Nothing to see here, folks. Just me and my army of canned tomatoes. 50 lbs down and 50 more to go.

I thought I’d take a minute to write about why I can tomatoes because from the outside, it probably seems like an old fashioned, lot of work scenario for something you can buy cheap in a can. I get it, I used to think that, too.

My family goes through a lot of tomatoes. Anytime I make spaghetti and meatballs, tomato soup, lasagna, shakshuka, pizza, stuffed shells, bolognese, taco soup, salsa, and the list goes on, I have to open either a jar of premade-store-bought tomato sauce or a can of store bought whole tomatoes. The containers they come in are not plastic and both recyclable, yes, but all the resources that went in to making those containers, packing them with tomatoes, and shipping them across the country (or world!) to get to me is a lot. Not to mention, the dire straights the world of recycling is looking like right now is really grim. So, the best thing for me to do is always to forego packaging and buy local, right? Which means I should buy as much local produce to stockpile and can at home for the year until it is next in season. But I am only human and I have limitations on my time, money, energy, will, etc. so I have picked tomatoes and peaches this year as my Mount Everest. I am wanting enough to make a few desserts with the peaches and make all that delicious food I listed above as well as gifting some to friends and family with the tomatoes.

But my desire to can does not end there. It’s really just the beginning. I am also supporting my local farmers which is such a big deal. I won’t go into all the politics of what is going on for farmers right now or how their lives are so precariously dependent on the weather but just remember that our local farming family is just trying to make a living to support their family. I haven’t met a farmer yet who is taking weeks off to travel the world every year or take long, luxurious vacations to parts unknown. No, all of them that I have met want to work hard, grow good food to provide for their family, friends and neighbors, and hopefully make enough money doing it to live a good life. So when I’m buying enough tomatoes to meet my needs this year, I am also giving money to that end and not putting money into the pockets of some CEOs who have more money than they know what to do with.

So environment, farmers and the last reason I do it is because the food I make with it is so incredibly good. Any chef worth their salt will tell you that a good dish starts with good ingredients. It’s the most important part of cooking good food. And when I’m using the canned food that I worked so hard to can when it was at it’s peak ripeness, oh man, nothing ever tastes that good.

So is this an old fashioned, lot of work for little yield scenario? I don’t think so. And I am so thankful that I gave up that notion and embraced this new skill set. I don’t want this post to discourage you or depress you in anyway. My hope with it is that I’ve planted some seeds about the importance and goodness of this long held chore of generations past and that you might view it a little differently than you did before. And if you’ve never canned before, that you might consider giving it a shot in a few months or next year, even. And if you work away from home, don’t be turned off, thinking you don’t have the time. I do all of my canning after the kids have gone to bed because if I try to do it during the day while they’re awake, we all end up a sobbing mess on the floor. You can do this!