Many consumers are embracing eating locally and organically whenever possible.  With the advent of so many new organic farms, eating locally is getting easier than ever.  But one crop can be hard to raise organically and find in markets - organic apples.  There is a growing organic apple industry in America but most of the production of organic apples is in Washington and California so if you live on the West Coast you can find local organic apples relatively easily.  However, for Midwest, East Coast and Southeast consumers, finding locally-grown organic apples can be a real challenge. 

 

The problem is that growing an organic apple orchard east of the Mississippi River is not easy.  Growers must deal with pests like the plum curculio beetle for which there are very few effective non-chemical controls, and diseases such as apple scab that are difficult to control in the rainy, humid weather.  Repeated sprays of organic pesticides, such as sulfur, often have more harmful than beneficial results. 

 

So, what's a consumer in the East do do who wants to buy local organic apples?  The solution is the next best thing - Eco Apples from Red Tomato!  Eco apple farmers use advanced Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques to control insect pests, weeds, and diseases.  They rely primarily on the least-toxic and natural methods such as biological controls, and use extensive monitoring of the trees to identify the best timing for the controls.  Conventional chemical pesticides are used only in limited, very targeted circumstances.  They try to avoid the most harmful chemical pesticides such as organophosphates. 

 

red tomato's Eco-Apple farms are supported by the USDA and Universities of New York, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin.  Often Eco-Apple operations are small to medium-sized family-run orchards in these regions.  So, if you and your customers want to stay local, stock your produce shelves and liven up your menu with red tomato's Eco-Apples.  They may not be organic, but they're the next best thing!

 

Please note, our produce availability and price list comes out twice a week.  If you would like to receive emails with this information, please email Jay Reville at jay@regionalaccess.net.