Photo Credit: Red Zebra tomato in bloom by tacobel_canon used under CC BY 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Just the other day, I was asked why I raise so many tomatoes.

This past year, I simply raised 70 plants and to me that just was not enough to satisfy my hunger for the tomato (Love Apple).

But as I thought beyond the culinary delights that I could make with tomatoes, I discovered other reason why everyone should grow tomatoes.

1. They are delicious and have a culinary flexibility unmatched. Tomatoes are delicious eaten directly off the vine, juiced, canned, dried, and frozen. They are low in calories and high in vitamin C. Tomatoes are also showcased in many ethnic dishes along with American staples such as BLTs.

2. Tomatoes provide different forms of carateniods depending on color. This is another reason why individuals should grow tomatoes and not just ruby-red ones. While the red ones do contain Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Having a husband as a chef and my self an agriculturist we were doomed to be a health-conscious couple.

While my interest has always been eating right and growing the fruits and vegetables I consume without pesticides my husband’s viewpoint on healthy living has not always matched mine.

My husband just recently discovered that healthy food and long life seem to go together and doing so is worth the effort.

Years of working at pizza restaurants, and eating fast food has resurfaced as a fat covered blob of health problems such as high blood pressure and high triglycerides. So eating right and understanding the concept of “super food’ has become important.

Tomatoes recently have become very important to men’s health. But it was not always been that way. The ancestor of the modern day tomato was no bigger than a marble and grew thousand of years ago in the Andean Read the rest of this entry »

Article By Vanessa Richins
Photo By ChiotsRun.com

Yes, tomatoes are spectacular indeed.

In addition to all the other health benefits they provide, a new study suggests that tomatoes could be a weight loss weapon.

It’s no secret that tomatoes should be part of a healthy diet already.

They’re full of vitamins, mineral, fiber and antioxidants. Tomatoes (especially when cooked) are a key source of lycopene, an antioxidant that has been shown to fight a number of health conditions. Tomatoes are also low in calories, a plus for any dieter.

However, the tomato may be poised to become a star in the weight loss world.

In this study, subjects were Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Plant & Food Research, along with Lincoln University, is claiming that tomato sauce may actually be better than raw tomatoes if you want to add more lycopene to your diet.

The research suggests that lycopene is reduced only in small amounts when tomatoes are eaten raw, but processed tomatoes may actually make the lycopene easier to absorb and digest.

Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant found naturally in tomatoes and other red-colored fruits and vegetables that reduces the amount of damage done to body cells by oxygen; it is believed to help prevent cancers, heart disease, and other illnesses.

Read the whole story: Forget tomatoes, try tomato sauce.

By Michelle Fabio

In honor of Heart-Healthy Awareness Month in February, Dei Fratelli is reminding its customers that many of its tomato products have no salt added, making them as heart healthy as possible.

Dei Fratelli tomato products that contain less than 20 milligrams of sodium per serving include:
- Crushed Tomatoes
- Crushed Tomatoes with Basil & Herbs
- Tomato Puree
- Whole Tomatoes
- Whole Tomatoes in Puree

Another heart smart option from Dei Fratelli is its Low Sodium Diced Tomatoes.

“We have heard from our consumers that making sure they Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Even if your tomato plants are healthy, they sometimes fall prey to diseases from bacteria.

In a new study published in Current Biology, scientists show how a certain bacteria gets past a tomato’s defenses and infects the plant with bacterial speck disease, leaving black lesions on leaves and fruits.

They hope to use the results to study ways to protect plants without pesticides.

In order to study the way that the bacteria invaded the tomato, European scientists used a plant called Arabidopsis, which is also affected by the bacterial speck disease and works well in experimental studies.

When they studied the infection process, they found that Read the rest of this entry »