Barry Estabrook's Tomatoland

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Recommended: Negative Effect Of Pesticides And The Environment

Tomatoland is a book written by Barry Estabrook, an investigative food journalist. Throughout the pages of Tomatoland, Estabrook explores the path of tomatoes, from the seed in South America to the hands of migrant workers in the fields of Florida. Through his exploration he discovers several issues that exist within the fresh tomato industry in Florida. Two of the major issues that he discovers include the use of highly toxic chemicals that cause severe damage to the health of humans and the environment, and the exploitation of migrant workers. Estabrook directly blames the continuation of such issues on those who support the tomato industry, “it’s a world we’ve all made, and one we can fix”; this includes consumers, crew bosses, the government and the corporate farm owners, like the executives and those who work in the business side of farming. Although there are many who are at fault, Estabrook directs his blame more towards the government and the farms corporate owners. Estabrook’s assessment of blame is substantial because the government and owners of the tomato corporations are the ones who have the strongest power towards regulations and production.

The use of dangerous and also deadly chemicals by Florida’s tomato industry is due to the insufficient regulations made by the Department of Agriculture. Florida’s soil is pure sand, making it impossible to grow tomatoes. The plant also faces completion with other plants as well as being attacked by diseases and insects. The only reason then that Florida’s farmers grow is because it’s summer in Florida, while the rest of the United States is experiencing winter. Greed, the want for larger profit, is the reason why the fresh market tomato industry is located in Florida. ...

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...toes, and without their knowledge they are supporting the chemical use and unfair treatment of workers. Use of hazardous chemicals like methyl iodine can be easily prevented with stronger regulations but Florida’s growers easily find loopholes within these regulations in order to prevent the loss of profits, because without chemicals there will be no tomato industry in Florida. Estabrook, goes into great detail on the implications that hazardous chemicals and the abuse of workers have caused due to the poor regulation created by the government and the little blame that is put on the executives of tomato farms when slavery or mistreatment of workers are linked to their companies.

Works Cited

Estabrook, Barry. Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMell Publishing, LLC, 2012.

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