The bright crimson tomatoes wilted in the South Florida heat, then rotted right on the vine.
It had been weeks since anyone ordered tomatoes from Sal Finocchiaro’s farm in Homestead, forcing him to hire workers to pick thousands of them, throw them in the soil and run over them with a tractor.
“The market was flooded with produce, and they had nowhere to put more boxes,” Finocchiaro said. “No one was buying them. They got all ripe, so we had to run them over. If not, it attracts flies and gnats and the people would have to walk through rotten tomatoes. By running them over, they disintegrate into the soil quickly. It’s just a sad, sad situation because we can’t compete.”
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Miami Herald