<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Time to slice up the tomato industry?]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by justlou http://www.grist.org/article/tomato-concentrate/ Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:11:03 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/tomato-concentrate/1 A Stab at an Explanation

Tom,
Tomato solids are higher in sunnier CA than in the more humid Midwest and East.  Higher solids mean a higher net yield of tomato paste (=higher profit).  
Foliar plant diseases are more difficult to manage in areas of higher rainfall and humidity.  So, more pesticides would be applied in the humid regions than in dry growing areas of CA.  
Processing plants which utilize tomatoes are basically assembly operations now compared with the old days when production was much more vertically integrated and dependent on local production of fresh raw ingredients.  Rather than sourcing all of their ingredients locally they now rely heavily on outsourcing of more stored or preprocessed frozen ingredients produced remotely. So, frozen tomato paste produced in CA fits the need very well. Also,  market forces have driven the few remaining food processing companies to manage costly inventories by utilizing more JIT, or Just In Time production.  So, instead of filling warehouses with unsold cases of soup for instance, production can be geared more closely to what is actually selling at the time.  

So, the numbers as you listed do look daunting, but this giantizing is the way of the world. I am not defending it.  I do not think it is a sustainable by any means but I can't think of much in our way of living that is.  


]]> A Stab at an Explanation

Tom,
Tomato solids are higher in sunnier CA than in the more humid Midwest and East.  Higher solids mean a higher net yield of tomato paste (=higher profit).  
Foliar plant diseases are more difficult to manage in areas of higher rainfall and humidity.  So, more pesticides would be applied in the humid regions than in dry growing areas of CA.  
Processing plants which utilize tomatoes are basically assembly operations now compared with the old days when production was much more vertically integrated and dependent on local production of fresh raw ingredients.  Rather than sourcing all of their ingredients locally they now rely heavily on outsourcing of more stored or preprocessed frozen ingredients produced remotely. So, frozen tomato paste produced in CA fits the need very well. Also,  market forces have driven the few remaining food processing companies to manage costly inventories by utilizing more JIT, or Just In Time production.  So, instead of filling warehouses with unsold cases of soup for instance, production can be geared more closely to what is actually selling at the time.  

So, the numbers as you listed do look daunting, but this giantizing is the way of the world. I am not defending it.  I do not think it is a sustainable by any means but I can't think of much in our way of living that is.  


]]> Comment #2 by Tom Philpott http://www.grist.org/article/tomato-concentrate/ Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:03:17 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/tomato-concentrate/2 Justlou

The factors you cite explain why California would have a large tomato-processing industry -- say, 20 percent of the total, as it did in the '40s. but 95 percent? think of all the canneries around the country that have folded in the past 60 years, and all the little boxes that have been plunked down on prime farmland.

Victual Reality

]]> Justlou

The factors you cite explain why California would have a large tomato-processing industry -- say, 20 percent of the total, as it did in the '40s. but 95 percent? think of all the canneries around the country that have folded in the past 60 years, and all the little boxes that have been plunked down on prime farmland.

Victual Reality

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