You don't often find an article this heavy in your monthly copy of Gourmet magazine; it is definitely a must read for anyone who cares about the politics of food or human rights issues.

Written by Barry Estabrook, the piece is entitled Politics of the Plate: The Price of Tomatoes. It starts you off with this disturbing intro: "If you have eaten a tomato this winter, chances are very good that it was picked by a person who lives in virtual slavery." If that isn't enough to get you upset, then I don't know what is.

The good news is that the advice the article gives to avoid buying slavery tomatoes is something many of us are striving to do for a plethora of reasons already: "...follow that old mantra: buy seasonal, local, and small-scale."

-Karen