I mean, and you begin in a wonderful way, by telling the story of a truck you were following on a highway in which you thought you thought Granny Smith apples were falling out.ĮSTABROOK: Yeah, it was in southwestern Florida a few years ago, and I was minding my own business, cruising along, and I saw this open-back truck, and it looked like it was loaded, as you said, with green apples.Īnd then I thought to myself wait, wait, apples don't grow in Florida. Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY.īARRY ESTABROOK: Well, thanks for having me.įLATOW: What a story you tell here.
I never really understood the full extent of the reasons why until I read the book written by my next guest, who has made me question every tomato I see from now on, and he has raised some serious questions about how they are grown and picked and what amounts to what he calls slave labor, real slave labor still going on in Florida.īarry Estabrook is the author of 'Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit.' He joins us from the studios of Iowa Public Radio in Des Moines. But you already knew that because tomatoes, unless you buy them locally, are always a disappointment. What part of your salad looks the most colorful and delicious but really has the least flavor? I'm betting it's your tomato. IRA FLATOW, host: This is SCIENCE FRIDAY.
