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Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato
The tomato. As savory as any vegetable, as sweet as its fellow fruits, the seeded succulent inspires a cult–like devotion from food lovers on all continents. The people of Ohio love the tomato so much they made tomato juice the official state beverage. An annual food festival in Spain draws thousands of participants in a 100–ton tomato fight. The inimitable, versatile tomato has conquered the cuisines of Spain and Italy, and in America, it is our most popular garden vegetable. Journalist Arthur Allen understands the spell of the tomato and is your guide in telling its dramatic story. He begins by describing in mouthwatering detail the wonder of a truly delicious tomato, then introduces the man who prospected for wild tomato genes in South America and made them available to tomato breeders. He tells the baleful story of enslaved Mexican Indians in the Florida tomato fields, the conquest of the canning tomato by the Chinese Army, and the struggle of Italian tomato producers to maintain a way of life. Allen combines reportage, archival research, and innumerable anecdotes in a lively narrative that, through the lens of today's global market, tells a story that will resonate from greenhouse to dinner table.
- GenresFoodNonfictionGardening
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
10 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Allen
17 books10 followersArthur Allen, a former Associated Press foreign correspondent, has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, and Salon. He lives in Washington, D.C., where he is an editor and writer for POLITICO.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 17, 2010
Ripe deals primarily with the history of the tomato market in the US and Italy with a small detour into China. Lightly covers the economics from agriculture through processing and touches on the genetic development of the plant itself. Allen tends to meander through his narrative and never gets too deep into the science of agriculture, the engineering of processing, nor the world economics of the tomato market, leaving me unsatisfied on all three fronts.
The book is most interesting as a counterpoint to the organic movement (though that may be specific to the tomato industry?) and a commentary on western diets where taste is a third consideration behind productivity and appearance.
In discussing the development of tomato breeds Jack Hanna, a UC Davis professor in the Department of Vegetable Crops said “The blander a food tastes, the more of it people want to eat.” While Allen only takes a few paragraphs to dig into the implications, I thought it was the most profound statement of the book and could easily be explored within the context of both food processing and it’s net effect on caloric intake. Maybe that’s another more interesting book, though.
The book is most interesting as a counterpoint to the organic movement (though that may be specific to the tomato industry?) and a commentary on western diets where taste is a third consideration behind productivity and appearance.
In discussing the development of tomato breeds Jack Hanna, a UC Davis professor in the Department of Vegetable Crops said “The blander a food tastes, the more of it people want to eat.” While Allen only takes a few paragraphs to dig into the implications, I thought it was the most profound statement of the book and could easily be explored within the context of both food processing and it’s net effect on caloric intake. Maybe that’s another more interesting book, though.
September 16, 2010
A non-fiction book, about the author's search for the "perfect tomato." I enjoyed the parts about the tomato's history, flavor profile, and chemisty...but it was a bit dull when the author went into depth about the modern farming of tomatoes.
August 6, 2017
Now I understand why I don't like tomatoes. I'll never have that remembered taste from New Jersey. The closest I can get is grown local here in Oregon, fresh picked. Hybridization and industrialization have de-natured the tomato so it looks nice and ships well. Now farmers are working hard to reverse that market expectation to produce a tasty tomato again. I'll never buy another tomato out of season or out of area. I get it.
February 22, 2020
Arthur Allen explores the history and politics of tomatoes in this journalistic work that pays tribute to both pioneers of tomato plant breeding and modern proponents of genetic engineering recognizing there is probably a middle path of sorts that will provide consumer with economical and reasonably tasty tomatoes. His presentation of a wide variety of characters involved in tomato growing, processing and marketing makes for a very readable and engaging account of the business.
April 8, 2020
I don’t even particularly love tomatoes but this book has me craving a coarse salt dipped heirloom tomato my mom grew in her garden last summer.
April 14, 2024
Surprisingly interesting and a perfect non-fiction saga ❤️🍅 great pairing with The Secret Life of Groceries
July 13, 2011
What can I say... I love to read and I love to eat tomatoes. Was there ever anything better suited to my enjoyment than a 270 page book on the subject?
Allen covers everything (or what feels like everything)... a history of tomato cultivation and breeding, farming practices, labor issues, the tomato business here and abroad, and of course, taste tests.
