Tomato

Hi, I’m Tobias Tomato!

Today we are going to

talk about tomatoes.

Let’s discover where

they grow and how

they get from the

farm to your plate!

Ready for a Tomato Tour?

WHAT WE ARE

LEARNING TODAY

• Many believe that President

Thomas Jefferson was the

first American to eat and

grow tomatoes.

• The first major farms to grow

tomatoes in the United States

were right here in Manatee

County, Florida.

• Florida ships more than 1

BILLION pounds of fresh

tomatoes all over the United

States, to Canada and other

countries.

FUN FACTSI’m

going to

Canada!

MEET SOME

FLORIDA

TOMATO

GROWERS

Being a tomato farmer is not

just a job, it’s a way of life.

Click here to see the video!

HAVE YOU

EVER TRIED

A TOMATO?

The USDA estimates that most

tomatoes grown in the U.S. are

made into sauces and pastes,

preserved in cans, made into

ketchup and squeezed into

juice!

Have you ever tried a fresh

tomato at home or in your

school lunch?

IS A TOMATO

A FRUIT OR A

VEGETABLE?

The great tomato debate:

The fruit that acts like a vegetable

• Botanically, the tomato is a fruit of the vine. In the kitchen, it is almost always treated as a vegetable.

• In 1893, the United States Supreme Court ruled, for the purpose of levying a tariff, that the tomato was a vegetable.

Tomatoes are botanically a fruit because

tomatoes produce seeds on the inside.

TOTALLY

TOMATOES

• Round, grape,

cherry, Roma,

heirloom and

yellow plum

• Can you think of

other types of

tomatoes?

Round CherryGrape

Roma Yellow PlumHeirloom

HOW DO

TOMATOES

GROW?

• Tomatoes can grow in

rows outside in the soil.

• Tomatoes can also be

grown indoors in green

houses or at home in

containers.

• Tomatoes grow on the vine.

Stakes help keep the plant

upright.

• Did you know that a tomato

is green until it ripens into

yellow, pink, light red and

finally bright red?

• A trellis is needed to

support the tomato plant.

LET’S TAKE A

CLOSER LOOK AT

HOW TOMATOES

GROW

FRESH FOR

FLORIDA

KIDS VIDEO

Click here to see the video!

Take a tour of our Fresh for

Florida Kids Teaching Garden

with Nathan and me! Let’s learn

how to grow tomatoes!

SPOT IT

ON THE

MAP

Let’s find out where

tomatoes are grown

in Florida!

Did you know Florida

has 67 counties?

HARVEST

TIME!

Florida has differing

climates throughout the

region, so tomatoes have

different peak growing

and harvesting season.

Developed by the Florida Tomato

Committee © 2011

To learn more about tomatoes please visit

FloridaTomatoes.org for more information.

I was

grown in

the south!

TOMATO TALK

Woah! I was

grown on a vine?Stem

Skin

Fruit

Vine

Leaves

Roots

BRAIN BREAK

FRESH FIND

• Juicy

• Florida

• Harvest

• Red

• Round

• Seeds

• Tomato

• Yellow

K-2 MATH

TOO MANY TOMATOES

K-2 MATH

QUESTIONS

1. How many more red tomatoes are there than yellow tomatoes?

2. Are there more green tomatoes than yellow?

3. How many more green tomatoes are there than yellow

tomatoes? How many tomatoes are there in total?

4. A recipe calls for 10 ripe tomatoes. If you use all the red

tomatoes, how many yellow tomatoes do you need for the

recipe?

K-2 MATH

PLANT POTS

+ = ? + = ?

K-2 MATH

PLANT POTS

- = ? - = ?

K-2 Social Studies

FLORIDA TOMATO NUMBERS

One acre of land is

about the size of one

football field!

Over 30,000 acres in

Florida are used to

grow tomatoes.

K-2 Social Studies

Tomato Tour

Let’s follow a Florida tomato

from the farm to our plate!

K-2 Social Studies

STEP 1: FARMERS PLANT THE TOMATO SEEDS

• Tomato plants can be started in

greenhouses. The seedlings are

transplanted to the field after

about five weeks.

• Did you know? Just 1 pound of

seeds can produce up to 140,000

tomato plants!

K-2 Social Studies

STEP 2: THE SEEDS GROW INTO PLANTS THAT PRODUCE TOMATOES

• It is important for farmers to

practice crop rotation when

planting tomatoes.

• Crop rotation is when farmers

grow different crops on the

same plot of land to keep

the soil healthy.

K-2 Social Studies

STEP 3: THE FARMER HARVESTS THE PLANTS

• Tomatoes can be picked by hand

or machine.

• Florida has more than 47,000

farms totaling more than 9 million

acres of land!

• According to the Guinness book

of world records, the heaviest

tomato recorded weighed

7 lb. 12 oz. in 1986.

Now that’s

a big

tomato!

K-2 Social Studies

STEP 4: TOMATOES ARE TRANSPORTED OFF THE FARM IN TRUCKS

• Some farmers use reusable plastic

bins to move tomatoes from

the field to be cleaned, packed and

shipped.

