7/ The Spanish tomato greenhouses take up a space the equivalent of 55,000 football pitches
Almost all of the Spanish greenhouses are covered in plastic sheeting over an area of 44,000 hectares, making up the equivalent of 55,000 football pitches. Furthermore, the plastic sheeting is replaced frequently, and only very little of it is recycled.
8/ If tomatoes are cheap to buy in the supermarket, it is because workers are being exploited
Obviously, if workers are being underpaid and taxes are not paid on them, it is easier to charge very little for the tomatoes. So you know what you are eating now. Are you going to keep supporting such practices?
9/ The plastic sheeting on the greenhouses can fly off and pollute protected areas
Sometimes, the plastic sheeting that is needed to protect the tomato greenhouses can fly away and be carried tens of kilometers away, ending up polluting protected areas and natural parks.
10/ One Winter tomato produces its own weight in waste products
Experts confirm that the annual waste produced by the Spanish greenhouses is the equivalent of the quantity of fruit they produce. One tomato therefore produces its own weight in waste products, in order to be grown. In total, that amounts to 3 million tons of waste per year.
11/ Most Winter tomatoes are full of pesticides
In Spain, from where we get the vast majority of our tomatoes, the tomatoes are bombarded with litres of pesticides. No less than 80% of these residues remain on the fruits and are ingested by humans, and they exceed maximal limits by 7%.
12/ The pesticides sprayed on the tomatoes pose a huge risk for the workers
The pesticides spread on the tomato fields do not only pose a risk for our health, but also for the health of the workers harvesting them. Not to mention the effects on the soil…