Farmer Tom Schulte brushed a ladybug off his face as a few brown leaves swirled downward, an early sign that autumn 2001 was imminent. But though September spells an end to vacations and suntans and most other things associated with summer, it is boom time for the Ohio tomato.
For the Ohio tomato farmer, well, that’s a different story.
Schulte was standing in a field near Pandora, in the fertile northwest section of the state, on one of the 175 acres he devotes to tomatoes. Behind him, his sons and partners, Mike and Todd, were harvesting a portion of the 5,600 tons of tomatoes that for them represented a good season in 2001.
“We’re survivors,” Schulte said, with a small, if rueful, chuckle. “I mean it: We’re survivors.”
Farmers have it tough all over, but at least with this crop, there’s still a chance to make a living. And Schulte isn’t one to carp.
“Tomatoes have kept my boys on the farm,” Schulte said. “If you’re a good manager, there’s still potential for profit.”
Ohio, which harvested more than 164,610 tons in 2001 (the most recent statistics from USDA), is fourth in domestic tomato production, behind California, Florida and Indiana.
The majority of tomatoes the Schultes, and most of Ohio’s farmers, grow aren’t those fat, tender, juicy orbs that blossom out of summer gardens. Ohio specializes in tomatoes for processing: small, firm, juicy fruit that could seriously injure any tenor unfortunate enough to be pelted with one.
If they’re not the tomatoes of your summer dreams, they’re the dependable ones you stock in the cupboard in the dead of winter. Processing tomatoes wind up in cans. And as any cook will tell you, these are the ones you want to use out of season–not those pale pretenders that can call themselves “fresh” but are rarely called tasty. Indeed, in snowbound January, you’re far more likely to enjoy a tomato in a can than from the produce stand.
Ohio processing tomatoes are practical, which pretty much sums up the farmers who grow them.
Ask farmer Karl Hirzel of Hirzel Canning Co. and Farms in Toledo why he grows tomatoes, and you get the idea:
“It kind of boiled down to the basic principle in almost any industry, especially where you’re dealing with agricultural commodities: You’ve got to have a reliable source of raw product that’s high quality, low cost and reliable–it’s got to be there every year,” Hirzel said.
“This ground around here–northwest Ohio and over into parts of Indiana–it was all part of the bottom of Lake Erie at one time, so the soil in general is pretty darn good.”
And so, as a result, are its tomatoes.
“The quality of the whole peeled products that come out of this region is very good, and the soil is a part of that,” said David Francis, assistant professor in horticulture and crop science at Ohio State University, and a research scientist who develops tomato varieties for Great Lakes farmers. “Another part is that our growers tend to be smaller. The biggest growers we have in this region have a couple hundred acres. Our crop gets just a little bit more attention.”
Hirzel and his brothers are farmers, but their bigger profits are realized from the 78-year-old family business, Hirzel Canning, with three plants that produce the Dei Fratelli line of tomato products sold in stores throughout the Midwest and Plains states, including Jewel-Osco, as well as several private-label brands. The Hirzels’ plants process about 650 tons of tomatoes a day, turning them into cans of diced, whole and stewed tomatoes and, in an effort to accommodate a growing ethnic appetite, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, seasoned tomatoes and salsa.
The Hirzels’ farms grow 4,000 tons of tomatoes in a season, but their canning operation uses about 80,000 tons. In one day, the Hirzels’ canneries can produce, among other items, 300,000 eight-ounce cans of tomato sauce, 200,000 fifteen-ounce cans of diced tomatoes and 40,000 forty-six-ounce cans of tomato juice. Hirzel also sells 300-gallon containers to national operations such as Stouffer’s for frozen and convenience products.
A star is born
There was a time, of course, when tomatoes did not generate business of any kind. In the early to mid-19th Century, many Americans thought they were poisonous at worst, bad-tasting at best. The last description has some merit: The early American tomatoes were wild, ungainly- looking tart fruit with hollow interiors.
Tomatoes did have their promoters, among them Thomas Jefferson. (Of course, he seemed to like growing just about everything.) Seed purveyors sought ways to domesticate this foodstuff–as exotic then as, say, carambola is now. One of those fellows was Alexander Livingston of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, founder of the Livingston Seed Co. Many of the varieties he developed are still available today. (In Reynoldsburg, the Livingston House Society maintains his home as a museum.)
Livingston wasn’t the only seedman in the country, but his autobiography, “Livingston and the Tomato,” and the subsequent publicity it engendered boosted his reputation. As did his prize creation, the Paragon.
Livingston departed from earlier seedmen in this respect: Instead of looking for an attractive tomato on a plant that held other, less appealing specimens, he looked for a plant that bore tomatoes of the same size and color. He found such a plant in 1865. Though its tomatoes were too puny to be taken seriously, they were all the same puny size.