The "standard" tomato we know today is actually the product of years of dedicated breeding. With increased demand, tomato scientists went to work in the twentieth century. There was a lot of room for improvement. A fruit was needed that didn't require coring and separated easily from the vine for better harvesting, had a thick enough skin to survive transport (but not too thick to slice or bite easily), could be reliably ripe by the time it hit shelves, and tasted decent. Add in more subtle differences for the canning and restaurant industry. And of course some modern consumers insist, in Allen's words, that all of these varieties be grown by "a farmer that employ[s] a lot of workers, providing them with good wages, health insurance, and decent living conditions. They'd want tomato farms that didn't damage watersheds, wetlands, or the ozone layer. The tomato, for starters, should be highly nutritious, organic, and tasty; have a minimal carbon footprint; and reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Its cultivation should feed the soil, make farmers prosper locally or in developing countries, and be free of germs and chemical residue. And they'd want it cheap, and they'd want it now - whether it was July or January."
The resulting diversity of breeds available today is truly stunning, as are the problems that arise. Mexicans value one kind of taste, Japanese another. The Dutch are getting in on the seed market. The Italians were incensed not long ago upon learning that a fair percentage of the tomato paste in their stores was produced my a Chinese military operation on the Uzbek border (some with lively names like 3rd Battalion Tomato Paste Company).
Then there are the American organic types, foodies, locavores, whatever. Trouble started in the late 70s when a practical and affordable mechanical harvester was introduced to the California canned tomato market, and purists complained of lost jobs and over-mechanization. Farmers shot back that picking was backbreaking work which no one wanted, especially long term. In the mid 2000s, a number of modern-day slavery rings were busted by the FBI for providing immigrant pickers to Florida farms. The scientists, breeders, farmers, and businessmen interviewed by Allen all seem to regard organic with mixed feelings. One large tomato paste provider summed it up: "Growing with less fertilizer means using more land to produce the same amount of food...because less fertilizer means lower yields. Where do we get the acreage? Wetlands? Forest?...Are petrochemical-based fertilizers and pesticides necessarily worse than spraying "organic" copper and sulfur and bacteria on your plants? Is it more ethical to eat organic heirloom tomatoes driven across the country than conventional ones grown fifty miles away? Is it more ethical to ship five hundred tomatoes one hundred miles than ten thousand tomatoes one thousand miles away?" The sheer volume of writing material provided by tomatoes makes for a ponderous trip to the produce section... surely the lettuce, carrot, beet, potato, banana, apple, kiwi, and organic pomelo industries are no less complicated.
Anyway. Allen ends by talking about his own little tomato plants in the backyard, and what we're really after (or at least he is, and I am too)- a tomato that tastes good. My own preferences are for the vine-on Camparis sold at Costco (which I'm told from this book are grown in eco-friendly greenhouses near Lake Erie), and the exotic Mexican cherry blends when I'm feeling particularly extravagant. This book was for me, like tomatoes, pure enjoyment.
Allen covers everything (or what feels like everything)... a history of tomato cultivation and breeding, farming practices, labor issues, the tomato business here and abroad, and of course, taste tests.
The "standard" tomato we know today is actually the product of years of dedicated breeding. With increased demand, tomato scientists went to work in the twentieth century. There was a lot of room for improvement. A fruit was needed that didn't require coring and separated easily from the vine for better harvesting, had a thick enough skin to survive transport (but not too thick to slice or bite easily), could be reliably ripe by the time it hit shelves, and tasted decent. Add in more subtle differences for the canning and restaurant industry. And of course some modern consumers insist, in Allen's words, that all of these varieties be grown by "a farmer that employ[s] a lot of workers, providing them with good wages, health insurance, and decent living conditions. They'd want tomato farms that didn't damage watersheds, wetlands, or the ozone layer. The tomato, for starters, should be highly nutritious, organic, and tasty; have a minimal carbon footprint; and reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Its cultivation should feed the soil, make farmers prosper locally or in developing countries, and be free of germs and chemical residue. And they'd want it cheap, and they'd want it now - whether it was July or January."
The resulting diversity of breeds available today is truly stunning, as are the problems that arise. Mexicans value one kind of taste, Japanese another. The Dutch are getting in on the seed market. The Italians were incensed not long ago upon learning that a fair percentage of the tomato paste in their stores was produced my a Chinese military operation on the Uzbek border (some with lively names like 3rd Battalion Tomato Paste Company).
