By Tom.
Dania Florida 1950’s use to be the Tomato growing town in Florida. The east marsh was where they grew some of the best tomatoes. When I was very young we lived a block from the tomato packing house. Residents could go to the packing house and receive free tomatoes that were to ripe to ship but for eating them the next three or four days they were perfect. At about twelve I would take a bubbled brown grocery bag and walk there and ask for tomatoes and receive what ever I could carry back home.
Grand mother was living there watching us while our parents worked out of town. She would cook them down, make sauce and what ever. It was a free source of food.Dania Florida which is now called Dania Beach Florida had its own catchup factory. I never went into it the outside did not look like much. It looked like an old metal building with a couple of loading docks.
We had tomatoes day parades, tomato fight in a street they blocked off, by the cheerleaders from school. My older sister was in the the tomato fight. The tom atom wound up in the grandstand and got the crowd of watchers. They had grease pole climb, Pie eating contest and many other things going on. It was the largest annual event in town.
Latest action 75 years later all the land is developed in Dania Beach, but Florida is given a treat, our Congress woman and others are fight for the the Tomato growing industry. I love tomatoes it was an important food as I grew up.
PRESS RELEASE
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Kat Cammack (FL-03) released the following statement following the U.S. Department of Commerce’s termination of the 2019 Suspension Agreement on fresh tomatoes from Mexico:
“For far too long, American tomato growers—especially those in Florida—have been forced to compete against artificially low prices driven by unfair trade practices,” said Congresswoman Cammack. “The termination of this agreement sends a clear message: we’re standing up for American farmers and restoring integrity to our agricultural markets. Food security is national security. Our farmers deserve a fair shot to compete—and this marks a critical step forward in making that possible. I am grateful to the Trump Administration and Secretary Lutnick for their unwavering support.”
Background:
Florida is one of the nation’s largest tomato-producing states, and growers have long raised concerns about the impact of dumped Mexican imports on their ability to stay in business. The 2019 Suspension Agreement halted anti-dumping duties on Mexican tomatoes in exchange for price and volume restrictions from Mexican exporters. With yesterday’s decision, those duties will now go into effect, with most imports subject to a 20.91% tariff. This decision is widely seen as a victory for domestic agriculture and a meaningful step toward fairer trade enforcement.
YAAAAAH! TomL said that.
