The renowned chef and pastry chef Damien Betular made a series of videos and posts on social networks with Greenpeace within the framework of the ‘tomato challenge’ initiative, where analyzes the characteristics of the ‘normal’ tomato in comparison with an agroecological one.
In the video, Betular eats a ‘normal’ tomato and analyzes its characteristics. According to him and the association, the tomato that we consume regularly is “empty, empty of flavor”, and suggests that people do the same exercise at home and upload a photo or video with the hashtag #tomatechallenge to make this visible.
“Why say no to pesticides? They are chemicals that were used in World War II for war purposes. Once the war was over, they were reused in large-scale agriculture “the chef began in one of the videos.
“Have you ever wondered why they are so perfect and why we can eat them all year round,” the chef asks in another video. According to him and Greenpeace, the so-called “pesticides” are present in many of the products that we consume regularly and allow fruits and vegetables to be consumed during all seasons and have an almost perfect aesthetic appearance.
However, the response from the agricultural sector was immediate. Antonio Aracre, General Director of Syngenta in Argentina, posted a video on his Twitter account in response to Damián Betular and Greenpeace. “The taste or aroma of tomatoes has to do with their genetic characteristics and not with the way in which they are produced”says Aracre.
Syngenta is a Swiss multinational biotechnology company manufacturer of agricultural chemicals, and currently the largest agrochemical business group in the world. Aracre, upon hearing that according to Greenpeace and Betular the use of agrochemicals and phytosanitary products influences the taste of tomatoes, he came out to deny it since according to him “Plants like any living being like us -the humans- they get sick and agronomic professionals prescribe phytosanitary products to protect them from the attack of insects, fungi or the proliferation of weeds that take away their potential and vigor “.
“I think that if it is about eating healthy, we should think about a more constructive discussion such as the excessive use of sugar in the incidence of diabetes or of salt in the incidence of hypertension,” attacked the also professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).
On the other side, in one of the videos of the Greenpeace campaign, Betular says that “it is time to look for solutions to make a better choice: agroecology at home or the consumption of agroecological pockets. As consumers, we have a choice. Let’s eat healthier and eat richer ”.
Another of the personalities of the agricultural industry who came out to answer was Maeriela Pletsch, Coordinator of the NEA region in the Chamber of Agricultural Health and Fertilizers (Casafe) and Associate Professor of the Horticulture Chair in the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the National University of the Northeast (UNNE).
“We hear many times that the application of pesticides modifies the taste and consistency of tomato, but this is not true”said Pletsch who also assures that the flavor of the tomato depends on five factors: The ripening time on the plant, that is, the more the tomato ripens on the plant, the more sugar and flavor it concentrates. Second is the variety or if it is hybrid and the amount of exposure to the sun, for example, if a tomato is produced in a greenhouse or is produced in the field, they will be different from each other. And the last two elements that determine its flavor are: the fertility and quality of the soil, and a good pollination of the crop.
“The health and safety of food is determined by the practices with which it works and not by the type of production used. Choose the tomato that you like the most, but always use good agricultural practices. Producing responsibly generates healthy and rich food “Pletsch concluded.
KEEP READING