|
The Big Tomato: A Celebration of Processing Tomatoes - Yolo County's Top Crop
March 15
10-Noon at the Davis Farmers' Market
The Yolo County Agricultural Marketing Initiative, under the leadership of Rick Landon, Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner, is sponsoring a free event, The Big Tomato, to be held Saturday, March 15th, 10 am to Noon at the Davis Farmers Market in Central Park to celebrate Yolo County’s top crop, processing tomatoes.
It may seem strange to have a tomato event in March instead of summer, but the winter date for several reasons. Mid-March is the traditional beginning of the tomato planting season in Yolo, and soon the county’s farmers will be planting nearly 300 million - yes, million – processing tomatoes in the county’s rich soil, blanketing the landscape green.
The Big Tomato’s focus to educate people about the connection between what more than 37,000 acres of our county’s agricultural land grows – processing tomatoes – and what we eat, not just in Yolo County, but nationwide. Think pizzas, lasagna, spaghetti, soups, stews, enchiladas, chili, barbeque, ketchup for a start. In winter, when fresh tomatoes are not in season, we all cook with canned tomatoes, just like the Italians do. It’s not surprising that so many great Italian dishes use canned tomatoes! So what better time of year to focus on processing tomatoes?
California grows and processes 90% of the processing tomatoes consumed domestically, and Yolo County is the third largest grower in the state. That means than a good portion of the processed tomato products that people eat across the nation come from our own backyard.
To help educate people about the country’s top crop, The Big Tomato, presented by the Yolo County Agricultural Marketing Initiative and The Yolo County Farm Bureau, is co-sponsored by Ag-Seeds Unlimited, the California League of Food Processors, the California Tomato Growers Association, Campbell’s Soup, the Davis Farmers Market, Yolo Supervisor Duane Chamberlain, Morning Star Packing, Pacific Coast Producers and others.
At the event:
- Gifts of more than 1,000 processing tomato seedlings, courtesy of Ag-Seeds Unlimited, for people to plant in their own backyard or in a pot on a patio or balcony.
- Free recipe booklets created by Yolo’s own award-winning cookbook author, Georgeanne Brennan, full of dishes to cook at home using Yolo’s top crop.
- Samples of food offered by chefs from favorite local and regional restaurants including Oliveto Restaurant of Oakland, Citizen Cake of San Francisco, the Davis Joint Unified School District school lunch team, Tuco’s Wine Shop and Café of Davis, and Monticello Bistro of Winters. (Partial listing)
- Display of the hundreds of different labeled cans representing the variety of products produced from tomatoes. (These will be donated to the Food Bank of Yolo County at the end of the event.)
- Educational exhibits filled with fun facts and intriguing stories about processing tomatoes, from how they are grown to how they reach our tables, and a section of the tent where children can explore the life of processing tomatoes through art.
For more information contact: Ann M. Evans at
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
or 530-756-4892 or Georgeanne Brennan at
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
or 530-795-4995
of the Yolo County Agricultural Marketing Initiative.
View Larger Map
Driving Directions
From Interstate 80, take the Downtown Davis exit at Richards Boulevard and go north thru the Railroad underpass. Turn left on First Street and right on C Street. The Market is between 4th and 5th Streets.
From Highway 113, take the Russell Boulevard exit and go east. Turn right on C Street. The Market is between 4th and 5th Streets |
