Flavourless grocery store tomatoes have heirloom seed advocates seeing red

Watery, flavourless tomatoes with a nice shine and shelf life are standard in our grocery stores, but a growing network of farmers and foodies want people to bite into something better.

A Montreal-based company called Gardiens de semences, or Seed Guardians, is trying to spread the message this weekend inMontreal's Quartier des Spectacles.

The company will present 100 local kinds of heirloom tomatoes at its 100% Tomatoexhibition at theYUL Eatfestival.

"We want to show that there is much more than tasteless standardized food to put on the market," said Thibault Renouf, co-founder ofSeed Guardians.

He said seed biodiversity is being lost and once it's gone, it will never come back.

A growing network

The group helps create networks of growers, grocery stores and restaurants to buy into the idea ofheirloom fruits and vegetables.

Several grocery storesin Montreal, includingRachelle Bry Beaubien and IGA Duchemin, as well as smaller outlets in Rimouski and Alma are already on board. Nearly 100 restaurants are also using Seed Guardian's heirloom seeds.

At YUL Eat, the team hopes to expand that network and raise awareness about the importance of seed biodiversity.

Flix-tienne Trpanier, another founder of Seed Guardians, said mass-produced tomatoes were "patented around properties made for industrial productions, shelf conservation and appearance."

But, he added, "we forgot taste, pleasure, and sustainability in the equation."

Team effort

For Renouf,selling individuals on the value of using local, heirloom seeds is only the beginning.

"We have to create interest and distribution channels," said Renouf.

First, seed savers identify heritage seeds to be revived, then a chef or grocer agrees to buy the cropand, after that, farmers must agree to cultivate them.

The goal of Seed Guardians, Renouf said, is tohelpcreate those channels, so farmers don't plant unfamiliar varieties of produce they can't sell.

Instead, with their crop sale guaranteed, farmers can raise Quebec heirloom vegetables with nameslike purple Amarosa potatoes, Jaune Flamme tomatoes or carrot bomb peppers.And consumers can discover them.

The organizationis still young it was founded in 2018 but it hopes events like YUL Eatcan help ensure Montrealerssee more surprisesin the produce aisle soon.

Seed Guardians is taking part in the YUL Eat festival until 8 p.m. on Sept.15.