...and this is why your tomatoes have been genetically engineered to survive a 40mph head on crash and taste like old cardboard made from fall leaf waste
Grew up on a tomato farm. This would work for canning tomatoes that are ripe when picked. This would not work for the ones shipped pink and ripened in the trucks. This machine picks the whole plant. Hand picking tomatoes is hot heavy work.
Speaking as former tomato greenhouse worker here, that set my teeth on edge as they must be rock hard in order to withstand being batted and rolled about like that. I used to pick our fruit off by hand and carefully placed in cardboard containers across half an acre every day for 20 years.
I wouldn't be shocked if this machine could replace a hundred farm hands... and the infrastructure needed to employ them. Doesn't get heat exhaustion, doesn't get tired, takes up way less space and is much easier to transport. Heck, given the tractors, trucks, and buses you'd need for labourers to do the same amount of work you might even spend less on fuel and maintenance too.
I've never seen tomatoes commercially picked this ripe before.
They are normally picked still green when they get just the faintest hint of orange on them and then they are reddened in ethylene rooms just before going to stores.
There was a farm stand we used to pass on the way home from summer camps and baseball practice and we would always stop and get a half dozen tomatoes half of which I would eat before we got home. same is true when we grow them in the garden.
People see red tomatoes and think "oh those are ripe" no... those are underripe green tomatoes that they forced to turn red, its not the same as ripening. ripe tomato will yield to a gentle squeeze like a stressball, it shouldnt feel like an apple.
Its not that they are picked green, these are fully mature bananas, they won't get any more ripe, until picked and they start to die and ferment in their own skin.
Well, this is interesting but it means tough-ass tomatoes with little flavor get bred for this. We used to call them, "40mph Tomatoes" when following the trucks full of them on I-5 in Southern California.
Not really tomatoes continue to ripen after harvest. So you actually want to harvest them before they are ripe (and are still pretty firm and not tasty) so that they the ripen during transport and are good to go when they hit the shelfs
I'd imagine the "tough ass tomatoes" are more a result of shipping than ass slapping. Those trucks you mentioned are probably 20 tomatoes deep so the ones at the bottom gotta be hearty enough to support that weight.
Yeah, I mean trucks like these which seem to be more than 20 toms deep (but to keep ourselves from dying of boredom we counted them and there were hundreds):
Used to get stick behind these trucks all the time. I was always baffled by how many tomatoes they just pulled in there. Maybe, I was going to say maybe it would help since they freeze them but would they be heavier? Maybe not. I mean they have a lot of water weight as it is.
They have a genetic mutation which prevents them from ripening. It's basically a green tomato that's deceptively red. Optimal for transport and shelf life but flavorless.
Which makes them ideal for mass-production, so they get turned into things like sauces and ketchup where the addition of ingredients reintroduces flavor.
Bingo. "Let's reduce our company's losses of product during transit by specifically breeding a variety of fruit/vegetable name that travels well but tastes like ass when it gets to the consumer."
I started requesting "no tomatoes" in restaurants cause I thought I didn't like them any more even though I loved them as a kid. Then I tasted some heirloom tomatoes at a farmers market. Vive la Difference! They are so worth the extra cost, especially if it's not possible to grow your own.
I cant imagine any scenario where you cant grow your own, just a pot and open window should be enough. Or a 5 dollar timer and a grow bulb in an old lamp in a closet.
Nah they need real heat and sun. I can barely do it where I'm at and I'm killer at growing tomatoes. We just don't have great sun exposure and we're up north. They do not do well indoors here without basically a weed/hydroponic setup with big expensive lights. My normal indoor setup did not cut it
It's great that you have so much money to be able to afford a place where you can grow tomatoes and you are so rich you cannot envision that other people do not have the same favorable economic choices you have.
Maybe you can ask some people why they are unable to grow all their own food all year round before just assuming that EVERYONE can.
Dude, you need some dirt, a container a window sill or some area that's sees sun and water. No you can't grow enough to feed yourself. But literally almost anyone can grow a couple.
Jamroast1
Try this with a properly ripened tomato, lol.
LordChickenNips
This kills the tomato
nccomputermechanics4
Here we see the harvester giving the tomato a friend pat on the ass, this harvester will later need to go to mandatory harassment classes by hr.
ClownishAntics
The CBT-MATO 9000
TheGhostofElizabethShue
torillatavataan
You say tomato, I say *THWAK*
terreMoonWatcher
And off to the gas chambers to preserve them. Keep them plump.
IakobZ
Ah, yes, the Slap-tomato-inator
tdellaringa
This is one reason why tomatoes from big stores are garbage. Buy from your local farmer.
Munchman347
Mmmm, lightly spanked tomatoes, harder Daddy!... 😘
michaelfire
...and this is why your tomatoes have been genetically engineered to survive a 40mph head on crash and taste like old cardboard made from fall leaf waste
jojanss10
Grew up on a tomato farm. This would work for canning tomatoes that are ripe when picked. This would not work for the ones shipped pink and ripened in the trucks. This machine picks the whole plant. Hand picking tomatoes is hot heavy work.
cragath
ManOfKent1967
Speaking as former tomato greenhouse worker here, that set my teeth on edge as they must be rock hard in order to withstand being batted and rolled about like that. I used to pick our fruit off by hand and carefully placed in cardboard containers across half an acre every day for 20 years.
ManOfKent1967
And all in their containers, 7lb in weight each if my memory serves me correctly.
LazyUsername99
I am aware that its automated, but in my brain they scour arcades for pinball savants specifically for this job.
Otomasoteraph
That hurt the tomatoes
machmach
bryronic
Pinball wizard
Zeterai
zombiejedediah
They're saving €5/month for each Senegalese illegal immigrant they can avoid hiring.
ElbowDeepInAPoliceState
I wouldn't be shocked if this machine could replace a hundred farm hands... and the infrastructure needed to employ them. Doesn't get heat exhaustion, doesn't get tired, takes up way less space and is much easier to transport. Heck, given the tractors, trucks, and buses you'd need for labourers to do the same amount of work you might even spend less on fuel and maintenance too.
paigezero
It's actually a dual purpose machine, it harvests and bruises them at the same time.
justplainvanilla
jebstat59365
75townecoupe
Didn't you see me dancing at Uncle Harry's Polka Party?
EricFromCanada
No comprendo.
TOMBinAK60
Spank naughty tomatoes
Leaveittojebus
Imtoolazytothinkofaname
How does this not destroy them
LordHosk
I've never seen tomatoes commercially picked this ripe before.
They are normally picked still green when they get just the faintest hint of orange on them and then they are reddened in ethylene rooms just before going to stores.
Note the term reddened, not ripened.
tatePandaLord
This.
Froggie243
That's why they taste that way!! Thank you
ElbowDeepInAPoliceState
For canning or making into sauces maybe? I imagine the flippers would bruise them up something fierce, otherwise.
ElbowDeepInAPoliceState
Ah, hence why "vine ripened" is a selling point for nice tomatoes.
LordHosk
Vine ripened is a marketing term, they are also picked green and reddened in gas rooms before going to the shelves.
magicrhombus
Yup. My dad grows tomatoes in his garden and it has completely ruined all other tomatoes for me. There are NONE at the store that are ripe.
LordHosk
Bingo.
There was a farm stand we used to pass on the way home from summer camps and baseball practice and we would always stop and get a half dozen tomatoes half of which I would eat before we got home. same is true when we grow them in the garden.
People see red tomatoes and think "oh those are ripe" no... those are underripe green tomatoes that they forced to turn red, its not the same as ripening. ripe tomato will yield to a gentle squeeze like a stressball, it shouldnt feel like an apple.
mirria
Most fruits are picked when they are mature enough that they will ripen during transportation. Bananas are picked very, very green.
LordHosk
Bananas, can't "ripen" on the trees.
Its not that they are picked green, these are fully mature bananas, they won't get any more ripe, until picked and they start to die and ferment in their own skin.
acme64
depends how far they're being transported i imagine?
GoodGuyGonzo
LeroyShabazAli
Reminds me of that Gene Simmons movie
Kotarisu
Not something I want to see coming at me in a field at night tbh
GreetingsSirAndOrMaamIAmUsingThisFieldToIntroduceMyselfAscrsklr
At 1 foot per minute? At this speed, the snails have time to escape the harvester.
Kotarisu
You drastically overestimate my ground speed at night, apparently.
pareidoliaperson
Dey took er jerb!
anticrash
Pinball wizard
rajyeruh
How does it do it? Weight? Color? Witchcraft? And where is the sensors or something hidden in the middle of that dirt?
ReverseSyzygy
color.
At least that's what AI overview of the Oxbo Commander says.
https://www.oxbo.com/products/commander-tomato-harvester/
70 tons of tomatoes per hour!
Memaleph
Not sure here, but you can do this kind of detection with a camera and trigger the flaps taking the speed of the belt into account.
