Murderous Tomatoes

The Metabolic Power of Quality, Part I
From The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure Energy and Weight Loss by Marc David

"Disregarding the Earth, its soil and the food web and not thoughtfully sharing with all our fellow eaters around the planet has pathological consequences, not the least of which is recorded in our food as energy and information and fed directly back to us."

Yes, what goes around, comes around.

"Consider, for example, the tomato.. If the soil it grows in is depleted, then the tomato has measurably low mineral content, less natural sugar and more acids, which means it will be tough, tasteless and nutritionally inferior. If it is sprayed with herbicides and pesticides, it will carry instructional messages to your body that are carcinogenic, mutagenic, and neurotoxic. If it is grown on an impersonal farm, the tomato will be lifeless and have no charm. If it is picked by an underpaid migrant worker who has no benefits and few worker's rights, then the tomato is hypocritical and lacks integrity. If it is chopped by a machine along with thousands of other tomatoes, delivered to a fast food joint, and slapped together with a bun and meat from a cow that suffered even worse trauma, then our tomato is now suicidal or even murderous, because it has lost its soul and has no reason to live."

Over the past few years, these ideas and concepts have become integral to my own beliefs about food and health. One of the reasons I devoured this book is because it articulates so many ideas that I practice, or it helped me find ways to practice some of my ideas. But I'm sure many people can't expand their concept of quality food beyond the walls of a food science lab. A tomato that has become murderous because it has lost its soul..... this may sound totally absurd to you, but not to me. I would put this is the category of "conventional wisdom." You know it is true even though it has not been proven in a laboratory. I'm not saying science is bad. I'm just not always willing to wait for science to validate a concept before I accept it as truth.

If you believe in murderous tomatoes, then elevate the quality of your food. Quality means: Real. Fresh. Organic. Homemade. Locally produced. Filled with true flavor, not virtual ones that mask the absence of nutrients and vitality.

If you don't believe in murderous tomatoes, then stayed tuned for Part II on the metabolic power of quality.