The problem with California tomatoes is that the only good ones are the ones they keep to sell and eat in California; the ones they ship to the rest of the country are shipped green, and gassed to look red. There ARE occasional exceptions -— Wal-Mart sells some tomatoes, 2 or 3 to a plastic pack, that I have had out of season, that taste like real tomatoes. And those little grape tomatoes are often good; not summer good, but pretty good.
Have you ever tried shipping tomatoes? If they are shipped ripe they will be too ripe or rotten upon arrival even in iced box cars. My family owned a packing house that packed and shipped tomatoes in central California along with oranges, plums, peaches, grapes, and many other fruits and vegetables.
You mentioned gassing. Do you know what it’s for? Ethylene gas is produced naturally by most fruits, such as tomatoes, bananas, peaches, and avocados, and it promotes ripening. Most tomatoes today are picked green and transported unripe to protect them from bruising and spoilage as are many other fruits and vegetables. Time doesn’t stop when you ice a product. It still changes even in the cars. Gassing upon arrival is the only way to distance ship products like this and control its ripening so it is ready for consumption upon arrival.
I can guarantee you if you ripen a tomato on the vine, it will turn red just like those that are gassed so they will be ready at arrival. If you wait for the vine to ripen, it won’t last a day without damage in shipment.
As for the tomatoes consumed in the area, they don’t need gassing as they are rapidly into the markets and don’t have a lot of spoilage. Most plant products are shipped this way now.
Walmart purchases a lot of products from California like pineapples, watermelon, romaine lettuce, and surprisingly, Hawaiian punch. But their tomatoes come from Chili and are listed as GMO’s (genetically engineered) To be sold they clear the barriers set up by OSHA, the AMA, the FDA, the CDC, and each state checklist. Enjoy. But it’s not like the tomatoes grown in either Tennessee or California. Frankentomato.
wy69