LariCheltsy
It's one highly skilled worker stationed at what looks like a piano
alfaspud4
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1Z2ZxYnR1YmE0NHdpbGs1Y2F2amRqZGQwYWp2c3Nwa3E5eXYwdGh1ZSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/kC8N6DPOkbqWTxkNTe/200w.webp
duoplicity
Well, this is interesting but it means tough-ass tomatoes with little flavor get bred for this. We used to call them, "40mph Tomatoes" when following the trucks full of them on I-5 in Southern California.
makesense
Yes. We've sacrificed a little flavor for availability and price point. There is almost always a trade-off.
Vatafeo
Not really tomatoes continue to ripen after harvest. So you actually want to harvest them before they are ripe (and are still pretty firm and not tasty) so that they the ripen during transport and are good to go when they hit the shelfs
welluhwhatdoyouwantmetosay
They also ripen at the same time, allowing the entire plant to be pulled.
flamingflamingo
I thought tomatoes came in cans
DrR5
BesticlesTesticles
This spanks the tomato 🍅💕
HandoB4Javert
herrcane
Naughty children will be placed in the tomato spanker to atone for their crimes.
SirBonSama
how do you think the tomatoes get so red?
crapybarra
I'd imagine the "tough ass tomatoes" are more a result of shipping than ass slapping. Those trucks you mentioned are probably 20 tomatoes deep so the ones at the bottom gotta be hearty enough to support that weight.
Either way: buy local buy seasonal, folks!
duoplicity
Yeah, I mean trucks like these which seem to be more than 20 toms deep (but to keep ourselves from dying of boredom we counted them and there were hundreds):
https://www.theguardian.c">h">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/30/tomatoes-highway-chaos-california-truck-crash
https://youtu.be/46PKD1wf4Pg
figuringeights
Used to get stick behind these trucks all the time. I was always baffled by how many tomatoes they just pulled in there. Maybe, I was going to say maybe it would help since they freeze them but would they be heavier? Maybe not. I mean they have a lot of water weight as it is.
Kemi337
This kills the tomato
AdHominemIsTheBestHominem
They have a genetic mutation which prevents them from ripening. It's basically a green tomato that's deceptively red. Optimal for transport and shelf life but flavorless.
WhatTheFrog
Flavourless but extremely poor nutrients wise (who would have thought: flavour and nutrients usually go hand in hand)
NKato
Which makes them ideal for mass-production, so they get turned into things like sauces and ketchup where the addition of ingredients reintroduces flavor.
circlebreaker
Bingo. "Let's reduce our company's losses of product during transit by specifically breeding a variety of fruit/vegetable name that travels well but tastes like ass when it gets to the consumer."
EaNasirsExcellentHighGradeCopper
Yeah, there are always gonna be concessions for commercial tomatos, thankfully they are easy to grow at home, even in a pot on a patio.
DeadeicPrints
How easy? How do I get seeds for them? Do they need lots of water?
[deleted]
[deleted]
BrdCdn
I think you'll find the overwhelming number of people will have at least one window that gets sun or a small area outside that does.
sirdouglasbuttersworth
Loooooooolllllll you obviously live somewhere warm. Need a full on heated greenhouse to grow tomatoes where I'm from
duoplicity
I started requesting "no tomatoes" in restaurants cause I thought I didn't like them any more even though I loved them as a kid. Then I tasted some heirloom tomatoes at a farmers market. Vive la Difference! They are so worth the extra cost, especially if it's not possible to grow your own.
thricebakedxyz
Home grown are wonderful - so much flavor.
EaNasirsExcellentHighGradeCopper
I cant imagine any scenario where you cant grow your own, just a pot and open window should be enough. Or a 5 dollar timer and a grow bulb in an old lamp in a closet.
EaNasirsExcellentHighGradeCopper
I guess maybe quadriplegia..
Mairoa
Nah they need real heat and sun. I can barely do it where I'm at and I'm killer at growing tomatoes. We just don't have great sun exposure and we're up north. They do not do well indoors here without basically a weed/hydroponic setup with big expensive lights. My normal indoor setup did not cut it
duoplicity
It's great that you have so much money to be able to afford a place where you can grow tomatoes and you are so rich you cannot envision that other people do not have the same favorable economic choices you have.
Maybe you can ask some people why they are unable to grow all their own food all year round before just assuming that EVERYONE can.
BrdCdn
Dude, you need some dirt, a container a window sill or some area that's sees sun and water. No you can't grow enough to feed yourself. But literally almost anyone can grow a couple.