Shenandoah Valley Food Sources
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Virginia's Production of Tomatoes
Virginia ranked 4th in nation for fresh-market production
Two men walk into a Subway restaurant expecting tomatoes but come up empty.
That could be the start of a joke, but you'd be disappointed with the current punch line — the men say OK, and agree to go home and slice their own tomatoes.
It happened at the Subway on Wal-Mart Drive in Winchester, and shows the adjustments that grocery stores, restaurants and consumers have had to make in the Northern Shenandoah Valley after a nationwide salmonella warning earlier this week took away raw red plum, red Roma and red round tomatoes.
"I don't hear too many complaints," said Teresa Thacker, a manager at the Subway in Winchester. "Some [customers] really haven't realized it yet."
The news is getting better for Virginia, which is ranked fourth in the nation in the production of fresh-market tomatoes. On Wednesday, it was named as a safe place to get all tomatoes from by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, joining numerous other already approved sources.
Virginia was one of 16 states to report illnesses linked to the outbreak, which began in mid-April. The state has had two cases of salmonella, said Michelle Peregoy, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Health.
Restaurants are doing a good job of explaining the situation, she said. Cherry and grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, tomatoes grown at home and raw red plum, raw red Roma and raw red round tomatoes grown and harvested in various states — including Virginia, as of Wednesday afternoon — are OK for consumption, according to the FDA.
"You can still get your tomato fix," Peregoy said.
That wasn't the case Tuesday at the Main Street Mill Restaurant in Front Royal, owner Alice Barnhart said. The restaurant, which offers many salads and sandwiches, didn't serve any tomatoes that day because its supply had come from Florida, which, at that point, was considered to be associated with the outbreak. That has since changed.
"All of the customers are fine with it," Barnhart said of the tomato problem.
Even at Italian restaurants in the area, where tomatoes cover the menu, business has largely been unaffected, several managers and owners said.
"It's something we have to deal with," said Joe Tai, a manager at Paisano's Italian Restaurant in Woodstock.
Joey Kline, an employee at Fox's Pizza Den in Strasburg, said his restaurant had been limited to using cherry tomatoes after receiving word of the crisis from its supplier and the health department. Business has not been hurt, he said.
"It's still the same business and same friendly customers," Kline said. "People that don't know, we inform them. It's no big deal."
The lesson learned in all of this might be that buying produce locally is the best investment, said Debbie Sinclair, who operates Shenandoah Farms Inc. and the Shenandoah Farm Market in Mt. Jackson with her husband, Allen. In full production, the farm, which uses a hydroponic system to get the right mix of nutrients for its plants, can produce 2,500-3,000 pounds of tomatoes a week.
The ongoing tomato crisis is only good news to the Sinclairs, she said.
"It reinforces the whole 'buy local' thought process, and know where your produce and your food is coming from," Sinclair said. "I think we will see a spike in interest, purely because people know where the produce is coming from."
Shenandoah Farms serves Shaffer's Barbecue Service, Shrine Mont and Larkin's Grocery in Shenandoah County, though Sinclair said most of the couple's business comes from the farmer's market.
In announcing that Virginia's tomatoes are safe, Todd Haymore, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, says in a press release that the state's tomatoes were never associated with the outbreak.
"In fact, when it occurred, Virginia tomatoes were still in the field, where 95 percent of them remain today," he says in the release. "We are concerned that Virginia was not listed as a safe state before [Wednesday], but the important point is that Virginia tomatoes of any variety are safe to buy and consume."
He says consumers have two ways of being sure their tomatoes are safe — eat cherry, grape, vine-attached or home-grown tomatoes, or ask stores or restaurants if the tomatoes being sold or served are grown in Virginia.
"When they buy directly from the farmer at farmers' markets, roadside stands or pick-your-own farms, they can buy any type of tomato with confidence," Haymore says in the release.
Before the announcement regarding Virginia was made Wednesday, Peregoy, too, said buying local always has its appeal.
"It's never a bad idea," she said.
For an updated list of places not associated with the outbreak, visit www.fda.gov.
