Over 100 farmers, scientists, funders, advisors and current and former staff and board gathered Saturday, November 4th at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation in Waltham, MA. The diverse crowd celebrated nonprofit Red Tomato’s 20 years of delivering local produce from mid-sized farms in the Northeast to our regions grocery stores and institutions.
The non-profit has marketed more than 1,750,000 cases, or approximately 60,121,010 pounds of fresh, locally grown produce, totaling more than $44 million dollars in sales. Red Tomato serves as a translator between the growers and their challenges and the expectations of the retail and consumer environment.
Founded in 1997, by Equal Exchange Co-Founder Michael Rozyne, Red Tomato is rooted in fair trade, and strives to bring fairness, transparency, and sustainability to every aspect of their work. In coordinating the marketing and logistics for mid-sized farms in the Northeast, Red Tomato continues to develop nationally recognized systems that allow seasonal local produce to be delivered to grocery stores and institutions year round. (Read more of our history here)
Red Tomato’s accomplishments were lauded by Governor Charlie Baker in a Governor’s Citation presented by Commissioner of Agriculture John Lebeaux at Saturday’s event.
“For 20 years, Red Tomato has helped connect farmers and their fresh, healthy produce to residents across the Commonwealth, which is essential to our efforts to keep agriculture in Massachusetts viable and successful,” said Commissioner Lebeaux. “The Baker-Polito Administration is proud to congratulate Red Tomato on their impressive anniversary and wishes them many more successful years to come.”
Red Tomato named Laura Edwards-Orr as Executive Director of the organization in 2015. After starting her career in agriculture with the Cambridge, MA based Farm Aid, Laura worked for 7 years at Red Tomato before assuming her role as the organization’s leader. Edwards-Orr, Rozyne, and a staff of eight manage the organization’s products, sales, logistics and marketing from their office in Plainville, MA.
Comments Edwards-Orr “There are so many uncertainties when we look to our future – from unpredictable weather patterns to the evolution of e-commerce and its impact on the traditional grocery store model. What we, at Red Tomato, know with complete certainty, is that our farmers grow some of the best produce our region has to offer. And people are hungry for it! It’s our job to be at the table. To build the markets and supply chains that ensure farmers and eaters a sustainable future. We look forward to another 20 years of freshness, flavor and righteous produce!”
Coverage of Red Tomato’s 20th Anniversary was included in: