Read an excerpt from Tomatoland here: "Why Supermarket Tomatoes Suck"

In case you haven’t already, check out Dwight Garner’s rave review of Barry Estabrook’s Tomatoland, in yesterday’s New York Times. Barry and I worked together for several years at Gourmet (he now contributes to OnEarth.org – including with this disturbing piece about the ongoing use of antibiotics in livestock), so I’ve long known what a talented editor and writer he is. But Tomatoland also showcases his super-smart reporting, deep compassion, and stubborn determination to get at the truth.

It isn’t a pretty one. Who knew, for example, that the soils of our nation’s main tomato-growing region were so inhospitable and devoid of nutrients that an acre of Florida tomatoes requires five times as much fungicide and six times as much pesticide as an acre of California tomatoes? Or that pregnant farm workers routinely spend their days applying those chemicals shielded neither by the protective eyewear, chemical-resistant gloves, rubber aprons, nor vapor respirators that regulations actually require? (The particularly queasy might want to skip the chapter called "Chemical Warfare.") And that they make about $5 an hour for the privilege?

In writing about the history of the tomato and the people-cum-slaves whose lives it now dominates, Barry interweaves a quiet lyricism with a full-throated indictment of all that’s wrong with our nation’s agricultural system. His prose, says Garner, "contains a mix of sweetness and acid, like a perfect homegrown tomato itself."

We encourage you to dig in.