WEBVTT - Why Are Grocery Store Tomatoes So Meh?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren bog Obam Here. Fresh tomatoes pile high

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<v Speaker 1>and grocery store produce sections twelve months out of the year,

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<v Speaker 1>but for tomato aficionados they're only good for a short season,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe not ever. Grocery store tomatoes have long had

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<v Speaker 1>a reputation for being bland, meally, too firm, tasteless, and dry.

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<v Speaker 1>There are scientists working to save grocery store tomatoes, and

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<v Speaker 1>not just by encouraging people to garden or shop at

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<v Speaker 1>farmers markets. Through science and honestly good grocery store tomato

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<v Speaker 1>maybe on the market within five years. We spoke with

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<v Speaker 1>Harry Clee, professor of horticultural science at the University of Florida,

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<v Speaker 1>who's putting his passion for tomatoes into the long work

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<v Speaker 1>of developing a better tomato for the mass market. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>we're not going to consider our program of success until

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<v Speaker 1>all grocery store tomatoes taste good. According to Clee, the

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<v Speaker 1>number one complaint about produce in America is the favor

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<v Speaker 1>of grocery store tomatoes. It's a problem that's been around

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<v Speaker 1>for decades. Clever members in n seven essay in the

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<v Speaker 1>New Yorker about how hard it is to find truly ripe,

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<v Speaker 1>fresh tomatoes. So how did tomatoes end up tasting so blah?

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<v Speaker 1>The problem lies in the entire market chain. Clip points out.

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<v Speaker 1>Farmers aren't paid on flavor. They're paid on pounds of

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<v Speaker 1>tomatoes they put in a box. Growers will tell you

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<v Speaker 1>they can't control flavor. What the market values motivates growers

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<v Speaker 1>to prioritize fast growth, high yields, disease resistance, and a

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<v Speaker 1>long shelf life. Breeders have been developing tomatoes in response

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<v Speaker 1>to those qualities that growers are looking for. Tomatoes don't

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<v Speaker 1>have to taste good for any of that to happen.

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<v Speaker 1>Cli pointed out that the loss of flavor isn't intentional

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<v Speaker 1>on anyone's part. It's just a side effect of the

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<v Speaker 1>neglect of attention to flavor. He compares it to a symphony.

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<v Speaker 1>If one instrument is missing, you probably wouldn't notice. If

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<v Speaker 1>two or three instruments bow out, and experienced musician might notice.

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<v Speaker 1>But if one by one instruments leave the orchestra, eventually

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<v Speaker 1>you'll notice something's missing. And in the case of fruit

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<v Speaker 1>like tomatoes, well, in Klee's words, flavor over fifty years

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<v Speaker 1>has gone to hell. The growers who do get paid

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<v Speaker 1>on flavor focus on local sales to customers who live

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<v Speaker 1>nearby and provide repeat business both home cooks and restaurants.

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<v Speaker 1>Those are the growers who can pick tomatoes once they've

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<v Speaker 1>ripened on the vine, and they don't have to ship

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<v Speaker 1>them far and risk damage. We also spoke with Julie Dawson,

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<v Speaker 1>a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin Madison, who

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<v Speaker 1>does tomato variety trials, including varieties from a number of

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<v Speaker 1>different public and private sector breeders. Some varieties of the

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<v Speaker 1>trials come from Seed Savers Exchange, an organization that's devoted

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<v Speaker 1>to preserving America's diversity and food and garden plants by collecting, sharing,

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<v Speaker 1>and saving seeds and by encouraging people to grow them.

