can be buried several inches deeper than they were planted in their containers. Firm the soil around the plants and water well. Set in stakes or cages for tall-growing tomatoes at planting time. Keep your young plants moist but not soggy. I like to mulch them with a good thick layer of compost, well-aged manure, straw or other organic material. This will provide the even moisture balance needed for healthy, disease-free growth and early big fruit sets, and will also discourage weeds.


http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/tomato-from-seed.html

[Kittycat]

62. Our plants are already flowering

Started our seeds in the basement, now they're outside filling the cage rings. We have a short season here in Chicago, but with a southern exposure, I get a great yield. This year I have 3 roma, 3 striped heirlooms and 3 grape plants. FIL is bringing up another this week. I hope to can whatever I can of the roma, and stew the regular. The grape I eat like crazy (love them grilled or in pasta), and pass them out to neighbors with fresh basil and other veggies/herbs. Our garden is big for suburban standards, and I love it. I started harvesting lettuce last week - YUM!

[hedgehog]

5. I've been doing some thinking about this, and the only way I can envision

tomaotes getting contaminated is if they were sprayed with water that was contaminated. Remember how growers have bitched and moaned because the UFW demanded port-a-potties and a place for workers to wash their hands as well as clean drinking water? That might have been less expensive then telling them to go shit in the irrigation ditch!

[yardwork]

7. There's massive contamination from animal waste lagoons.

I'll bet anything that it will turn out to be the case with this, too. Of course, the beef and hog industry will shut down the news.

[hedgehog]

9. I'm thinking tomatoes are up off the ground and spinich and lettuce are on the

ground. Maybe commercial growers let their vines sprawl on the ground.

[yardwork]

19. I don't know. I do think that this will turn out to be cross-contamination from animals, again.

And, again, the news will be suppressed.

[DS1]

8. I wonder if that's why Subway don't have any for sandwiches

[Gidney N Cloyd]

12. Burger King had a sign up saying they temporarily won't serve them.

[Occulus]

56. Our just say they're "out"

No mention of contamination. Not even a hint.

[rebel with a cause]

67. MacDonalds said today that they are

stopping serving tomatoes. I'd rather make my burgers at home and put my peeled tomatoes on them.

By the way, how are the tomatoes contaminated. Is it on the outside or on the inside of the fruit?

[lurky]

22. No salsa at Chipotle...

:(

[shanti]

68. oh noes!!!!

no chevy's salsa???

[lurky]

69. Would you believe I actually walked out?

I mean, what's the point if you can't have pico de gallo on your burrito? It's just a bunch of beans and rice.

[shanti]

70. hey i totally understand!

:hi:

[dysfunctional press]

30. yep. same with most places.

nt

[slackmaster]

10. FOOD FIGHT!

[spanone]

18. it's those damned eye-talians

[leftofthedial]

11. and we know how many "regulators" work in a bush cabal regulatory agency

and how competent they are


don't we?

[snooper2]

13. tomatos are so easy to grow

Why doesn't everyone have a couple plants?

Onions too...I just got 5 out of my garden yesterday

Best yellow onion I have ever tasted in my life :)

[kestrel91316]

23. My tomato plant in the pot on my balcony quit growing abruptly and has NO flowers.

Probably because it only gets about two hours of filtered sun a day........

I am thinking garden plot at the Sepulveda Garden Center again........I got so spoiled at the house with my beautiful garden and now have nothing.........

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

28. are you taking the suckers off of it?

Mine just started shooting up, the ont more mature plant I bought has a few tomatoes on it now, but nothing edible..

Im getting about 3 hours of sun in the morning and maybe 2-3 in the late evening

[kestrel91316]

31. I don't belong to the Sucker Removal School........

I have never done it, but then I've never grown tomatoes on a dark balcony in a pot before.

It's the lack of sun. They need sun. There's no way arounf that.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

33. Well yes, they do need, sun...

But without the suckers youll do better with what you have (after all what little sun it is getting is also gonging into maintaining those suckers..

[DCKit]

45. The suckers are where all the flowers on my Big Boys reside.

Granted, I get a lot more than two hours of filtered sun on my balcony, but I'm not quite sure why I would want to remove any fruit - We never did it in the garden or the greenhouse and were always up to our asses in tomatoes.

Given that I only have five plants, the urge to mess with them is strong, but they look strong/lush as hell and have plenty of flowers and fruit.

The one thing I did learn over the years was to bury the stems of transplants as deeply as possible for extra health and strength. These little monsters look like miniature trees

Tell me again about the suckers.

[bdamomma]

37. how about a "grow light" on them

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

60. I would imagine that would be less efficent than just buying stuff..

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

27. Ill Have tomatoes in a few days

They are starting to ripen, beans coming up, no peppers yet and we will see how the bush zucchini does..

Its hard, I have a very small space (no yard) on my balcony this year I have:


2 boxes (8L x 1W x .66D), and a few small pots

4 tomatoes, 4 lettuce, 3 beans, 1 bush zucchini, a half dozen radishes (Ill be replacing them with seedling herbs...

I have to repair by balcony this year and when I do Im going to add another

2 box ( 9L x 1W x .66D) (one of these will only get at most, a few hors a day)
4 box ( 3L x 1W X .66D) (two of these will only get a few hours of sunlight a day)

And Ill start my seedlings indoors next year rather than wait until mid may...

[snooper2]

29. sounds like a nice little garden..

