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Woo hoo! Wasting is fun at La Tomatina, a huge tomato fight

by Peter Daining on August 29, 2009
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Woo hoo! Wasting is fun at La Tomatina, a huge tomato fightA fight will break out in Reno today, promising to turn an entire street into a river of red.

La Tomatina En Reno, a food fight expected to draw more than 3,000 people, will waste thousands of pounds of tomatoes in order to raise money and awareness for the American Cancer Society.

But is this really the way a charity wants to support its work? Most everyone remembers their parents coaxing them to clean their plate with words like, “There are millions of people who won’t eat anything today, and you won’t even finish your lima beans.”

Although shipping those lima beans to starving African nations isn’t all that feasible, mom’s basic premise still holds true: wasting food is irresponsible.

The Reno event claims to use overripe tomatoes, but honestly that’s not much of an excuse.

Just because a tomato is past its prime, doesn’t mean it’s worthless. Here’s a way to use them for a salad dressing. And according to the UK food guide, “Overripe tomatoes, provided they are not moldy or rotting, are perfect for making sauces and even briefly cooking fresh tomatoes releases their lycopene.”

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La Tomatina En Reno is patterned after a longtime tradition in Bunol, Spain, where tens of thousands of participants giggle with glee while flinging produce at each other.

The tomato fight in Reno plans to use 25 tons of tomatoes. It will cost $10 a person for the opportunity to become part of the big batch of tomato soup. For another $50, participants can toss tomatoes at the mayor of Reno, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

It’s true that sometimes it takes a headline-grabbing idea to bring in donations, but it’s hard to see the correlation between tomato wars and cancer research. In general, fundraisers shouldn’t hurt one cause in order to help another.

Comments

by Anonymous (not verified) on August 30, 2009 - 5:12am.

you need to check your facts regarding these tomatoes.. when they get overly rip most stores will just toss them out and that is what they were going to do with these tomatoes that they used. I will admit that I am all for going green, but sometimes it is appropriate to put that aside in order to help provide funds for those who are sick and very ill. Only a heartless person would criticize such an event.

by Anonymous (not verified) on August 31, 2009 - 1:06pm.

This is a great event and a fun time for all.  Stop raining on their parade.

by Anonymous (not verified) on August 31, 2009 - 1:12pm.

The event raised over $50,000 for cancer research! If event organizers had purchased those tomatoes it still would have been a resounding success, but as one commentor already pointed out, the donated tomatoes were over ripe and would have just been thrown away anyway. If it had been a water-balloon fight would you be lamenting the waste of water in a drought? Good for them and good for Reno for coming out in force!

by Anonymous (not verified) on August 31, 2009 - 1:33pm.

The tomotoes are not food grade. It would be illegal for them to end up in any food product. If you have an issue with that, your blog post would be better titled "Conservative FDA food health and safety laws keep rotten tomatoes from making it into your salad dressing. Meanwhile citizens and tourists of Reno have fun."

While I applaud you're intent, there's no smoking tomoato here. $50,000 raised for cancer research, thousands of people more aware of Lycopene's benefit in cancer prevention, and a tourism economy proud to have a fun and silly event that's not based on cars.

Oppressive guilt-laden environmentalism was the tactic of the 70's and 80's and it went no where. Relax, have some fun, and focus on real issues. Like the 10 million pounds of edible Utah cherries left to rot because of price fixing. http://utah-economist.blogspot.com/2009/08/cherries.html

Event photos: http://blog.visitrenotahoe.com/entertainment/casinosgaming/photosvideo-l...