Red Tomato

When we talk about IPM, farming, and sustainability, do our messages actually land?

People bring their own assumptions, questions, and ideas about agriculture to every conversation. To communicate effectively, we need to understand those perspectives and frame our messages in ways that connect.

Join us for the webinar: Inside the Average American Brain: A Path to Better IPM Communications on June 24 at 1:30 p.m. EST. Whether you work with consumers, direct-market customers, or community members, this session will help you communicate in a way that connects.

Register today: https://ow.ly/fSnA50ZfmjM

IPM Institute of North America

Last week, Alessandra, Emily, and Michelle left their desks bee-hind for a field trip to RFarm-Local Organic Farm in Burlington, CT, the farm behind some of the local honey making its way into Connecticut schools through Red Tomato’s Farm to School program. 🍯🐝

Andy, RFarm’s beekeeper, gave them a behind-the-scenes tour of the hives. He and his wife Linda run RFarm with a deep commitment to sustainable agriculture, producing local honey, plants, produce, flowers, and herbs.

That commitment is growing, too. RFarm is building a new Honey Barn, supported in part by a Farm Transition Grant through the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. With space for honey extraction, a commercial kitchen, retail, and an open-air market, the Honey Barn will help RFarm expand how they process, share, and sell what they produce.

We’re proud to help bring RFarm’s local honey into schools across Connecticut and to support farm partners investing in a more sustainable local food future.

📸: Robin Buckley | Riverstone Images Studio

It's the hardest-working thing you probably stepped on today. 🌱

Soil may look ordinary, but beneath the surface, it's doing extraordinary work. It helps grow the food we eat, filters water as it moves through the ground, stores carbon in roots and organic matter, and supports a hidden world of worms, fungi, microbes, and plant life.

That is why soil health is part of the bigger picture behind EcoCertified® fruit.

Our EcoCertified growers use verified ecological practices that help protect the land, from improving soil health and managing orchard ground cover to reducing environmental impact through more responsible pest management.

What grows above depends on what is protected below. Look for EcoCertified® fruit grown with care from the ground up. 🍑🍏

IPM Institute of North America

To help build a more produce-inclusive future, we've harvested a few alternative phrases for everyday use. Together, we can make everyday conversations more fruitful. 🍓

We're celebrating one of our newest tomatoes today. 🍅🎉

Emily Sutherland joined Red Tomato this spring as our Food Access Coordinator, bringing experience, enthusiasm, and a passion for connecting communities with local food.

And today? It's her birthday! Help us give Emily a warm welcome and wish her a very happy birthday. We're so glad she's part of the team. ❤️🎂

The future of farming is looking pretty bright! Congratulations to our EcoCertified® growers Bobby & Sara Hricko of Green's Fruit Farm for being recognized as “Farmers on the Rise” by Horizon Farm Credit. 👏🍎

We’re proud to work with farmers investing in regenerative practices and building a stronger future for agriculture. Healthy soil, thriving farms, and strong local food systems all start with growers willing to lead the way.

Appleey Ever After

Just a little peach appreciation post 🍑 These photos from Rendleman Orchards have us counting down the days until fresh peach season is here. 📆

In South Texas, the future of food is already taking shape. At the Food Summit in Edinburg, growers, buyers, students, and advocates came together to solve real challenges, from market access to farm viability.

Alessandra brought Red Tomato’s Bypass model into the conversation as a practical path forward for small and midsize farms supplying schools and food banks.

But one of the most powerful moments? Standing alongside students in the field, young farmers already growing their own plots and redefining what’s next.

This is how regional food systems grow: one relationship, one farm, one generation at a time 🌾