Michael Rozyne: This Is Red Tomato

Posted: 1 May 2003

Massachusetts-based Red Tomato, a non-profit committed to the philosophy of fair trade, has in five short years helped small farmers market and distribute their produce.

by Cynthia Phoel

By: Cynthia Phoel/Oxfam America

When's the last time you bit into a juicy, ripe, red tomato, a real summer tomato, the kind that drips down to your elbow but tastes so great, who cares? Unless you grow your own, it's probably been a while.

When's the last time a small-farm family called it quits and had to sell their land for development? Probably yesterday or the day before.

There's no coincidence here. The loss of truly fresh fruits and vegetables, grown for their taste, and the loss of farmland and small-scale farmers are two faces of the same coin.

This is Red Tomato's pitch: if we lose that family farm, we lose that juicy tomato. As small farmers are every day throwing in the trowel, the stakes are devastatingly clear.

Reversing this trend is another story—the story of Massachusetts-based Red Tomato, a non-profit committed to the philosophy of fair trade. In five short years, this spry organization has secured produce slots in Whole Foods Market, Stop & Shop, and other major northeast food markets, helping small farmers market and distribute their produce.

Red Tomato founder, Michael Rozyne, has been in the fair trade business for 20 years—first with Northeast Cooperatives, a natural food distributor, and then as co-founder of Equal Exchange, a pioneering fair trade coffee cooperative. This is a guy who's dedicated to confronting the problems small farmers face in today's economy.

It's About The Grower And The Product

Keeping disadvantaged farmers in the supply chain is fundamental to Rozyne's mission. For partners, Rozyne handpicks small growers, minority growers, and growers without access to capital. He also chooses "growers who are taking responsibility for what they put into the soil, water, and air."

Nevertheless, Rozyne's interest is as much about tomatoes as it is about the growers. "Some of the most innovative growers capable of some of the highest quality products are going to be the small family farmers who run their own shindig," Rozyne says. "In the case of a vegetable grower who may raise 30 to 100 varieties, every single crop is like a small university…that knowledge base is what it takes to do a good job growing food."

Rozyne offers other reasons to want small farmers around— to preserve open land in our communities and for their contributions to cultural identity. "The products that are from New England…maple syrup and cranberries and apples and seafood are part of what it means to be in this place." Food safety is another consideration. "I think actually it will be a couple of food scares in the next 20 years that will do as much as anything to increase public awareness."

It All Depends Upon Awareness

"We're really trying to get people to say that, for about two to three months, the best apples on the planet are coming from [local orchards]. Not from New Zealand. Not from Washington. Not from California. And if we can get them to you, we've also got some new varieties and a huge range of tastes."

"If we can get them to you" is a large part of the struggle. Rozyne emphasizes it's no small feat "to keep the peach on the tree as long as possible, off at the right moment, into cold storage, through distribution, and to the market so that it survives transportation and still brings out the flavors of an amazing tree-ripened peach." Heightened food industry standards for turnaround time, service level, and quality consistency intensify this feat.

The fact is, large agribusinesses are better equipped to meet logistical demands of nationwide supermarket chains that value consistency over taste. Yet too often, what we get is a dry, tasteless tomato.

Rozyne is creating systems and networks to help farmers access mainstream markets. Not only does he help farmers understand market demands, but he also forges critical relationships. In 1999, Rozyne joined forces with another Oxfam partner, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, to market watermelons in northeast grocery stores—garnering critical market access for southern minority farmers and enabling Red Tomato to market watermelons before local varieties were ready. The partnership was a winner for both organizations, opening up a promising future market for the southern farmers and giving Red Tomato a strong new product line out of season.

Still, the challenges facing farmers are so great that Rozyne believes consumers must get involved. "I think it's going to take consumer awareness, sensitivity, and desire…consumers who say, 'I want that product.' Or, 'I want this open space in my community.'"

To this end, Rozyne brands Red Tomato produce with farmers' names and the image of a brilliant red tomato, recognizing that the fate of the small farmer hangs on one key factor: "The product has to be better than the rest."

Michael Rozyne is the founder and Managing Director of Oxfam partner, Red Tomato. Oxfam supports Red Tomato's efforts to preserve a viable livelihood for small farmers. Read more on our work with Red Tomato.