The Real Cost Of Fresh Tomatoes - EMWTTSFM. The Grape Report.
EMWTTSFM - When The Tomatoes Start To Fade
Food Review by Gary Gardiner
Two Saturday Farmers’ Markets left. That’s all.
The end of summer always sneaks in sideways—less sun in the evening, a jacket by morning, and then, the tomatoes start to fade.
This weekend, the only ten-pound box I could find was filled with seconds, tomatoes past their prime. Slightly bruised, some split at the seam. Still lively, still local, still better than any plastic-perfect ones at the grocery store, but no longer the kind you stop to admire. Still bursting with the sun that grew them. Still better than anything you’d find at the store.
The season is winding down, and you can taste it.
A few weeks ago, I carried home another ten-pound box, but those were the kind that make you stop and stare. Big, bold, heavy with juice. Too perfect to dice or cook down. I sliced them thick and wide, laid them on toast, salads, or plates by themselves. They were summer itself—vivid and alive. Untouched, unbothered. You don’t mess with a tomato like that. You eat it the way it asks to be eaten.
And while the ones I have now may not be as firm or flawless, they’re not to be pitied. They’ve earned their place on the table. One, drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise and sprinkled with salt and lime pepper, became the perfect addition to BBQ pork, slaw, and fresh corn.
These seconds won’t be tossed into a slow pot or boiled into anonymity. They won’t be turned into sauce or buried in a stew. These tomatoes deserve the same respect as their early-season cousins. The same reverence. The same slow slicing and deliberate chewing. They might not look like much at first glance, but they’ve been through a lot. They've ripened with the heat, weathered the storms, and outlasted the crowds. They’re not early ones. They’re finishers. Mature. Accomplished. Still here.
And that’s worth something.
There’s a kind of honesty in late-season produce that early harvests can’t touch. You can taste the whole journey. And maybe that’s what makes this time of year so bittersweet, knowing that what you’re eating now isn’t just the end of a season, but the result of it.
So no, I’m not thinking about chili. Not yet.
I've still got a few tomatoes left to slice, salt, and savor. Seconds, maybe. But not second-rate.
The Green Grape Report
Food Review by Gary Gardiner
Kroger - Maxtown
Brand - Autumn Crips green grapes from California.
Price: $1.44 per pound in a three-pound clamshell. An electronic coupon is required, although the checkout person can override it.
Appearance - Bright color with no flaws.
Size - At 9.4 grams per grape, these are about average. The average length, measured from ten grapes, is 26mm, with an average diameter of 25mm, making them appear like a globe.
Crispiness - Crisp and juicy.
Taste - Sugar content is 19%.
PLU Code - None
The Review
Buying grapes in clamshell containers causes me a few problems.
It’s more difficult to do a taste test. You have to open the clamshell, which is made to be hard to open so it doesn’t splash grapes all over the truck that delivers it when it hits a big pothole.
My taste test usually comes from a grape that has already fallen off the stem and is sitting at the bottom of the bag. It’s easy to find one there.
Clamshell grapes rarely have a loose grape. The stems are packed so tightly into the plastic container that they are snug enough to prevent any grape from rattling loose. If one were to come loose and it was at the bottom, I would have to remove all the grapes, take out the stray one, and then cram three pounds of grapes back into the not-quite-three-pound-sized container.
What bothers me the most is knowing that if I eat a purloined clamshelled grape, it means the package is one grape lighter than the three pounds it is supposed to weigh. The customer who buys it would get less than what they expected, and I wouldn’t want that to happen to me. So, I don’t sample clamshelled grapes.
On a single evening trip to Kroger in Maxtown, I saw an older man holding a plastic produce bag. The kind of bag you fill with cilantro needed for that favorite rice or the two perfect green peppers for chili, soup, or salad.
He was sorting through each type of grape, choosing a stem that suited his needs, and placing it in the bag. He moved from green to purple to black, picking stems that looked perfect for a quick, sweet, and juicy snack. He added a stem of Cotton Candy grapes, followed by stems from each of the premium selections. When he reached the clamshells, he opened each variety and again selected a stem, adding it to the mix of shapes and flavors. He included selections from the organic choices.
He put the bag in his cart and kept shopping. I moved to a corner near Starbucks to jot down my notes about the moment.
Was this his first time, or has he done this before? Did he not understand the protocol of not mixing grapes from different-priced selections into a single bag without a bar code? What happens at checkout when it’s weighed and referenced to the correct pricing after he mixes ten different varieties into one bag? How would the Kroger employee handle this process?
I never found out. He disappeared while I was writing my note. Disappeared as if I hadn’t really seen him. Like he was already driving down State Street, popping grapes into his mouth, smiling.
Some weeks, everything just falls into place. The grapes are perfect—no squinting, no second-guessing, no convincing yourself otherwise. They’re firm, sweet, and exactly what you want when you reach for them. In a season full of small compromises, it’s nice when something comes through without question. Enjoy the moment. Grab a clamshell or two while they last.
The Westerville News is a reader-supported publication by Gary Gardiner, a lifelong journalist who believes hyper-local reporting is the future of news. This publication focuses exclusively on Westerville—its local news, influence on Central Ohio, and how surrounding areas shape the community.
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