Hot on the tail of my “Comida Critic” article yesterday about tomato dishes, The New York Times today tells a fascinating, disturbing tale that further shows we're in the midst of something worse than the Great Recession: Thieves are targeting cargo trucks loaded with the juicy orbs because the price of tomatoes is so damn high.
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“Late last month, a gang of thieves stole six tractor-trailer loads of
tomatoes and a truck full of cucumbers from Florida growers,” writes William Neuman in his tight, well-written piece. “They also
stole a truckload of frozen meat. The total value of the illegal haul:
about $300,000.”
Some of those contraband tomatoes are apparently heading for California, so let the buyer beware … and why are the prices so high? Because the United States nowadays depends on Mexico to grow its winter crop of tomatoes. Buy with the seasons, people.
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