Carrots Love Tomatoes.......and 30 new cases

My grandpa was an amazing gardener.  He grew onions that were as big as my head.  He had a secret for onions that I don't feel comfortable sharing.  He, however, did not grow tomatoes.

My father also was an amazing gardener but he approached it differently.  He listened to radio shows and bought books and experimented with different fertilizers.  One of the books that he had was called "Carrots love tomatoes".  The book was how different plants thrive depending on what is planted next to each other.  Regardless, tomatoes were work.  They required their own little wire cages for growth and didn't seem to produce enough to warrant the work. 

Then, I became an adult and had a tomato salad as an appetizer at a fancy dinner.  It was such a burst of flavour.  It turns out there are over 25,000 different varieties of tomatoes.  Certainly more options than I had experienced in my childhood.  I am imagining most of these varieties are created by man mixing and experimenting with the growth process. 

If I want a real treat, I will buy a container of mixed tomatoes to have for lunch.  I know, life in the fast lane.  But, honestly, the flavours are amazing. It is pretty decadent. 

It just so happens that I had tomatoes for lunch today.  Delicious.  But, I happened to read the label.  It turns out everyone of my tomatoes was growth in a green house in Mexico.  Who knew that green houses in Mexico would be growing tomatoes and not that other cash crop.

Anyway, I don't know how long it would take, but, I am sure more than a day.  So, I am guessing several agriculture workers might have had a role in my tomatoes.  I don't know anything about the hygiene of this greenhouse.  Putting that aside, my tomatoes traveled by truck across two borders for me to enjoy them.  And, enjoy them I did.  But, I started to wonder whether my tomatoes were really necessary to me. 

I know our borders were closed except for commerce.  Did a truck full of tomatoes from two countries away really need to come.  Perhaps I could have had tomatoes from Manitoba for lunch?  I just wonder, did we really do all we could to shut down?  Should we have been having different discussions?  It wasn't fun going home and staying at home but we felt that it was better than going out and losing people. In order to restart our economy, we need people to come out of this healthy.  \

I have a friend who is a teacher who is thinking of retiring early.  She feels she won't be able to make ends meet but she doesn't want to risk her health and the health of students and other staff.  She wonders why we made so many sacrifices if we are just going to throw away our progress. 

As I am pondering my tomatoes, Manitoba announces 30 new cases today. 

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