Then there are the American organic types, foodies, locavores, whatever. Trouble started in the late 70s when a practical and affordable mechanical harvester was introduced to the California canned tomato market, and purists complained of lost jobs and over-mechanization. Farmers shot back that picking was backbreaking work which no one wanted, especially long term. In the mid 2000s, a number of modern-day slavery rings were busted by the FBI for providing immigrant pickers to Florida farms. The scientists, breeders, farmers, and businessmen interviewed by Allen all seem to regard organic with mixed feelings. One large tomato paste provider summed it up: "Growing with less fertilizer means using more land to produce the same amount of food...because less fertilizer means lower yields. Where do we get the acreage? Wetlands? Forest?...Are petrochemical-based fertilizers and pesticides necessarily worse than spraying "organic" copper and sulfur and bacteria on your plants? Is it more ethical to eat organic heirloom tomatoes driven across the country than conventional ones grown fifty miles away? Is it more ethical to ship five hundred tomatoes one hundred miles than ten thousand tomatoes one thousand miles away?" The sheer volume of writing material provided by tomatoes makes for a ponderous trip to the produce section... surely the lettuce, carrot, beet, potato, banana, apple, kiwi, and organic pomelo industries are no less complicated.
Anyway. Allen ends by talking about his own little tomato plants in the backyard, and what we're really after (or at least he is, and I am too)- a tomato that tastes good. My own preferences are for the vine-on Camparis sold at Costco (which I'm told from this book are grown in eco-friendly greenhouses near Lake Erie), and the exotic Mexican cherry blends when I'm feeling particularly extravagant. This book was for me, like tomatoes, pure enjoyment.
March 20, 2010
Here's my review for AP:
¶ "Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato" (Counterpoint, 304 pages, $26), by Arthur Allen: "Ripe" is the latest in a rapidly growing number of books examining U.S. agricultural and food production systems and their affect on public health and the environment.
¶ Arthur Allen, a former Associated Press writer, focuses on the tomato industry, and he's somewhat more sympathetic to corporate farms and big business than trendsetter Michael Pollan and others writing on similar topics. The first part of "Ripe" includes a number of derisive comments about members of the "crunchy left," who want cheap, locally grown, organic tomatoes year-round. Allen notes, rightly, that that's nearly impossible to provide, given the climate in most of the country.
¶ He visits Mexico, where the American entrepreneurs who run Del Cabo Farms are trying to help local farmers make a living by growing new hybrids to be shipped to American markets. The question, Allen notes, is whether their tasty tomatoes will hold their flavor and form during their long journey north.
¶ That musing leads into an examination of American tomato breeding that has created ever firmer, but increasingly bland fruit. As labor problems and costs grew in California's tomato industry, farmers growing tomatoes for ketchup, sauce and other products turned to mechanical harvesting. Mechanical harvesters require tomatoes that fall off the vine when shaken _ but not before _ and can withstand sorting. Allen recounts how researchers at the University of California, Davis helped develop these.
¶ In Florida, farmers growing tomatoes for direct sale needed fruit that ripened slowly and wouldn't spoil during shipping. They eventually developed a method of picking tomatoes while they were green and then exposing them to ethylene gas to turn them red when they reached their destination.
¶ But while Allen is understanding of the risks farmers face and their need to make a profit, he becomes increasingly critical of the effect of business interests on the American diet as "Ripe" progresses. Americans eat tomatoes that fit the needs of Heinz, McDonald's and a few other corporate giants because those companies provide the bulk of farmers' sales. McDonald's and other fast-food companies need firm tomatoes that hold up when sliced thin and look nice on a hamburger bun. Taste, Allen insists, is not a priority.
¶ Allen also delves into labor and trade issues, writing critically about the treatment of farmworkers in California and Florida and looking at how a flood of cheap tomato paste from China could eventually put American farmers and the Mexican laborers who pick for them out of work.
¶ While each chapter in "Ripe" is focused, the book as a whole has a meandering feel as Allen jumps from plant breeding to international trade to labor organization. Parts are also heavy with science and Latin plant names.
¶ But readers with endurance and a strong interest in understanding the politics of food and the forces dictating what's available at their supermarkets will probably find it enlightening.
¶ "Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato" (Counterpoint, 304 pages, $26), by Arthur Allen: "Ripe" is the latest in a rapidly growing number of books examining U.S. agricultural and food production systems and their affect on public health and the environment.
¶ Arthur Allen, a former Associated Press writer, focuses on the tomato industry, and he's somewhat more sympathetic to corporate farms and big business than trendsetter Michael Pollan and others writing on similar topics. The first part of "Ripe" includes a number of derisive comments about members of the "crunchy left," who want cheap, locally grown, organic tomatoes year-round. Allen notes, rightly, that that's nearly impossible to provide, given the climate in most of the country.
