Tomatoes and Bisphenol A

At last, the garden is almost completely planted. I’m hoping to grow a lot of food for my family and I’m not sure how long it will last. This year I will be keeping track how long each harvest lasts so I can make better decisions in future years regarding the amount I need to plant. Ideally, I would have enough to last until next year for the items I have decided to grow.

Tomatoes are at the top of my list to try and grow enough of to make it through most if not the entire year. They are highly acidic and therefore a great candidate to can and they freeze well. I really didn’t know how many tomato plants to buy so I settled on eight. Since I wanted to be able to can enough sauce for our household use, I purchased four paste or Roma tomatoes to be used primarily for this purpose but I expect tomatoes from the Early Girls Improved will also make their way into the sauces I put up.

I also purchased three heirloom tomatoes on a whim. How could I resist? There were several dozen varieties at the nursery and they all sounded so good. So I settled on ‘Mortgage Lifter,’ a big tomato to satisfy my husband’s desire to have a large tomato. A tomato called ‘Banana Legs’ which will be yellow and the last heirloom is called ‘Black Icicles’ which will be long and red/black in color. I thought if nothing else they would add some visual pizzazz to salads and other dishes.

In addition to the 11 tomato plants above, I put in four ‘Sun Gold’ cherry tomatoes. They are the absolutely sweetest tomato I have ever eaten. My only problem with this plant is it is so prolific I never know what to do with all the extras I pick. We can’t eat them fast enough. I’ve also found they don’t work well in recipes, they are too sweet. Please share any ideas you have on how to preserve these for future use.

Why am I so interested in trying to supply my own tomatoes for my household? In part, we love tomatoes and nothing compares to the flavor of fresh homegrown. Those things they sell in the grocery stores are nearly flavorless and do not deserve to be called tomatoes. These humble fruit from the nightshade family is a staple for a variety of dishes in my house including pasta dishes, pizza, and chili to name a few. The other reason I am interested is due to the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) in canned tomato products.

You know that white lining you see inside the can? It contains BPA. The EPA and other government agencies say the small amount of BPA in cans is not harmful to human health but last year new studies were released which indicated that highly acidic foods (can you say tomatoes?) leaches BPA out of the lining of the cans. Prevention magazine suggested consumers who wished to avoid BPA to buy tomatoes or sauces in glass containers. To do so is an expensive endeavor and I have yet to see tomatoes in a glass container for sale in my grocery store.

So why should we be concerned about BPA? BPA is most notably known for its ability to act like an estrogen in humans and animals, aka an estrogen disrupter. There are numerous studies which link BPA to developmental problems, as well as, mammary and prostate cancer. Most studies indicate most risks are associated when the exposure is in utero or small children. However, new studies suggest that BPA exposure in adults may be linked to the diabetes and obesity epidemic we are now facing as a nation. It also changes brain chemistry from maternal instincts to anxiety. I suggest you check out the following website and its peer reviewed studies for more information on BPA. http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/newscience/oncompounds/bisphenola/bpauses.htm

Okay, the government organizations say our exposure to this chemical is much lower than the exposure limits they have set and therefore it is of little to no concern. This is the same government that decided mammograms for women in their 40s was a waste of money and should therefore not be performed. I am not going to leave it to the government to decide what is safe for me when there are studies out there which indicate that we are exposed through a variety of different sources to the threshold limit set by the EPA for this substance. We have created one big experiment with a myriad of chemicals in our modern world. I think it is too easy to assume that anyone understands what the synergistic effects of all of these things will have on us and the planet. As for me, I’m making efforts to avoid these chemicals we have let loose upon our world and incorporated into our food distribution.

To a chemical free diet

- Susan