By Michelle Fabio

If you were interested in tomatoes back in the mid-1990s, you probably heard of the Flavr Savr, the genetically-engineered (GE) tomato from the Californian company Calgene.

Now that GE tomatoes are back in the news for possibly fighting birth defects and anemia, you might be wondering—what ever happened to that Flavr Savr?

First, for those who haven’t heard of this history-making tomato, the Flavr Savr was the first genetically engineered food given the stamp of approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for human consumption; the FDA even found that no special labeling was necessary on the GE tomatoes because there was no evidence of health risks and nutritional content was the same as naturally-produced tomatoes.

The Flavr Savr was designed to be able to be left longer Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Perhaps you love nothing more than a big red (or pink or orange or yellow) tomato, but you just might want to make room for another color on the shelf—black.

According to Gary Ibsen of TomatoFest Garden Seeds, one of the Internet’s largest organic heirloom tomato seed sellers, “black” tomatoes are becoming increasingly popular in produce markets and with both chefs and home gardeners.

Indeed, the Paul Robeson “black” heirloom tomato has won “Best Tasting Tomato” for several years at the NatureSweet Carmel TomatoFest in California, which you’ve read about here at Tomato Casual as well.

Other popular black tomatoes include Black Krim, Black Cherry, Black From Tula, Japanese Black Trifele, Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Being the avid tomato gardener you are, you probably know exactly which tomatoes will be sprouting up in your garden this year.

But in case you’re still undecided, Mother Earth News has compiled a list of “America’s Favorite Tomatoes” based on the opinions of Seed Savers Exchange members as well as other tomato experts around the country.

The results of the survey talk about the differences between hybrid and open-pollinated varieties and group favorite tomatoes into categories for early growth, tomatoes for making sauce and paste and sandwiches, and for varieties called “great green and zebras” and “oranges, strawberries, and lemons.”

Go to Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

You’ve heard of heirloom, cherry, and plum tomatoes, but now you can also add “elongated tomato” to the list of tomato types.

Seed company Zeraim Gedera, known for its innovative vegetable development since 1952, has come up with a tomato that is, indeed, elongated—an elliptical shaped tomato that is said to be good for cooking as well as fresh dishes.

Amit Shiftan, one of Zeraim Gedera’s breeders, developed the elongated tomato, which are suitable Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Who says that there are already enough tomato varieties to please everyone?

If you’re someone who loves a sweet, deep red tomato, researchers at the University of Florida had you in mind when they came up with the brand new Tasti-Lee.

The new tomato has high levels of sugar as well as red pigment, which the tomato breeders say means the Tasti-Lee provides more antioxidants than your average tomato. Red-colored lycopene is reportedly nature’s most powerful nutritional antioxidant, which means that it reduces the amount of damage done to body cells by oxygen—damage that can eventually lead to cancers, heart disease, and other illnesses.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

New Jersey is known for its tasty tomatoes, and the Ramapo, named after a New Jersey Indian tribe and developed at Rutgers University in 1968, is reportedly one of the best.

And now it’s back after a 20-year absence thanks to eight years of research, including countless taste tests by willing subjects.

Back in Israel that is.

This is thanks to the “Jersey Tomato Working Group,” which is comprised of tomato enthusiasts from a variety of disciplines from economy to horticulture. The group chose a seed company in Israel to help develop the Ramapo at a reasonable price, and earlier this month nearly 600,000 of the seeds Read the rest of this entry »