¶ He visits Mexico, where the American entrepreneurs who run Del Cabo Farms are trying to help local farmers make a living by growing new hybrids to be shipped to American markets. The question, Allen notes, is whether their tasty tomatoes will hold their flavor and form during their long journey north.
¶ That musing leads into an examination of American tomato breeding that has created ever firmer, but increasingly bland fruit. As labor problems and costs grew in California's tomato industry, farmers growing tomatoes for ketchup, sauce and other products turned to mechanical harvesting. Mechanical harvesters require tomatoes that fall off the vine when shaken _ but not before _ and can withstand sorting. Allen recounts how researchers at the University of California, Davis helped develop these.
¶ In Florida, farmers growing tomatoes for direct sale needed fruit that ripened slowly and wouldn't spoil during shipping. They eventually developed a method of picking tomatoes while they were green and then exposing them to ethylene gas to turn them red when they reached their destination.
¶ But while Allen is understanding of the risks farmers face and their need to make a profit, he becomes increasingly critical of the effect of business interests on the American diet as "Ripe" progresses. Americans eat tomatoes that fit the needs of Heinz, McDonald's and a few other corporate giants because those companies provide the bulk of farmers' sales. McDonald's and other fast-food companies need firm tomatoes that hold up when sliced thin and look nice on a hamburger bun. Taste, Allen insists, is not a priority.
¶ Allen also delves into labor and trade issues, writing critically about the treatment of farmworkers in California and Florida and looking at how a flood of cheap tomato paste from China could eventually put American farmers and the Mexican laborers who pick for them out of work.
¶ While each chapter in "Ripe" is focused, the book as a whole has a meandering feel as Allen jumps from plant breeding to international trade to labor organization. Parts are also heavy with science and Latin plant names.
¶ But readers with endurance and a strong interest in understanding the politics of food and the forces dictating what's available at their supermarkets will probably find it enlightening.
December 29, 2016
This book is more about the tomato industry than about tomatoes themselves. Yes, there is a history of tomatoes and information about the structure and components of tomatoes, but mostly this book is about the big business of tomatoes.
I like this book substantially less than I thought I would.
The author seems to hold in contempt anyone who wants to eat heirloom or organic tomatoes. Inthe span of two pages, the author refers to a man who was in a car accident as "crippled" and calls an American couple who pays for a Mexican woman's transplant in the U.S. "suckers." WOW! Rude!
Arthur Allen's writing didn't engage me. In fact, it mostly bored me. Reading this book was like slogging through a textbook for a class I didn't really like. The sciencey parts were difficult to follow, and I was barely interested in the story as it was told. I only kept reading out of sheer tenacity.
If the reader is wondering where Allen got his information, the main part of the book is followed by fifteen pages of "selected sources and notes.
When I requested this book through BookMooch, I thought it was the one about a home gardener who's growing tomatoes. Maybe I would have enjoyed that book more.
I like this book substantially less than I thought I would.
The author seems to hold in contempt anyone who wants to eat heirloom or organic tomatoes. Inthe span of two pages, the author refers to a man who was in a car accident as "crippled" and calls an American couple who pays for a Mexican woman's transplant in the U.S. "suckers." WOW! Rude!
Arthur Allen's writing didn't engage me. In fact, it mostly bored me. Reading this book was like slogging through a textbook for a class I didn't really like. The sciencey parts were difficult to follow, and I was barely interested in the story as it was told. I only kept reading out of sheer tenacity.
If the reader is wondering where Allen got his information, the main part of the book is followed by fifteen pages of "selected sources and notes.
When I requested this book through BookMooch, I thought it was the one about a home gardener who's growing tomatoes. Maybe I would have enjoyed that book more.
June 3, 2010
great info about the tomato industry, history of tomatoes, why tomatoes are grown the way they are, etc. the part about the genetic bottleneck that happened when tomatoes were brought to europe from south america and then dispersed throughout the world from there was the most interesting for me (non hybrid tomatoes are seriously inbred).
i thought the politics of the book was heavy handed and distracting (he's anti dirty hippies and "lefty snobs"; sees the lessening use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers as a purely "aesthetic" choice, etc). on the other hand, he's going to be able to reach an audience that a lot of the other food industry film/books aren't.
i thought it was weird that he could talk about the acceptable levels of mold for processing tomatoes and not really be against mold. if there is an especially moldy batch they save some of them and mix them in with a mold-free batch to even things out. some of the practices he talked about neutrally seemed self-evidently backwards to me.
over all worth reading if you are interested in tomatoes.
i thought the politics of the book was heavy handed and distracting (he's anti dirty hippies and "lefty snobs"; sees the lessening use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers as a purely "aesthetic" choice, etc). on the other hand, he's going to be able to reach an audience that a lot of the other food industry film/books aren't.
i thought it was weird that he could talk about the acceptable levels of mold for processing tomatoes and not really be against mold. if there is an especially moldy batch they save some of them and mix them in with a mold-free batch to even things out. some of the practices he talked about neutrally seemed self-evidently backwards to me.
over all worth reading if you are interested in tomatoes.
