Adventures in ‘Tomatoland’

Author Barry Estabrook decided to write about tomatoes because they almost killed him. He was driving in Naples, Fla. when a few tomatoes bounced off the cargo truck in front of him, narrowly missing his windshield. At the next stoplight, he was amazed to see that the tomatoes littering the street were unscathed after falling off a truck that was traveling at 60 miles per hour. How did the tomato–  once summer’s tastiest treat –  become the bland specimens available in most grocery stores now? And how can we fix it? Barry Estabrook, author of “Tomatoland,”  joins us to talk more about this.  Also with us is Dr. Harry Klee, a professor of molecular biology at the University of Florida. Dr. Klee’s research focuses on growing tastier tomatoes.