* Contact Preston Knight at pknight@nvdaily.com
Two men walk into a Subway restaurant expecting tomatoes but come up empty.
That could be the start of a joke, but you'd be disappointed with the current punch line — the men say OK, and agree to go home and slice their own tomatoes.
It happened at the Subway on Wal-Mart Drive in Winchester, and shows the adjustments that grocery stores, restaurants and consumers have had to make in the Northern Shenandoah Valley after a nationwide salmonella warning earlier this week took away raw red plum, red Roma and red round tomatoes.
"I don't hear too many complaints," said Teresa Thacker, a manager at the Subway in Winchester. "Some [customers] really haven't realized it yet."
The news is getting better for Virginia, which is ranked fourth in the nation in the production of fresh-market tomatoes. On Wednesday, it was named as a safe place to get all tomatoes from by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, joining numerous other already approved sources.
Virginia was one of 16 states to report illnesses linked to the outbreak, which began in mid-April. The state has had two cases of salmonella, said Michelle Peregoy, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Health.
Restaurants are doing a good job of explaining the situation, she said. Cherry and grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, tomatoes grown at home and raw red plum, raw red Roma and raw red round tomatoes grown and harvested in various states — including Virginia, as of Wednesday afternoon — are OK for consumption, according to the FDA.
"You can still get your tomato fix," Peregoy said.
That wasn't the case Tuesday at the Main Street Mill Restaurant in Front Royal, owner Alice Barnhart said. The restaurant, which offers many salads and sandwiches, didn't serve any tomatoes that day because its supply had come from Florida, which, at that point, was considered to be associated with the outbreak. That has since changed.
"All of the customers are fine with it," Barnhart said of the tomato problem.
Even at Italian restaurants in the area, where tomatoes cover the menu, business has largely been unaffected, several managers and owners said.
"It's something we have to deal with," said Joe Tai, a manager at Paisano's Italian Restaurant in Woodstock.
Joey Kline, an employee at Fox's Pizza Den in Strasburg, said his restaurant had been limited to using cherry tomatoes after receiving word of the crisis from its supplier and the health department. Business has not been hurt, he said.
"It's still the same business and same friendly customers," Kline said. "People that don't know, we inform them. It's no big deal."
The lesson learned in all of this might be that buying produce locally is the best investment, said Debbie Sinclair, who operates Shenandoah Farms Inc. and the Shenandoah Farm Market in Mt. Jackson with her husband, Allen. In full production, the farm, which uses a hydroponic system to get the right mix of nutrients for its plants, can produce 2,500-3,000 pounds of tomatoes a week.
The ongoing tomato crisis is only good news to the Sinclairs, she said.
"It reinforces the whole 'buy local' thought process, and know where your produce and your food is coming from," Sinclair said. "I think we will see a spike in interest, purely because people know where the produce is coming from."
Shenandoah Farms serves Shaffer's Barbecue Service, Shrine Mont and Larkin's Grocery in Shenandoah County, though Sinclair said most of the couple's business comes from the farmer's market.
In announcing that Virginia's tomatoes are safe, Todd Haymore, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, says in a press release that the state's tomatoes were never associated with the outbreak.
"In fact, when it occurred, Virginia tomatoes were still in the field, where 95 percent of them remain today," he says in the release. "We are concerned that Virginia was not listed as a safe state before [Wednesday], but the important point is that Virginia tomatoes of any variety are safe to buy and consume."
He says consumers have two ways of being sure their tomatoes are safe — eat cherry, grape, vine-attached or home-grown tomatoes, or ask stores or restaurants if the tomatoes being sold or served are grown in Virginia.
"When they buy directly from the farmer at farmers' markets, roadside stands or pick-your-own farms, they can buy any type of tomato with confidence," Haymore says in the release.
Before the announcement regarding Virginia was made Wednesday, Peregoy, too, said buying local always has its appeal.
"It's never a bad idea," she said.
For an updated list of places not associated with the outbreak, visit www.fda.gov.
* Contact Preston Knight at pknight@nvdaily.com
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