I tried some brussel sprouts, 6 plants..they all shot up with the shoots and big leaves but some bug is eating the all the leaves and I can't figure out what it is.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

32. I had trouble when I still lived with a yard...

Grow some chives in a pot (they are like weeds, youll have more than you know what to do with in a season, but you should get enough this season for what you need)..

Make a concentrated chive tea (wont smell all that great) and let it cool..

Get your self a spray bottle and give the leaves a good spray every few days, chives do amazing things in repelling bugs and preventing some mildew... It wont repel the little catipillers (if thats what you have) but it will repel aphids and some flys...

[proud patriot]

65. I have 8 tomato plants and

2 tomatos are starting to turn red ... Yummy !

[uppityperson]

55. Mine, if they grow during the cold and wet here, get eaten by the deer.

But, I have 3 plants, figure if I can get 1 tomato/plant I'll break even.

[Warpy]

14. Tinfoil hat time

Burger King doubles tomato pickers pay
Fast-food chain agrees to deal paying 1.5 cents more per pound of tomatoes it buys from Florida growers with the money going to farm workers.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/23/news/companies/burgerking_farmworkers.ap/index.htm?section=money_latest

I'm always very suspicious of timing like this. It's most likely coincidence, but it could also be over reaction to something that actually happens all the time.

Whatever it is, I doubt putting the growers out of business was the idea.

[Gman]

15. And I've got more tomatoes than I know what to do with

out of my garden. I'm giving them away and people are glad to get them to hold them over until this is resolved.

[slackmaster]

16. Canning them is easy if you have a major surplus

I try to do that every year.

[underpants]

17. Hold it -----------WHAT REGULATORS?????

Since when do we have regulators??

Man the karma of all those regulator and regulation cuts is coming back to bite them square in the ass

[rucky]

20. "Hijole!"

Span n.: (e-coli)- O my gosh!

[izquierdista]

24. Why federal regulators?

I thought that was the beauty of deregulation; you try to sell infected tomatoes to the free market and the demand for them goes to zero. Don't come crying for small government to bail you out now that you just want to be a burden.

[HockeyMom]

25. Farm stands

Mom and Pop ones around where they are growing them right there. I suppose these would probably be safe?

[bdamomma]

36. are they deliberately trying to poison us???

:tinfoilhat:

grow your own if you can.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

38. A few people got sick, and their industry collapses...

So no, probably not.

[madokie]

41. One fo my brothers in law always grows several hundred tomatos plants each year

and they make 4 to 5 thousand bucks from them each year. I bet they can clean up this summer :-)
I want to add this. They have a pretty good system where he goes out in the early morning and pick the ripe tomatoes and they have a cool place to place them with scales, paper sacks and a money jar and after all these years my bil was telling me, recently that they've never felt they've been ripped off, he said theres been a few times when they felt that there was more money in the jar than there were tomatoes to start with. anyways just had to say :-)

[BronxBoy]

48. We have close to three hundred this year.....

We are getting calls like crazy from people wanting to know when our stuf will be ready. I'm so glad we increased our growing area this year.

[madokie]

52. Me too for you

We talked about doing that this summers ourselves but for some reason we didn't. We have a good spot to grow vegetables and a good location from which to sell them so maybe next summer we may.

[BronxBoy]

54. Oh Please do it

I manage our local farmers market and my greatest challenge is finding growers. I'm outside of Atlanta. Forget whether they are organic or naturally sustainable; I have real problems finding any close enough to make it worthwhile to come to market. Fuel costs is only compounding this problem.

If the fuel problems keep going the way they are, people will need to get their produce locally. But that requires there to be local growers.

Ours is a part-time operation; we have regular jobs. But I think that is what it will take. People know they can come to us and get a quality product and won't get gouged. We actually saw this coming last year and raised prices so we are able to hold the line on prices this year. We owe our customers that much.

But I would encourage you to do this and help your community as well as yourselves.

Thanks

[yardwork]

58. People do that around here, too.

Studies have shown that people will cheat less when they feel trusted.

[trashcanistanista]

47. I started a trayful of tomato plants in February and got

so many seedlings I just gave away the excess plants with a little bag of organic fertilizer and verbal instructions so the people could get them going. I did it, and I suspect people wanted them, becasue of the price of vegies going up in our area, and also to experience what a home grown tomato tastes like, many have never had one. I expect to have a lot of friends in the next few weeks as the tomatoes are now forming on the plants and mine too are like little bushy trees!;-) I think I will make this an annual thing. I also gave away eggplants, basil, parsely and onions so people could have fresh herbs in a pot even if they didn't have a yard to put a garden in.

[yardwork]

50. You are a wonderful person.

Here in North Carolina I started some tomato seedlings fairly late - they're still under six inches but thriving of the back patio. Now if I could get the squirrels to lay off the peat pots...

[Mojorabbit]

51. What I find wqeird

is that they usually are pretty quick at identifying where the problem came from. This gets me suspicious, ie that it is taking them so long to announce it.

[shanti]

64. hmmmm

both me and my DIL (who lives 500 miles away here in cali) both caught a GI problem about two weeks ago. never could figure out what it was, but we both eat veggies a lot. it kicked my butt!

[kath]

66. Those pinkish-red round things that they sell in supermarkets are NOT tomatoes. They're tasteless

balls of pink styrofoam, and bear no resemblance to REAL tomatoes. I really can't comprehend why people buy them. They may add a little color to a salad, but NO flavor, and the texture is disgusting.

THe grape or cherry tomatoes have *some* flavor, as do the "plum tomatoes" sold in supermarkets. but even these are nothing like a real tomato.