What is picked unripe, shipped halfway across the globe, gassed and chlorinated into a false redness, tastes like soggy cardboard most of the time, and is eaten in December without a second thought? You guessed it, a tomato.

Now, what is fun to grow, candy-sweet, has never been on a plane ride, and is perfectly ripe and ready to eat right now? You guessed right again—a local tomato!

It seems only fitting that an eco-centric organization such as Slow Food Vancouver with their strong planet-to-plate focus should honour our regional tomato harvest with its very own Tomato Potluck Picnic (held last Sunday at Kitsilano beach).

I took my little friend, Tatum, who at the tender age of five bears an uncanny resemblance to a cherry tomato herself. She is incredibly sweet and cute, with a small round face framed in a shock of orangey-red. We had skewered our contribution to the potluck; simple sticks of sungold cherry tomatoes, fat green olives and tiny perfect orbs of bocconcini with a generous pour of olive oil and balsamic.

We found our fellow tomato-lovers gathered around a picnic table by the crowded beach, already tucking into a cornucopia of tomato-based dishes. Fresh tomato and corn salsa, small slices of homemade pizza with a scattering of tomatoes and cheese, the perfect simplicity of large basil leaves topped with tiny red tomatoes, and cubes of feta. This was our kind of picnic.

My young picnic companion made the shocking discovery that she actually liked penne pasta slathered in fresh tomato sauce.

"Wait till I tell my mom! She'll be so sprised!" she blurted excitedly between cautious bites.

Lounging under the trees, I swapped tomato tales with the others. ''Comfrey tea added to the soil makes your tomatoes sweeter."

"Did you see the tomato man at the farmers' market yesterday?" I had. In fact, I bought his incredible cherry tomatoes as he was being interviewed by a Korean reporter. He's that famous.

Mingling with the Slow Food folks raised my awareness about some of the amazing projects they sponser. Recently, their adopt-a- farmer  campaign has been quite a success, raising enough funds to sponser two young farmers to attend this year's Terra Madre conference in Italy, where like-minded farmers and food-producers gather annually from 150 countries to discuss and brainstorm sustainable food production.

The tired summer sun faded and we left the potluck two slightly changed people. Tatum would now be eating penne with tomato sauce, and I may never eat a tomato in December again.

Curious Crumb

Wondering what to do with your bountiful tomato harvest? Try this sun-cooked Solar Sauce.