Livingston spent the next five years beefing them up and developing the plant; in 1870, the Paragon debuted. In his book, Livingston asserts, “It was the first perfectly and uniformly smooth tomato ever introduced to the American public, or, so far as I have ever learned, to the world.”
OSU’s Francis tempers Livingston’s boast, because others were producing similar success stories–they just weren’t publishing them. Livingston’s impact “is someplace between what the book says and the fact that nobody has ever heard of him,” Francis said with a laugh. “My feeling is that one thing he was really good at was promotion and sales.”
The Paragon was not the first field-crop tomato, but it produced a uniform product with no surprises, guaranteeing farmers, and in turn processors, their living. With the Paragon–and Livingston’s sales pitch–the tomato was ready to go mainstream.
The same, but different
The same qualities that made the Paragon a success apply to the processing tomato that thrives in Ohio today. But the two couldn’t be more different.
The tomato that Hirzel cans each year, and the one that 30 farmers grow under contract for him, goes by an assortment of numbers and letters assigned by researchers like Francis. The unofficial name, which Hirzel uses, is “square processed.”
“Square processed” is a far cry from such colorful monikers as Paragon or Early Girl or Better Boy. But what “square processed” lacks in romance, it makes up for in resilience. This little Roma-style tomato–the size of your palm, if that, and sort of rectangular–has to be durable and delicious. It also has to withstand wildly fickle weather. Any Midwesterner who has grown tomatoes (or tried to) knows about spring frosts, summer droughts, too much rain and incessant weeds. Just as important, these tomatoes must survive the stressful trip from farm to can.
The first of these tomatoes was introduced in the late 1960s at the University of California at Davis to survive farming’s machine age. “There were two major changes,” Francis said. “We switched over to a determinant tomato (tomatoes that ripen at the same time) and it had to be a tomato that, when you shook the plant, the stem stayed on the bush.” That last part–not having to remove the stem–saves yet another step in the harvesting process.
These tomatoes are manhandled from the time they’re snatched up by the sharp claws of a tomato harvester to the moment they’re unceremoniously dunked into a hot can on a stainless-steel assembly line.
Enter technology
All these machines have made tomato growing more profitable. The tomato harvester (think tractor) ambles down a row of plants, picking tomatoes off the vine and rolling them up, at 200 feet a minute, toward another even more remarkable machine, the electronic color sorter (think computer). The sorter has 30 “rejector fingers” that can swat unripe (a.k.a. green) tomatoes off the machine back onto the ground.
“When we started farming, I would never have guessed that someday there would be a machine that takes out the green tomatoes,” Schulte said, shaking his head. “Not in my lifetime.”
It could be argued that for all these machines’ benefits, though, their massive cost makes it tough for smaller farmers to succeed. A new Pik Rite harvester, with color sorter, starts at about $130,000.
“You have to have a little bit of backing to get that,” Schulte said. “And the reason that harvester is so expensive is because of the technology behind it–the color sorter on it.”
Schulte says the machines’ major benefit is cutting labor costs, as opposed to improving yields. For that, he credits improved tomato varieties.
Still, profit margins continue to shrink. Aggravating the situation is the dwindling number of processors. In 1957, Hirzel recalled, “there were 147 canneries in the state of Ohio then. As late as only five years ago, there were still 14.” Now, there are six–three of which belong to the Hirzels–that buy fresh tomatoes.
“That makes it harder on the farmer, because there are fewer places to sell their fruit,” said Schulte, who grows for and sells to Hirzel Canning as well as Red Gold in Indiana.
But Francis, who looks at the industry in regional–not Ohio–terms, sees some room for optimism.
“Every single [processing firm] that’s left, south of the Canadian border around the Great Lakes, is a family-owned operation,” he said. “The segment of the industry that we do well with has actually expanded. To me, there’s a little bit of a success story in that there are some family-owned businesses that are competing and actually expanding.”
Giant firms such as Heinz and Campbell’s have moved much of their business out of the Midwest to concentrate on paste tomatoes (for tomato paste and ketchup), Francis said. And one of his big concerns involves the lack of paste operations here.
Most Midwest canners don’t make tomato paste for economic reasons. Compared to a can of whole peeled tomatoes, a can of tomato paste uses many more tomatoes and sells for far less. But paste tomatoes don’t have to be as good as whole peeled, and that worries Francis. One subpar growing season in this region could produce tomatoes that are acceptable only for paste or ketchup, and there would be no one to sell them to.
“There’s only one factory that’s a paste factory in the region now, and that’s Red Gold” in Indiana, Francis said. “I keep hoping that somebody else will open up a plant that’s largely paste, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. That risk has largely been passed on to the growers.”
