Book Board Chat

jack, i live in the land of which you speak. from october to june, my county, lee, and neighboring county, collier, are the ones producing the styrofoam bombproof tomatoes. i am 40 miles from immokalee, and everything your article says is true. i buy my tomatoes from the ritchey family: one brother grows big fat juicy (different sized) beefsteak tomatoes organically, other brothers grow corn and peppers, and their vegetables are not cheap, but they are delicious and real. 20 years ago, i watched a 60 minutes morely safer interview of a woman who was defending keeping illegals practically prisoner and taking their wages for various 'costs' they had run up. i remember what cold blue eyes she had. a few years later i met her because her son was in my daughter's kindergarten class. some of the blame has to be shouldered by the fast food joints. mcdonald's gets picketed regularly by the coalition of immokalee workers for low tomato prices. and some of the blame has to be shouldered by the field bosses, also largely illegal and preying on their countrymen. and some of the blame falls on the victims: the poor mexicans and guatemalens who walked all the way here for a better life and are willing to do anything. alas, the longer they live here, the more skillful they become at milking florida's already tottering health care and welfare systems.

and i am sorry to report that i will have to kick tomatoland to the top of my books to buy list, ahead of 1q84 and stones from the river.

thank you for the book review.