The Truth About Jersey Tomatoes. Find Out What a Real Tomato Tastes Like.

New Jersey is known for its wonderfully delicious tomatoes.

Long before we ruined it by insisting on having it year-round, tomato was a seasonal delight. Before we started growing them in the always summer places like California, Ecuador and Northern Chile, harvesting them green and shipping the around the world, tomatoes actually tasted good. I know it is hard to believe if all you have ever eaten is one of the “cardboard” varieties you find in supermarkets today, but they really did have a taste. And it was good. And New Jersey was king of the tomato.

The Truth About the Jersey Tomato

There is actually no such thing as the legendary Jersey Tomato. At least not a single, specific variety. Although many people refer to the Rutger’s Tomato by that title, New Jersey has always grown many, many varieties.

Back in the 1950′s, when tomato production hit its peak in Jersey, over 50,000 acres of tomato plants we harvested. Famous users of tomatoes such as Hunt-Wesson, Campbell’s, Del Monte and Heinz, had huge processing plants in the Garden State.

Then came California agriculture, better, faster and cheaper shipping and our insistence on having tomatoes, no matter how bad they tasted, in January.

New Jersey’s tomato business swiftly dwindled to almost nothing.

The Jersey Tomato Today

But luckily, we have wised up a bit in recent years and are finally back to enjoying good food. Coffee houses, micro-breweries and gourmet food shops are all signs that we have turned a corner and taste and quality are more important to many of us than mere price or convenience.

This is good news for the Jersey Tomato. Because they are still being grown on many small family farms and sold — during the season — at supermarkets and farmers markets in New Jersey and surrounding states.

If you get a chance to try a real Jersey Tomato, do not pass it up. Find out what you have been missing. You will never buy a tomato in January again.

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