Okay, before I get to the white vegetables, let me just say that someone hit the “fast forward” button a little too hard! I received my Burpee catalog in the mail this week and that is normal. It’s always the first one to hit my mailbox. I love looking at it in the winter and planning out my spring garden. However, I also received my February copy of Woman’s Day. FEBRUARY! Now that is just freakish. Of course when I went to WalMart yesterday everything was turning red. What is wrong with us??
Back to the white vegetables. In the “New Burpee Exclusive” listings for 2008 is a white tomato called “Italian Ice”. White. I don’t know about you, but I find that bizarre. Why do we need to spend time and money and effort to take the color out of a vegetable? Not to mention the fact that we can already buy a dozen red, orange, or yellow tomatoes. Why do we need a white one? For variety? contrast? thrill? I’m betting it’s not for the taste.
My son says I’m not being fair or reasonable because I love white flowers and many of them are not “natural”, but bred to be white. True. However, if we are just talking about color then I would argue that white flowers balance out the garden and brighten bouquets with their contrast. I don’t think a white tomato is going to do much for my salad unless I intentionally make it with dark lettuce and throw in a few red tomatoes for contrast. Maybe that IS the point! LOL White tomatoes will force us to create better salads. But then I don’t think” looking good on a plate” is reason enough to drain the color from one of my favorite veggies.
I think maybe a small part of my psyche is offended by the idea that we are always craving something different. We could spend time and effort and money on making food cheaper, more available, more nutritional, (and I know someone out there is doing just that) but we waste our resources on making something different just for the sake of being different. If Burpee has a higher purpose for its white vegetables (corn, tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, pumpkins, radishes) I’d like to know what it is. And don’t think I have anything against Burpee- I know there are hundreds of seed companies and nurseries doing the very same thing.
Maybe I’m just missing the point in my old age. Variety is the spice of life. Now there is a tomato to satisfy each and every palate and discerning eye in the world. We can all make creative, colorful, even artistic salads! Maybe this will be the last “new” tomato we need. Until someone figures out how to create a blue one.
White tomatoes- clearly not a national security issue, but I was just wondering as I flipped through the pages and dreamed of spring…what’s next? White strawberries? Now that’s where I draw the line!!
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