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<v Speaker 1>She said, we hope our trials help breeders develop varieties

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<v Speaker 1>that have the flavor that make people want to buy

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<v Speaker 1>and eat more. She explained that flavor can get bread

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<v Speaker 1>out in any number of unexpected ways. For example, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a gene that producers want because it makes tomatoes ripen

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<v Speaker 1>uniformly across the whole fruit all at once, but it

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<v Speaker 1>also changes the way sugars accumulate in the fruit, but

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<v Speaker 1>she also said the bigger part of why they don't

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<v Speaker 1>taste good is due to how people manage them, such

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<v Speaker 1>as picking them green. A lot of the ripening on

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<v Speaker 1>the plant creates sugars and volatile compounds that make the

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<v Speaker 1>tomatoes taste good. They're easier to ship when they're under ripe,

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<v Speaker 1>but they will never develop all of those flavors, and

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<v Speaker 1>ripening tomatoes commercially with ethylene gas is no substitute for

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<v Speaker 1>the work nature does on the vine. Dawson said, it

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<v Speaker 1>just turns them red. You don't get all the volatiles

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<v Speaker 1>and secondary compounds that make it smell like a tomato

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<v Speaker 1>and taste good. So now clear and numerous horticultural scientists

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<v Speaker 1>are working to bring flavor back, but growers and supermarkets

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<v Speaker 1>still need the qualities of a modern tomato. Klie said

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<v Speaker 1>breeding is now a balancing act because growers still want

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<v Speaker 1>a good yield and disease resistance. We have to keep

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<v Speaker 1>key pieces in. At the University of Florida, the Horticultural

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<v Speaker 1>Science Department is growing over a hundred varieties of tomatoes

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<v Speaker 1>and uses a tasting panel of over a hundred people

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<v Speaker 1>to help identify what makes it tomato taste good. They've

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<v Speaker 1>come up with a list of compounds that impact flavor.

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<v Speaker 1>The tasting panel helps them identify what people like, and

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<v Speaker 1>then they determine how much of each compound is in

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<v Speaker 1>the tomatoes that get approval from the panel. The process

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<v Speaker 1>produces a scientific recipe for a great tomato. Klie said,

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<v Speaker 1>DNA sequencing has become cheap, so if sequenced the genomes

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<v Speaker 1>of five hundred different varieties of tomatoes, they can identify

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<v Speaker 1>jeans that make good tasting modern tomatoes, trace where those

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<v Speaker 1>genes came from, and bring them back. It creates a

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<v Speaker 1>breeding roadmap. Right now, Clean his team are working on

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<v Speaker 1>nine different genes to put into modern tomatoes, creating fruit

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<v Speaker 1>with the yield, disease resistance, and shelf life that growers

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<v Speaker 1>and markets want, but the flavor the tomato lovers crave.

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<v Speaker 1>But the challenge with creating better fruit and vegetables is

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<v Speaker 1>that it takes time. In Florida, Clean his team can

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<v Speaker 1>only grow two generations of tomatoes a year, but better

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<v Speaker 1>tomatoes are on the horizon. Kali says tasting panels in

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<v Speaker 1>summer of twenty nineteen will help them finalize a tomato

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<v Speaker 1>that's got it all. Once that's done, the challenge is

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<v Speaker 1>getting growers to take a chance on planting and selling them,

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<v Speaker 1>and growers tend to adopt new plants conservatively, but the

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<v Speaker 1>university is working with several commercial seed companies that want

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<v Speaker 1>to be the first in the market with good tomatoes.

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<v Speaker 1>Consumers have a role to play and getting better tomatoes

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<v Speaker 1>to market to buy them, Kali said. Some people are

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<v Speaker 1>willing to pay more for great flavor, but most people

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<v Speaker 1>are price sensitive. If you pay little, you get what

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<v Speaker 1>you pay for. People need to step up and pay

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<v Speaker 1>for better tomatoes. If you've got a garden plot and

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<v Speaker 1>you can't wait for some of the tomatoes developed at

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<v Speaker 1>the University of Florida, you can get seeds that aren't

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<v Speaker 1>on the market yet. You can donate ten dollars towards

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<v Speaker 1>cles Genetic Tomato Research to receive packets of three varieties.

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<v Speaker 1>Search online for the Clear Garden gem web page. That's

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<v Speaker 1>k l e E. If you grow them, they would

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<v Speaker 1>love to hear how they perform in your garden. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Sean Chavis and produced by Tyler Clay.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is the production I Heart radio's How Stuff Works.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other tasty topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com and

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