April 5, 2011
I enjoyed learning about the history of the tomato, tomato flavor/cultivar descriptions and early scientific break-throughs in tomato genetics. However, I did not connect well with author's style of writing. Book read like a scientific journal article, thus was a bit dull. Chapters stated the most important fact or point first, then gave the details. Author used the same event more than duplicate times in the book. So it seemed like he was repeating himself.
Book does bring up some ugly topics, which I needed to be enlightened. Gives the specifics as to how tasteless tomatoes evolved.
Heirloom Tomatoes mentioned in book that I'd like to try in my garden.
Angora Super Sweets - tastes like cherries
Black tomatoes - winey flavor
Black Plum - tastes like it grew in its own mariande
Sweet Pea Currants - sour
Rowdy Red (named after Clint Eastwood) very sweet
Speckled Peach - sweet & tangy, tastes melony
Paul Robeson - best of show, Russian cultivar
Book does bring up some ugly topics, which I needed to be enlightened. Gives the specifics as to how tasteless tomatoes evolved.
Heirloom Tomatoes mentioned in book that I'd like to try in my garden.
Angora Super Sweets - tastes like cherries
Black tomatoes - winey flavor
Black Plum - tastes like it grew in its own mariande
Sweet Pea Currants - sour
Rowdy Red (named after Clint Eastwood) very sweet
Speckled Peach - sweet & tangy, tastes melony
Paul Robeson - best of show, Russian cultivar
March 16, 2010
Who would have thought there was so much drama surrounding the Tomato.
Allen, covers the political and social trials of trying to produce consistent, abundent and moveable fruit, dealing with labor issues, the cost of production, all the government inspections and regulations, taste issues and the weather, while trying to deliver it to a public that is only willing to pay 2 dollars a pound. It's interesting to read if only for the issue he raises(the environment or low wages) of producing cheap food and plenty of it. I would give it another star but the technical parts where he talks about cross breeding and how to develope a fruit that will ripen all at once was just boring.
Allen, covers the political and social trials of trying to produce consistent, abundent and moveable fruit, dealing with labor issues, the cost of production, all the government inspections and regulations, taste issues and the weather, while trying to deliver it to a public that is only willing to pay 2 dollars a pound. It's interesting to read if only for the issue he raises(the environment or low wages) of producing cheap food and plenty of it. I would give it another star but the technical parts where he talks about cross breeding and how to develope a fruit that will ripen all at once was just boring.
August 3, 2012
I had a hard time reading this book. It wasn't what I expected from it's subtitle. The book was mostly about agribusiness which wasn't that exciting but the whole book reads like a factual list. The story tell was really dry. I read a lot of non-fiction food books and this should be filed under economics rather than food, though it is about food. Also, most of the stories weren't in depth, so it was hard to get interested in any one subject at all. Do not recommend.
June 24, 2014
Allen bounces around between tomato history (as you may know, it was originally thought to be poisonous), tomato biology (the plant we know is very different from the uncultivated source), the debates over organic farming and genetic engineering, the merits of heirloom tomatoes (he finds them overrated) and above all the question of why tomatoes don't taste better (or do they taste good enough already?). As my wife is a tomato backyard grower, this was a fun read.
February 2, 2016
A very well written book that examines various aspects of the modern commodity chain of tomatoes. While its chapters sometimes dont hold together that well, and the biographies of different people in the tomato industrial complex get a bit tedious, overall the book is insightful. The critique of organic only thinking especailly.
February 3, 2011
I like this book, but it makes me too sad to read in the wintertime when the tomatoes are blech. It is also a bit dry, so couldn't finish it yet. Once our garden is going again I will be more likely to.
November 1, 2010
I good read on tomatoes. I appreciated that it wasn't completely gung-ho organic or a complete supporter of conventional. I thought it was well-balanced, with enough annecdotes to keep you interested.
October 6, 2010
Put me right to sleep.
Want to read
December 4, 2010Some interesting parts but I'm not sure I'll finish it.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews