Red Tomato

Red Tomato is a nonprofit marketing organization that helps family farmers survive and helps make sure that people can find high-quality produce. We use two strategies:

Our mission is to help family farmers survive in a market dominated by global agribusiness. Red Tomato serves farmers by brokering and transporting fruits and vegetables from farms to supermarkets.

Our principal concern is the survival of small growers. We strive to pay a fair price to farmers which covers production costs and ensures that a grower will be around next year. The farmers are our partners and Red Tomato is committed to a long-term relationship with both growers and customers. We look for growers who use ecological growing practices both certified organic and Integrated Pest Management, (IPM) ,a method that greatly reduces pesticide and fertilizer use. Download PDF for more info.

 

Farmer Profiles

More Farmers in Our Program 

Backyard Beauties, Madison, ME
Tomatoes

Belltown Hill Orchards, South Glastonbury, CT
IPM peaches

Boekhut Farm, Ontario, NY
sweet cherries

Ciesluk Farm, Deerfield, MA
IPM sweet corn

Chang Farm, South Deerfield, MA
Asian vegetables

Cold Spring Orchard, Belchertown, MA
IPM apples

Davidian Bros. Farm, Northboro, MA
IPM tomatoes

Dzen Brothers, Ellington, CT
IPM blueberries

Enterprise Farm, Deerfield, MA
Certified organic vegetables

Glorie Farms, Marlboro, NY
IPM stone fruits (plums, peaches, apricots and cherries)

Green Mountain Orchards, Putney, VT
IPM blueberries

Groszyk Farms, Enfield, CT
IPM tomatoes and other vegetables

Harvest Farm, South Deerfield, MA
IPM vegetables and certified organic vegetables

Hibbard Farm, Hadley, MA
IPM summer squash, peppers, vegetables

Mann Orchards, Methuen, MA
IPM tomatoes and apples

Nourse Farms, South Deerfield, MA
IPM strawberries and raspberries

Orcranics Organic Family Farm, Buzzards Bay, MA
Organic cranberries, both fresh and dried

Pioneer Valley Growers Association, South Deerfield, MA
IPM lettuce, pepers, summer squash and zucchini

Pleasant Valley Gardens, Methuen, MA
IPM lettuce, peppers, summer squash, and zucchini

Rogers Orchard, Southington, CT
IPM peaches

Simone Farms, Methuen, MA
Lettuce and other vegetables

Smiarowski Farm, Hatfield, MA
IPM strawberries and other berries and vegetables

The Bars Farm, Deerfield, MA
IPM field tomatoes

Truncali Farm, Marlboro, NY
IPM stone fruits

RT Farmers Ecological Farming Practices

Integrated Pest management (IPM), is an ecological method of farming that reduces reliance on toxic pesticides by using a wide variety of practices to manage disease and insect pests and by using new, less harmful substances only when needed. IPM focuses on reducing overall pesticide use, and especially on reducing risk from pesticide use. IPM revives many of the old agricultural methods and combines them with the least environmentally disruptive newer technologies. The key word is integrated: the art of choosing a combination of methods that will together combat pests. At it's most basic, IPM means preventing pest infestations, monitoring crops closely, and treating pests only as needed and only as much as needed.

IPM is more like a continuum than a specific set of activities; it relies on the farmer's skill in assessing the threat of pests and deciding how to respond. A wide range of techniques can prevent pests from gaining a foothold, including tilling, companion crops, disease-resistant varieties, pruning, nets and other pest barriers. To combat an infestation, pest-specific hormones, natural enemies such as ladybugs, spiders, wasps and bacteria, and as a last resort, selective application of pesticides that are the least environmentally disruptive. In some cases IPM may avoid spraying altogether, and can often be grown with no synthetic pesticides, same as organic.

IPM is not legally defined, so these practices are harder to certify than organic. At Red Tomato, we visit all of our participating farms regularly during the growing season, and work with northeast family farmers practicing the highest level of IPM.

Northeast Eco Apple Pest Management

Red Tomato Eco Apples are currently the only one of our products marketed as certified IPM. They are certified under guidelines of the IPM Institute of North America, which works closely with Red Tomato and the growers to develop a protocol that uses the most advanced IPM methods available. The IPM Institute meets with RT and our apple growers each year to review the protocol and update it to continually move it toward the most ecological practices feasible for apples in this region. To qualify as an Eco Apple producer, these growers work actively with RT on the protocol and marketing programs, and are inspected and certified each year by U Mass and Cornell University agricultural agents.

Eco Apple farmers use a combination of old agricultural methods and leading-edge technologies to minimize spraying and other environmentally disruptive practices. They're pioneers in IPM. IPM means preventing pest infestations before they happen, monitoring crops closely, and treating pests only as needed. Eco Apple growers encourage and benefit from natural controls such as ladybugs, spiders, wasps, bacteria, and predatory mites. Eco Apple farmers must have a deep knowledge of apple ecology to succeed. Their methods are more expensive and labor-intensive than toxic practices such as routine spraying.