MetroWest Farm Wins 2 Tomato Awards

Photo courtesy of MacArthur Farm Facebook.

Massachusetts environmental officials joined tomato farmers from across the state Thursday at the Kitchen at Boston Public Market for the Commonwealth’s 31st Annual Tomato Contest.

This year’s contest, which was designed to increase awareness of locally grown produce, drew 92 entries from 18 farms across the state.

After the entries were judged by a panel of food writers, chefs, produce experts and state officials on flavor, firmness/slicing quality, exterior color and shape, Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner John Lebeaux announced that the top prizes went to farmers from Holliston, Leyden, Granby and North Easton.

For the slicing category, MacArthur Farm in Holliston won two awards with the Tomimaru Muchoo and the BHN589 variety.

“The Tomato Contest is a great tradition that brings growers together for a little healthy competition and helps strengthen consumers’ awareness of Massachusetts grown produce,” said Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton. “The Baker-Polito Administration is dedicated to supporting the more than 7,700 farms that produce clean, healthy, nutritious food for the Commonwealth’s citizens.”

Of the more than 7,700 farms in Massachusetts, 759 annually produce more than 8.5 million pounds of tomatoes on 685 acres with a value of approximately $17 million.