Why we don't see other colors or even striped tomatoes in the supermarket?

[Moth1992]

I dont care about the color, whats beyond me us why american supermarket tomatoes are so disgusting. Like you cant find a place in the freaking americas to grow tomatoes that are not inedible and ship them over? Why not buy them from farmers that actually grow edible tomatoes? This is where tomatoes originate from FFS!

In Europe supermarket tomatoes come from Spain and Morocco are while they are not home grown heirlooms they are actually edible.

[Tormahto]

I dont care about the color, whats beyond me us why american supermarket tomatoes are so disgusting. Like you cant find a place in the freaking americas to grow tomatoes that are not inedible and ship them over? Why not buy them from farmers that actually grow edible tomatoes? This is where tomatoes originate from FFS!

In Europe supermarket tomatoes come from Spain and Morocco are while they are not home grown heirlooms they are actually edible.

You have to understand that markets only profit when products sell. Perishable products have much more risk of loss than nonperishable ones. The "average" American simply likes mediocre food, not bland nor strongly flavored. From Budweiser beer, iceberg lettuce, Oscar Mayer wieners, McDonald's hamburgers and fries, Macintosh apples, Tater Tots, round red tomatoes of course, and on and on, there is a comfort zone that many people grew up with, and will not let go of.

In many places in Europe, fresh, local if possible, great tasting food is a tradition of importance to their culture. Food is to be celebrated, rather than just consumed. Enough of their population (still) demands quality food, that it is (still) profitable, because it is sold in much greater quantity than here in America.

I blame McDonald's.

[maxjohnson]

Actually I think producers have gotten smarter and do they try to provide some flavor, I think at least recently typical on-the vine-tomatoes are decently edible.

One of my main inspiration for growing tomatoes was because I read the Tomatoland book and realized the amount of pesticides and herbicides used and poor treatment of the workers. But afterward I learned about the whole heirloom category and seeds saving which was a bigger interest.

[slugworth]

I trade a local pizza place tomato plants and tomatoes for food.
The guy really appreciates the plants and real tasting tomatoes.
The striped peppers disappeared from stores after covid.
Those were just a fad.I was never able to grow those from the saved seeds.

[karstopography]

Best pizza in America is in the northeast and New England. There’s not a Pizza here in town I’d trade for a single cherry tomato.

[slugworth]

a hit in old New Haven

[Tormahto]

New Haven is basically the epicenter of great pizza.

But the rumors are that it is beginning to see some inconsistencies from day to day operations. Some say that the newest hires (in almost any business) just don't take any pride in their work, like in the past.

In my area, Antonio's (Amherst, MA) is on my bucket list. They have branched out to a couple of other locations, but those other places are rated poorly in comparison to the original. I just have to plan a visit when the local University is out of session. Otherwise, I hear that it can be an extremely long line, and wait, for a slice.

[slugworth]

I have never had a pizza at a chain place in my life.
Some food stores even make an attempt to sell hot pizza slices.

[PoisonApple]

I dont care about the color, whats beyond me us why american supermarket tomatoes are so disgusting. Like you cant find a place in the freaking americas to grow tomatoes that are not inedible and ship them over? Why not buy them from farmers that actually grow edible tomatoes? This is where tomatoes originate from FFS!

In Europe supermarket tomatoes come from Spain and Morocco are while they are not home grown heirlooms they are actually edible.

You have to understand that markets only profit when products sell. Perishable products have much more risk of loss than nonperishable ones. The "average" American simply likes mediocre food, not bland nor strongly flavored. From Budweiser beer, iceberg lettuce, Oscar Mayer wieners, McDonald's hamburgers and fries, Macintosh apples, Tater Tots, round red tomatoes of course, and on and on, there is a comfort zone that many people grew up with, and will not let go of.

In many places in Europe, fresh, local if possible, great tasting food is a tradition of importance to their culture. Food is to be celebrated, rather than just consumed. Enough of their population (still) demands quality food, that it is (still) profitable, because it is sold in much greater quantity than here in America.

I blame McDonald's.

I’m with you on most points with the exception of Mac Donald’s French fries . Every once in a while I get a craving for McD’s fries.

[Tormahto]

I dont care about the color, whats beyond me us why american supermarket tomatoes are so disgusting. Like you cant find a place in the freaking americas to grow tomatoes that are not inedible and ship them over? Why not buy them from farmers that actually grow edible tomatoes? This is where tomatoes originate from FFS!

In Europe supermarket tomatoes come from Spain and Morocco are while they are not home grown heirlooms they are actually edible.

