Can a genetic switch spice up supermarket tomato?

Commercial tomatoes are engineered to look good and stay pink longer- to stretch out the shelf life or sales window. They are grown to look good and sell.
Homegrown tomatoes are raised to eat.

I could have told them this and I am stupid.

Or we could support local farmers by buying at a local farmer's market, which is better for the environment, the local economy, and our own health. Even better, we can grow our own!

Duhhhhhhhh! Imagine that! Who woulda guessed. You mean engineering a tomato which lasts longer, can be harvested green, can be ripened in chamber containing ethylene gas and sold at varying stages of ripeness produces a less flavorful and sweet tomato? Ya think?

Our homegrown tomatos (Right at the end of our driveway) taste tremendous...I wouldn't call them sweeter, just much better tasting than store bought.

Went to my local farm market and bought delicious ripe tomatoes.

Tomatoes sold in grocery stores have the texture of tennis balls and virtually no flavor whatsoever. They aren't tomatoes at all in my mind.

Back when some of us were kids, our grandparents had farms. Alot of that is gone now. I can honestly say that I seriously doubt that there are many folks left who would even know where to begin if they had to grow their own foods.

Support local farmers, shop at the local farmers market. Tomatoes always taste great from them!

I think we knew this already.

"Home grown tomatoes,
home grown tomatoes,
what would life be without home grown tomatoes ?
There's only 2 things that money can't buy
and that's true love and home grown tomatoes "

Umm, how about the fact that home growers actually let their tomatoes GROW to ripeness, instead of plucking them off the vine early and then gassing them to make them turn red. The reason store bought tomatoes taste like crap - organics excepted - is b/c they aren't ready to be eaten!!!

Oh, how about the fact that many homegrown gardens use more natural fertilizers and less chemical insecticides, etc. I am sure that might be a part of it too.

They really needed to study this? Would none of these "brains" think that maybe, just maybe, the fact that tomatos raised in a home garden aren't mass-produced, are picked when they're ripe, might make a bit of difference?

So... picking them while they're still unripe has nothing to do with it? lol

Grocery store tomatoes taste like card board at best and its sad that they even sell that junk to people!

How about buy from local producers?

So, what happens if the same gene...has been gene-spliced out & a gene from another plant of animal is spliced in? What "extra" does that foreign gene do in the tomato now?
-- They don't know. They didn't know about this, so they don't know. It could be disastrous far beyond what they intended to do, not as simple a switch as they'd thought.

Now, it's in the environment, just like the corruption of transgenic (GMO) corn!
We need to get a handle on this problem of big agribusiness corrupting our food supply & forcing that corruption upon all other plants & seeds of that species in every region it is grown in. I don't think MY right to pure, uncorrupted produce grown by myself shold be forcibly removed....just because the grower down the road is rich.

Every truck driver knew why! Picked green, run through ethylene gas to turn them red, then sold......Hard as a rock, and it's considered fresh. Driving them across the country while they're still hard and green... Americans love "fresh" tomatoes..... Get'em from your garden or planter and you'll taste the difference.

Jesus Christ, are you telling me it took scientist to figure this out! When you pick a dam tomato green, ship it 2000 miles and hope it is ripe when it gets there, you already lost the battle with a home grown-picked ripe tomato! Good lord!