Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

As we here at Am/Mex avoid grocery store tomatoes, just in case, we learned today that the FDA is closing in on a list of farms in Florida and Mexico that may be to blame for this salmonella mess. If you are wondering what tomatoes are safe to eat, you're not alone. Here's the "safe" list, but if you trust the FDA at this point to protect the U.S. food chain then we have a piece of land next to the airport you may be interested in. Today the FDA's safety chief Dr. David Acheson told the AP:

"A tomato that made somebody sick in Vermont has come a long way. A lot of suppliers and warehouses have potentially handled that tomato. It could be anywhere on that distribution chain where all these tomatoes were together at one point.''

And there is the crux of the problem, which brings us to a still ripe memory - a panel earlier this month at The New School entitled What's For Dinner? The Rise of Food Literacy. It was a night of revelations: the room was packed, the new terminology was impressive (slow food, of course, but porkfolio?) and it occurred to us that food awareness and the local food movement is as close to activism as most people will ever get these days. Forget Obama's Unite for Change mantra for a moment, if you consider yourself a gourmand, a gourmet, or just like to eat tasty, fresh food, it's time to change the way this country grows, distributes and eats food. Edible Communities is doing just that, so check it out.