The Ugly Betty of the tomato world

Warning, we are going to go quite far a-field for this news. Did you know that Florida of all places was keeping people all over the country and perhaps the world from eating some tasty tomatoes? Seems so. Who cares you may ask? Well anyone who’s eaten one of those mealy things many supermarkets pass off as tomatoes in the winter. The story surrounds a tomato with a marketing-challenged name: the UglyRipe (I don’t make this stuff up). The UglyRipe apparently has a huge following in Florida where most are grown (a company in Philadelphia actually developed the tomato). But Florida has tomato “appearance standards” (no voting standards it seems but tomatoes are covered) and the UglyRipe was, well not pretty. Bottom line: for the past three years the state refused to let it cross state lines. Well the U.S. Department of Agriculture stepped in and granted the UglyRipe an exemption this week, allowing it to be shipped across Florida’s tight borders to other tomato lovers nationwide. Problem is the grower of the tomato didn’t see this coming and didn’t really plant enough to meet such demand this year. And you think you have problems?