Free Republic

Here's an announcement to its customers that I'm told came directly from Sysco Foods. ALL OF OUR GROWERS HAVE INVOKED THE ACT OF GOD CLAUSE ON OUR CONTRACTS (Force majuere) DUE TO THE FOLLOWING RELEASE. WE WILL BE CONTACTING YOU PERSONALLY TO REVIEW HOW THIS WILL AFFECT OUR CONTRACTED ITEMS WITH YOU GOING FORWARD. THE DEVASTATING FREEZE IN MEXICO IS WORST FREEZE IN OVER 50 YEARS... THE EXTREME FREEZING TEMPERATURES HIT A VERY BROAD SECTION OF MAJOR GROWING REGIONS IN MEXICO, FROM HERMOSILLO IN THE NORTH ALL THE WAY SOUTH TO LOS MOCHIS AND EVEN SOUTH OF CULIACAN. THE EARLY...

They are the most widely produced fruit in the world and now scientists in Japan have discovered that tomatoes contain a nutrient which could tackle the onset of vascular diseases. The research, published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, reveals that an extracted compound, 9-oxo-octadecadienoic, has anti-dyslipidemic affects. The team led by Dr Teruo Kawada, from Kyoto University and supported by the Research and Development Program for New Bio-industry Initiatives, Japan, focused their research on extracts which tackle dyslipidemia, a condition which is caused by an abnormal amount of lipids, such as cholesterol or fat, in the blood...

Police last month raided an Española-area school looking for marijuana growing in a greenhouse, but all they found there were tomatoes. Patricia Pantano, education director of the Camino de Paz Montessori School and Farm in Cuarteles, between Española and Chimayó on N.M. 76, said the raid occurred Sept. 21 during the lunch hour. "We were all as a group eating outside as we usually do, and this unmarked drab-green helicopter kept flying over and dropping lower," she said. "Of course, the kids got all excited. They were telling me that they could see gun barrels outside the helicopter. I was...

The great thinker Stephen Colbert testified on the Comedy Hill that most soil is at ground level. It is scientifically true; however, the proposed solutions were not common sense. There is no need to lift the ground up to waist level; instead we should bring back the workers who are closer to the ground. For millions of years of human history these were the kids. America has record teenage unemployment. Yet the US is importing workers from the other side of the mountain, through the desert and over the river. The American kids can pick up the veggies and...

the plot: angry farmer becomes a sort of johnny tomato-seed. A futuristic society has outlawed seeds, but 1 farmer prefers to use them because the tomatoes taste better. Authorities destroy his crop, but he remembers he has some spare seeds stored a farmer's museum he maintained. He takes the seeds and travel the country planting them. This movie was in French with subtitles, most likely black & white, unknown what year. I have tried imdb advanced search to no avail. Thanks for any help.

Growing crops that dangle upside down from homemade or commercially available planters is growing more popular, and its adherents swear they’ll never come back down to earth. ----snip--- The advantages of upside-down gardening are many: it saves space; there is no need for stakes or cages; it foils pests and fungus; there are fewer, if any, weeds; there is efficient delivery of water and nutrients thanks to gravity; and it allows for greater air circulation and sunlight exposure. While there are skeptics, proponents say the proof is in the produce. Tomato and jalapeño seedlings sprout from upside-down planters fashioned out...

THE TIMES OF INDIA: Diphu (Assam) - "HUGE QUANTITIES OF EXPLOSIVES RECOVERED, TWO ARRESTED" SNIPPET: "... at Bokajan area and recovered 1200 detonators, 75 kg of explosives and five kgs of fuse wire, which they had kept concealed inside boxes of tomatoes. The duo, identified as Tazika and Thuk from Nagaland's Phek district, were arrested, sources..."

Reporting from Sacramento - To his friends, Randall Lee Rahal was just a food salesman, someone who routinely left his home on Shadyside Road in Ramsey, N.J., to crisscross the country hawking California tomatoes. The 61-year-old sold them pureed. He sold them crushed. He sold them roasted and mashed into paste. His clients were food manufacturers, supermarket chains and other commercial buyers who turned his products into soup, ketchup and salsa. But in the eyes of the Justice Department, Rahal was Tomato Enemy No. 1 -- a produce scofflaw who allegedly peeled off $100 bills and carried cash-stuffed envelopes to...

A man was arrested for allegedly throwing two tomatoes at Sarah Palin from the second floor balcony during a book signing event at the Mall of America in Minnesota, MyFoxTwinCities.com. reported. Neither tomato came close hitting the former 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, but did hit a police officer in the face, the station reported. The unidentified man may face charges for assaulting a police officer, according to the station. Die-hard supporters treated the event like another Black Friday, lining up outside in freezing weather before the mall doors opened at 5 a.m. Emily Calhoon, a high school junior from...