You have to understand that markets only profit when products sell. Perishable products have much more risk of loss than nonperishable ones. The "average" American simply likes mediocre food, not bland nor strongly flavored. From Budweiser beer, iceberg lettuce, Oscar Mayer wieners, McDonald's hamburgers and fries, Macintosh apples, Tater Tots, round red tomatoes of course, and on and on, there is a comfort zone that many people grew up with, and will not let go of.

In many places in Europe, fresh, local if possible, great tasting food is a tradition of importance to their culture. Food is to be celebrated, rather than just consumed. Enough of their population (still) demands quality food, that it is (still) profitable, because it is sold in much greater quantity than here in America.

I blame McDonald's.

I’m with you on most points with the exception of Mac Donald’s French fries . Every once in a while I get a craving for McD’s fries.

I've had exactly one great batch of French fries in about 20 years, last year at the state fair. I had to special order them "plain", as as their menu had them with an array of toppings/seasonings.

I seek out French fries where ever I go, stopping in mom & pop diners just for the fries. McDonald's comes in second place, tied with all of the others, except that fair vendor.

To me, a French fry has to be fairly thick, skin on, a BLISTERY golden brown on the outside, puffy and light (not soggy) on the inside, lightly salted.

I liked McDonald's food, until I turned about 20.

[worth1]

I dont care about the color, whats beyond me us why american supermarket tomatoes are so disgusting. Like you cant find a place in the freaking americas to grow tomatoes that are not inedible and ship them over? Why not buy them from farmers that actually grow edible tomatoes? This is where tomatoes originate from FFS!

In Europe supermarket tomatoes come from Spain and Morocco are while they are not home grown heirlooms they are actually edible.

You have to understand that markets only profit when products sell. Perishable products have much more risk of loss than nonperishable ones. The "average" American simply likes mediocre food, not bland nor strongly flavored. From Budweiser beer, iceberg lettuce, Oscar Mayer wieners, McDonald's hamburgers and fries, Macintosh apples, Tater Tots, round red tomatoes of course, and on and on, there is a comfort zone that many people grew up with, and will not let go of.

In many places in Europe, fresh, local if possible, great tasting food is a tradition of importance to their culture. Food is to be celebrated, rather than just consumed. Enough of their population (still) demands quality food, that it is (still) profitable, because it is sold in much greater quantity than here in America.

I blame McDonald's.

I’m with you on most points with the exception of Mac Donald’s French fries . Every once in a while I get a craving for McD’s fries.

I've had exactly one great batch of French fries in about 20 years, last year at the state fair. I had to special order them "plain", as as their menu had them with an array of toppings/seasonings.

I seek out French fries where ever I go, stopping in mom & pop diners just for the fries. McDonald's comes in second place, tied with all of the others, except that fair vendor.

To me, a French fry has to be fairly thick, skin on, a BLISTERY golden brown on the outside, puffy and light (not soggy) on the inside, lightly salted.

I liked McDonald's food, until I turned about 20.

I never ate at a McDonald's until I was almost 20.
It was in Palm Springs California.
Ordered the Big Mac and was flabbergasted as to how little is was.
I thought they got my order wrong.
Their fries suck too.
A lot of Europeans trash Americans about what we eat and our food out of ignorance.
Not all of us eats that garbage.

[Tormahto]

Actually I think producers have gotten smarter and do they try to provide some flavor, I think at least recently typical on-the vine-tomatoes are decently edible.

One of my main inspiration for growing tomatoes was because I read the Tomatoland book and realized the amount of pesticides and herbicides used and poor treatment of the workers. But afterward I learned about the whole heirloom category and seeds saving which was a bigger interest.

It's gymnastic semantics when one has to twist and turn to end up calling commercial tomatoes decently edible. If all tomatoes were decently edible, we wouldn't have forums such as TomatoJunction.

Round, red and no rotting is what drives demand from consumers and supply from growers. Here, the Kumato cell packs often enough wind up in the discount area of the supermarket.

[karstopography]

I don’t remember our local supermarkets experimenting with fancy tomatoes other than fancy cherry types. There’s scads of various cherry/saladette/grape types or different hues in the plastic trays or mixes of dark, yellow and red cherry tomatoes. We get a big section for Roma tomatoes, then some red types with stems and some stemless red ones. Roma tomatoes tend to be the least pricey.

Is it my imagination or do the Hispanic/Mexican/Latinx folks get Roma tomatoes way more than the average bear? Or does everyone else get non-Roma types way more than the Spanish speaking crowd?

