Tomato Scare Leads More People To Buy Local

   If you've decided to buy locally grown tomatoes because of the salmonella outbreak, then you'll have to wait a few more weeks.
   Walter Clarke, "Local tomatoes are not in season. The earliest ones will be showing up around the end of June. Mine are going to be about middle of July."
   Walter and Carol Clarke own Rainbow Hill Farm in McMinnville, TN. They sell their produce throughout the Tennessee Valley, including every Sunday at the Chattanooga Market. Clarke says more people have realized the benefits of buying from local farms.
   Shopper Marshall Wilson, "Growing locally and buying locally is a good idea if you can find it, not every place in country has a place like this."
   Clarke, "The last two or three years, people are coming out to farmers markets, people are learning they can trust their local farmer, we've had over the last few years some scares in the food industry with salmonella problems."
   The latest outbreak has been linked to raw red plum, red Roma, and round red tomatoes grown in Mexico and PARTS of Florida. 228 people in 23 states have become ill. The FDA has not pinpointed the source of the contamination. Because of that, Clarke says these days more people want to know exactly where their food comes from.
   Clarke, "Too much of the industry over the last 40 has gone to developing products with long shelf life, the ability to ship."
   Clarke says if you buy local produce, you'll taste the difference.
   Clarke, The tomatoes we grow, they've got different flavors, you can't ship them very far, they're thin skinned they're tender, we pick them vine ripe."
   If you're not sure about the produce in your supermarket, just ask. Most produce clerks should know where the food they're selling comes from.
   Rainbow Hill Farm, www.rainbowhillfarm.biz
   Pick TN Products, http://picktnproducts.org

UPDATED Info from www.fda.gov

FDA traceback review, in addition to production and distribution pattern information, has indicated that tomatoes from the following sources are not associated with the outbreak:

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Delaware
• Florida (counties of: Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte)*
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Indiana New!
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico New!
• New York
• Nebraska
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Baja California (Norte) ** New!
• Belgium
• Canada
• Dominican Republic
• Guatemala
• Israel
• Netherlands
• Puerto Rico

* Shipments of tomatoes harvested in these counties are acceptable with a certificate issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

** Product lots of tomatoes harvested in this State in Mexico are allowed export into the U.S. with a certificate issued by the Secretaria de Fomento Agropecuario del Gobierno del Estado de Baja California (Agency).

FDA recommends that retailers, restaurateurs, and food service operators offer only fresh and fresh cut red Roma, red plum, and round red tomatoes and food products made from these tomatoes for sale or service from the sources listed above.

FDA further recommends that retailers, restaurateurs, and food service operators continue to offer cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, from any source.