• Reusable bins are beneficial to

the environment because they

don’t have to be thrown away.

K-2 Social Studies

STEP 5: THE PRODUCE IS WASHED AND SORTED

• Tomatoes take a bath and are

rinsed to look their best!

• The tomatoes are then sorted,

graded and sent to be packed in

boxes and shipped to stores.

K-2 Social Studies

STEP 6: THE CLEAN PRODUCE IS PACKAGED FOR DELIVERY

• Tomatoes are packaged

according to their size and type.

• Today’s machines can take

pictures of each tomato to

determine what size will fit

into the package.

K-2 Social Studies

STEP 7: STORES BUY THE PRODUCE AND THEN SELL IT TO CUSTOMERS LIKE YOU!

• In Florida, tomatoes are in

season every month from

October to June.

• When choosing a tomato in the

store make sure it is bruise-free,

bright red and firm to the touch.

K-2 Social Studies

STEP 8: CONSUMERS BUY THE PRODUCE AND BRING IT HOME

• Have you ever wondered what

that plastic packaging is called?

It’s called a clamshell.

• Clamshell packaging began

in 1978 and is used to protect

tomatoes and prevent

against theft.

K-2 Social Studies

STEP 9: THE PRODUCT IS EATEN AND ENJOYED IN YOUR FAVORITE RECIPES

• Tomatoes can be a great, tasty

snack or served in your favorite

meal.

• There are so many great ways to

eat a tomato. Let’s try one today!

K-2 Social Studies

PAST AND PRESENT

What are some tools

early settlers used to

cook their food?

What are some tools

we use in the kitchen

today?

FLORIDA’S

FRUIT AND

VEGETABLE

INDUSTRY

Known as America’s winter

salad bowl, Florida’s

agriculture industry is active

year round while northern

states have snow!Click here to see the video!

FLORIDA’S FRUIT AND

VEGETABLE INDUSTRY

VIDEO QUESTIONS

1. What season does Florida grow food?

2. What is Florida known as?

3. Name three fruits or vegetables grown in Florida.

4. Complete this sentence:

Florida is the __________ capitol of the world.

To learn more about Florida’s agriculture industry, visit www.FreshFromFlorida.com/educationalvideos

K-2 SCIENCE

TOMATO TASTING 1

Round CherryGrape

Roma Yellow PlumHeirloom

K-2 SCIENCE

TOMATO TASTING 2

Green StripedPurple

Orange

CherryKumatoBrown

We all

look so

different!

K-2 LANGUAGE ARTS

LET’S TALK TOMATOES

Adjectives are words that

describe or modify nouns or

pronouns.

Your opinion is what you think

about something.

Tommy picked the ripe tomato from the vine.

She liked the red tomato more than the yellow tomato.

K-2 LANGUAGE ARTS

STORY TIME

Have you ever

been afraid to

taste something

for the first time?

K-2 LANGUAGE ARTS

TOMATO STORY

Drawing

pictures can

tell a story

too!

NUTRITION

NUGGET

• Vitamin A: Tomatoes are a good source

of vitamin A, which helps keep our hair,

bones and skin healthy.

• Vitamin C: Tomatoes are packed with

vitamin C, which may help fight infection

and keep the immune system strong.

• Potassium: Tomatoes are a good source

of potassium. Potassium is associated

with heart health and proper nerve and

muscle function.

• Lycopene: Tomatoes get their reddish

hue from lycopene, a phytonutrient that

plays a role in chronic disease prevention

• Add color to salads with grape tomatoes or

chopped beefsteak tomatoes.

• Roast sliced tomatoes in the oven and add them

to your favorite sandwich.

• Make your own tomato sauce to toss with

whole-grain spaghetti.

• Top a taco or stuff a quesadilla with diced

tomatoes.

• Blend tomatoes to make a hot tomato soup or

cold gazpacho.

• Make a homemade salsa with fresh chopped

tomatoes.

• Add diced tomatoes to an omelet or scrambled

eggs.

• Top a cheese pizza with thinly sliced tomato.

TASTY TOMATOES

Visit Fresh From Florida

for more tasty recipes!

Tomato Toss: Three teams will compete to fill their

harvest basket the fastest.

MATERIALS:

• 3 bins, boxes or containers

• 3 sets of colored balls or bean bags (red, yellow, orange)

The Farmer will try to catch all the harvested tomatoes

tossed by their team. The team that catches the most

tomatoes wins!

LET’S GET MOVING!

Hurry and ketchup!

What did the mommy tomato

say to the baby tomato?

A tomato in an elevator.

What is red and goes up and down?

Don’t get saucy with me!

What did the macaroni

say to the tomato?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Kick off the school year with Tomatosphere. Sign up your classroom

today at www.FirstTheSeedFoundation.org/Tomatosphere

Featuring Florida-grown tomatoes on your menu today? Visit

www.FloridaTomatoes.org/recipes and creative in the kitchen.

Know Your Nutrition is a great resource to teach nutrition education in the

classroom. Download it at www.FreshFromFlorida/KnowYourNutrition