I try real hard not to buy any supermarket tomatoes strictly based on flavor or the lack thereof.

[worth1]

Two reasons that Mexican and Latinos buy Roma tomatoes.
Price and the way they use them.
I'm including myself as well because I eat the same food and I'm normally tight with my money.

[Mark_Thompson]

@karstopography Even way out here we can get a pretty solid selection of cherries and grapes. They’re even really affordable at Costco. Slicers are a completely different story, people absolutely lose their minds the first time they try a tomato that possesses flavor here.

[PoisonApple]

While I haven’t been everywhere, I must say in my non-scientific research, on a percentage basis, the food quality I have encountered in Europe was quite a bit better than here in the US. Staying at your average hotel in Austria, Germany, Poland you are presented with Amazing breakfast with fresh fruits, veggies, fresh baked breads, meats, yogurts, spreads, etc that are absolutely amazing. You stay at your average hotel in America and you get boxed cereal, homogenous scrambled eggs, soft oily bacon and a waffle machine. A small street vendor in Greece or Croatia you get an amazing and reasonably priced souvlaki or cobanac that is fresh and flavorful. Heck, the meat and fresh bakery bread I got at a gas station in Füssen, Germany was fantastic. I will say though, the least appealing food on an average basis I ever encountered was in Canada. I lived there for a couple of years and found that not only were they obsessed with low quality chain restaurants like “Boston Pizza” and “Earls” but they are legally obligated to cook the burgers until they are the texture of a hockey puck. The best everyday food where I lived in Calgary could be found in the small Vietnamese restaurants which are fortunately very prolific in Calgary. Also, the grocery stores in Calgary don’t carry corn tortillas, that is a major strike against them LOL. I will say that their dairy is superior to the USA. I’m not sure what the processing differences are in their milk, but it tastes amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve eaten at plenty of great places in the US and Canada, and had some great produce, but you REALLY pay for it in the USA and Canada, whereas it’s just common place in the places I have been in Europe.

I dont care about the color, whats beyond me us why american supermarket tomatoes are so disgusting. Like you cant find a place in the freaking americas to grow tomatoes that are not inedible and ship them over? Why not buy them from farmers that actually grow edible tomatoes? This is where tomatoes originate from FFS!

In Europe supermarket tomatoes come from Spain and Morocco are while they are not home grown heirlooms they are actually edible.

You have to understand that markets only profit when products sell. Perishable products have much more risk of loss than nonperishable ones. The "average" American simply likes mediocre food, not bland nor strongly flavored. From Budweiser beer, iceberg lettuce, Oscar Mayer wieners, McDonald's hamburgers and fries, Macintosh apples, Tater Tots, round red tomatoes of course, and on and on, there is a comfort zone that many people grew up with, and will not let go of.

In many places in Europe, fresh, local if possible, great tasting food is a tradition of importance to their culture. Food is to be celebrated, rather than just consumed. Enough of their population (still) demands quality food, that it is (still) profitable, because it is sold in much greater quantity than here in America.

I blame McDonald's.

I’m with you on most points with the exception of Mac Donald’s French fries . Every once in a while I get a craving for McD’s fries.

I've had exactly one great batch of French fries in about 20 years, last year at the state fair. I had to special order them "plain", as as their menu had them with an array of toppings/seasonings.

I seek out French fries where ever I go, stopping in mom & pop diners just for the fries. McDonald's comes in second place, tied with all of the others, except that fair vendor.

To me, a French fry has to be fairly thick, skin on, a BLISTERY golden brown on the outside, puffy and light (not soggy) on the inside, lightly salted.

I liked McDonald's food, until I turned about 20.

I never ate at a McDonald's until I was almost 20.
It was in Palm Springs California.
Ordered the Big Mac and was flabbergasted as to how little is was.
I thought they got my order wrong.
Their fries suck too.
A lot of Europeans trash Americans about what we eat and our food out of ignorance.
Not all of us eats that garbage.