VICTORIAN health authorities have renewed their warnings over links between semi-dried tomatoes and an outbreak of hepatitis A ... "Because the incubation period for hepatitis A could be as long as two months, trying to get people who fell ill to accurately pin down what and where they actually ate this product can be difficult," Dr Carnie said. Bottled semi-dried tomatoes in supermarkets were pasteurised and considered safe along with any of the cooked product such as in pizzas or quiches. The greatest risk would appear to be at restaurants and cafes, where semi-dried tomatoes are served in foods such...

The tomato pill: Daily dose is as good for the heart as Mediterranean food By TAMARA COHEN 31st August 2009 British scientists have developed a groundbreaking pill which provides all the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet. One capsule of Ateronon taken daily can break down fatty deposits in the arteries and help prevent heart disease and strokes, potentially saving millions of lives. The supplement, which costs £35 for a month's supply, contains lycopene, a chemical found in the skin of ripe tomatoes. Each pill provides the equivalent of eating three kilos of ripe tomatoes. Studies have shown eating an...

Chef Nettie loves to have people sit down listen to some good jazz and eat a wonderful meal that she has prepared. A graduate to the Culinary Institute, Chef Nettie would always feed people who came by the house. Her children was always bringing some kids home with them, so she would have to stretch the food more. So at an early age she learn how to role dough and make things from scratch because it was cheaper. On Saturday afternoons friends and relatives would come over to Netties house and while nettie was putting something on the grill the...

How do you get the skin off tomatoes to make a spaghetti sauce? I have gotten a bumper crop of tomatoes and made some awesome spaghetti sauce. With my first pot of sauce, I made the mistake of not skinning the tomatoes first.

So today, I had the first serious round of my great grandmother Hale’s sliced tomatoes, a recipe from the Hale House tea room in Glastonbury, CT from– I’m not sure– the twenties? It’s simple but guaranteed if the ingredients are exactly right– garden fresh tomatoes and basil, in particular. I’m posting this in part to taunt a regular reader in Maine, where high Summer has apparently not arrived to this extent....

The national highway passing Kolar, 70km from Bangalore, has seen a lot of red on its surface for years now. The colour-coated stretch is the result of tomatoes dumped by farmers protesting a price crash. This week, too, the disgruntled lot threw their crop on the highway after the prices fell from Rs 80 per kilogram to Rs 15-25 a kg. An appeal had earlier been made to the government to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 per acre to tomato growers. The farmers’ action blocked the highway for hours this week. After their unique protest ended, the crushed tomatoes...

A handsome new book by Amy Goldman jump-started memories of my family saving seeds from our beloved yellow oxheart tomatoes through fall and winter for spring planting. This was our heirloom tomato, although we did not think of it as such. In reading Miss Goldman's "The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table" (Bloomsbury), I learned that one woman, who was involved with preserving a strain her ancestors had brought when they emigrated from Germany, still puts sugar on her sliced tomatoes. I remember my grandmother doing this, although she also added a few drops of vinegar on the slices of...

The salmonella strain linked to a nationwide outbreak has been found in irrigation water and a serrano pepper at a Mexican farm, federal health officials said Wednesday. "We have a smoking gun, it appears," said Dr. Lonnie King who directs the center for foodborne illnesses at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Disfigured fruits and vegetables could be allowed in stores after most European Union members voted to loosen restrictions on produce, officials say. Misshapen bananas and cucumbers could be in stores by next year if reforms on produce rules are carried out, The Telegraph reported Thursday. The Telegraph said produce standards are so strict, many edible foods are discarded by farmers. European agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said she thinks some regulations should also be thrown out for onions, garlic, cauliflower and spinach. In this era of high prices and growing demand, it makes no sense to throw (misshapen fruit and...

Tomatoes are OK, but watch out for jalapenos, avocados and serrano peppers. That’s what state and federal health departments are saying now after months of searching for the source of a nationwide salmonella outbreak. Originally thought to be traced to tomatoes, now, after Texas and North Carolina’s departments of state health services located tainted produce from a south Texas importer/distributor, officials are telling people to be wary of other produce often used in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. The importer, Grande Produce, is conducting a voluntary recall of all peppers and avocados it distributed. Confusion among what to eat and what...

WASHINGTON -- More than 1,000 people have become sick in the salmonella outbreak originally blamed on tomatoes, and federal health officials now say jalapeno peppers appear more likely to be at fault, at least in three large clusters of illnesses. The outbreak has caused the death of a Texas man in his 80s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. The agency said the outbreak may also have contributed to the death of another Texas man, who had cancer. As of Tuesday, 1,017 people -- from 41 states, the District of Columbia and Canada -- had become sick...