This summer may be one of those tough seasons, with near-drought conditions in parts of the region.
“It’s having a negative effect,” Francis said. “If you can irrigate, you’re in much better shape. But frankly, until harvest is well under way, we just won’t know. My prediction is that we’ll lose 10 to 15 percent this year.”
Still, both Schulte and Hirzel remain cautiously optimistic about their future. The Ohio tomato is the reason why.
“When you compare tomatoes to corn and soybeans, there’s still a little more potential for profit in tomatoes,” Schulte said. “There’s a lot more work, a lot more management, but most guys that have a tomato contract are not letting it go. They want to continue to raise tomatoes.
“Almost every year it comes out pretty much the same as the year before,” added Schulte, watching his sons fill another truck with square processed tomatoes.
“You really complain and so on, and think things are kind of tough,” he said, as a few more leaves fell. “But at the end of the year it all seems to come out about right.”
Can-do tomato recipes
Canned tomatoes are a worthy substitute for fresh–particularly when good tomatoes are not available. Most of these recipes use them interchangeably.
Mushroom enchiladas
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
This recipe is adapted from Casa Barron, a Mexican restaurant in Perrysburg, Ohio, just outside Toledo. To lower fat and calorie content, reduce the amount of cream cheese and add more mushrooms.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (28 ounces) chopped seasoned tomatoes with chilies
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon each: cumin, minced cilantro
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
12 ounces sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sour cream or light sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 small bunch sliced green onions
12 (8-inch) flour tortillas
6 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat; cook onion and garlic until golden, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of chili powder, honey, cumin, cilantro and red pepper. Heat to boil. Lower heat to simmer; cook 30 minutes.
2. Melt butter and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder in separate large skillet over medium heat; stir in mushrooms. Cook until most of the liquid is gone, about 3 minutes. Add sour cream and cream cheese; cook until cheese melts, about 3 minutes. Stir in green onions.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13-by-9-inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Spoon mushroom filling into center of flour tortillas; roll up. Arrange in baking dish. Cover with tomato mixture; sprinkle with cheese. Bake until cheese melts, about 20 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving:
770 calories, 50% calories from fat, 43 g fat, 23 g saturated fat, 95 mg cholesterol, 1,235 mg sodium, 75 g carbohydrate, 23 g protein, 7 g fiber
Tomato-basil sauce (Salsa Venezina)
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes
Yield: 2 cups
This simple sauce from Scali Ristorante in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, can work with fresh or canned tomatoes. Serve it with pasta.
4 ripe plum tomatoes or 1 can (15 ounces) diced, drained
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter
3 sprigs fresh basil
Salt, freshly ground pepper
1. If using canned tomatoes, heat large saucepan of water to boil; add tomatoes. Cook 3 minutes. Drain; let cool. Peel; seed and chop.
2. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat; add garlic and tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in butter, basil and salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition information per 1/2 cup:
230 calories, 95% calories from fat, 25 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 120 mg sodium, 2.5 g carbohydrate, 0.6 g protein, 0.6 g fiber
Pico de gallo with fruit
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Standing time: 2 hours
Yield: 6 cups
Bob Diaz, owner of Tierra Grill in Villa Park, recommends using this easy sauce as a side dish with grilled chicken or broiled fish, or serving it with tortilla chips. Though the fruit is optional, it adds personality to the dish; it’s best to stick with one fruit. In the winter, Diaz recommends using jicama for added crunch.
3 cups diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
2 cups diced fruit such as papaya, mango, cantaloupe, honeydew or diced jicama
2 jalapeno chilies, finely chopped
1 Spanish onion, diced
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Juice of 1 lime
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; let stand 2 hours to let flavors meld.
Nutrition information per 1/4 cup:
15 calories, 6% calories from fat, 0.1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 3.7 g carbohydrate, 0.4 g protein, 0.7 g fiber
Coney dogs
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 28 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
This recipe comes from Hirzel Canning in Ohio, makers of Dei Fratelli tomato products.
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, minced
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon each: chili powder, salt
1/2 teaspoon each: garlic powder, freshly ground pepper
8 each: hot dogs, hot dog buns
Minced onion, chopped tomatoes, shredded Cheddar cheese, optional
1. Combine ground beef and onion in a large skillet; cook over medium heat until beef browns, about 10 minutes. Drain; return beef mixture to skillet.
2. Add tomato sauce, ketchup, chili powder, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook hot dogs according to package directions. Place hot dogs in buns; spoon sauce over. Top with minced onion, tomato and cheese, if desired.
Nutrition information per serving:
470 calories, 52% calories from fat, 27 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 80 mg cholesterol, 1,455 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 26 g protein, 2.3 g fiber
