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Ugly tomato ripe for resurgence

A proposed rule change by the USDA may bring the hybrid to more dinner tables across the country.

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
Published June 29, 2006

	[Times file]
	The UglyRipe, born in the laboratory in 1997, is a hybrid of a heirloom variety. The rule change would exempt it from shape standards.

The battle-hardened UglyRipe tomato appears close to winning a war to allow it into American kitchens and stew pots on a wide basis.

The scarred and misshapen tomato, grown mostly in Florida, is the subject of a proposed rule change by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would exempt the less-than-picturesque vegetable from shape standards imposed by tomato regulators, the UglyRipe's grower announced Wednesday.

The proposed rule change by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service will be published today, to be followed by a 60-day comment period before the USDA decides whether to finalize it.

But the tomato's grower and inventor, Philadelphia-based Procacci Brothers Sale Corp., hails the proposed rule as its biggest step yet toward overcoming restrictions imposed by the Florida Tomato Committee, which governs quality standards on most tomatoes grown in the state.

"The proposed USDA rule change is a win for consumers," Joseph Procacci, Procacci's chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Consumers don't buy tomatoes because of how they look. They buy them for how they taste. And when consumers taste UglyRipes, they buy them in record numbers."

Reggie Brown, who heads the committee, was out of the country and could not be reached. USDA officials did not return a call for comment.

Skip Jonas, the committee's compliance officer, said the USDA is not bound to finalize the rule. "If they get enough negative comment, it could go either way," he said.

The UglyRipe was born in the laboratory in 1997, a hybrid cross of a heirloom variety. While just plain ugly, hence the name, Procacci boasts that the UglyRipe has a unique, satisfying taste that he says is often absent from round tomato varieties.

Beginning in 1999, Procacci received exemptions from the committee's quality standards, which bars the shipment of tomatoes out of Florida if they are too scarred and misshapen.

But by the 2003-04 season, the committee withdrew its exemption, which Procacci said meant that he couldn't ship a majority of his UglyRipes outside of Florida.

The committee, which gets its authority under federal marketing law, has at least three times rejected Procacci's bid to gain another exemption. The committee says relaxing its standards will harm the reputation of tomatoes in general, hurting sales for Florida farmers.

Procacci finally appealed to the USDA, asking the agency to essentially overrule the committee and give him permission to ship his tomatoes regardless of their shape and size.

Procacci has waged a relentless public relations campaign against the committee, even enlisting the help of a Washington public relations firm. That war has resulted in national publicity almost unheard of for a usually staid vegetable. Botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit, though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it, at least legally, a vegetable, as it is commonly described by many consumers.

At one point, even the New York Times weighed in with an editorial, chastising the committee for failing to relax its standards.

"This is a very big step," Procacci's attorney, David Durkin, said of the proposed rule change. "It should help assure the UglyRipe is available year-round barring the normal problems farmers have."

William R. Levesque can be reached at levesque@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3436.

[Last modified June 29, 2006, 06:00:54]