[worth1]

While I haven’t been everywhere, I must say in my non-scientific research, on a percentage basis, the food quality I have encountered in Europe was quite a bit better than here in the US. Staying at your average hotel in Austria, Germany, Poland you are presented with Amazing breakfast with fresh fruits, veggies, fresh baked breads, meats, yogurts, spreads, etc that are absolutely amazing. You stay at your average hotel in America and you get boxed cereal, homogenous scrambled eggs, soft oily bacon and a waffle machine. A small street vendor in Greece or Croatia you get an amazing and reasonably priced souvlaki or cobanac that is fresh and flavorful. Heck, the meat and fresh bakery bread I got at a gas station in Füssen, Germany was fantastic. I will say though, the least appealing food on an average basis I ever encountered was in Canada. I lived there for a couple of years and found that not only were they obsessed with low quality chain restaurants like “Boston Pizza” and “Earls” but they are legally obligated to cook the burgers until they are the texture of a hockey puck. The best everyday food where I lived in Calgary could be found in the small Vietnamese restaurants which are fortunately very prolific in Calgary. Also, the grocery stores in Calgary don’t carry corn tortillas, that is a major strike against them LOL. I will say that their dairy is superior to the USA. I’m not sure what the processing differences are in their milk, but it tastes amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve eaten at plenty of great places in the US and Canada, and had some great produce, but you REALLY pay for it in the USA and Canada, whereas it’s just common place in the places I have been in Europe.

I dont care about the color, whats beyond me us why american supermarket tomatoes are so disgusting. Like you cant find a place in the freaking americas to grow tomatoes that are not inedible and ship them over? Why not buy them from farmers that actually grow edible tomatoes? This is where tomatoes originate from FFS!

In Europe supermarket tomatoes come from Spain and Morocco are while they are not home grown heirlooms they are actually edible.

You have to understand that markets only profit when products sell. Perishable products have much more risk of loss than nonperishable ones. The "average" American simply likes mediocre food, not bland nor strongly flavored. From Budweiser beer, iceberg lettuce, Oscar Mayer wieners, McDonald's hamburgers and fries, Macintosh apples, Tater Tots, round red tomatoes of course, and on and on, there is a comfort zone that many people grew up with, and will not let go of.

In many places in Europe, fresh, local if possible, great tasting food is a tradition of importance to their culture. Food is to be celebrated, rather than just consumed. Enough of their population (still) demands quality food, that it is (still) profitable, because it is sold in much greater quantity than here in America.

I blame McDonald's.

I’m with you on most points with the exception of Mac Donald’s French fries . Every once in a while I get a craving for McD’s fries.

I've had exactly one great batch of French fries in about 20 years, last year at the state fair. I had to special order them "plain", as as their menu had them with an array of toppings/seasonings.

I seek out French fries where ever I go, stopping in mom & pop diners just for the fries. McDonald's comes in second place, tied with all of the others, except that fair vendor.

To me, a French fry has to be fairly thick, skin on, a BLISTERY golden brown on the outside, puffy and light (not soggy) on the inside, lightly salted.

I liked McDonald's food, until I turned about 20.

I never ate at a McDonald's until I was almost 20.
It was in Palm Springs California.
Ordered the Big Mac and was flabbergasted as to how little is was.
I thought they got my order wrong.
Their fries suck too.
A lot of Europeans trash Americans about what we eat and our food out of ignorance.
Not all of us eats that garbage.

I have to admit we have to pay more for what we shouldn't have to pay more for.
But I was raised on a farm where we grew everything we ate besides making our own flour sugar and cornmeal.
If we couldn't make it or grow it we simply didn't eat it.
Our meat we grew was...
Beef.
Pork.
Chicken.
Rabbit.
A lot of our fish came from our spring fed ponds.
So I guess you could say we grew it too.
Other meat was wild game.

Went to Europe with my wife and a bunch of college kids from all over the country.
They get out of the bus and head straight to McDonald's to eat.
I took off and came back with a giant sausage in a roll and a giant container of beer.
The kids asked me where I go it and I told them.
Aren't you afraid of getting food poisoning they asked?
Seriously from what.
As a whole these people I was with were some of the most uncultured rude drunken uneducated stupid idiots I've ever been around in my life.
Many from New York and New Jersey.
But not all.
We hooked up with a couple of guys from New Jersey and several girls from Georgia Texas and Louisiana.
I was the only person not going to college but my new wife was going to UT out in Odessa.
The Germans absolutely hated these idiots from New York because they were so rude.
Instead of asking a clerk for something they would say give me this or that.
That doesn't go over very well.
Then they would get snot slinging drunk at the dinner table and spill drinks all over the table cloth.
These people were always complaining about something.
Here I am a oil field worker and I'm completely embarrassed to be around these idiots.
Because if I would have acted that way growing up my parents would have beaten the devil out of me and ran me off from the table.
Besides being in Europe and getting to see the place the people I was with made it very miserable.
They didn't deserve anything of quality.