German and Austrian consumers still have the strangest ideas about tomatoes, as Annemieke Hendriks discovered. With her book, she hopes to introduce them to reality. When Annemieke brought out her book "The tomato and the bizarre world of fresh food" in December 2016, the plans for a German language edition were in the pipeline already. In September 2017 the book 'Tomaten – die währe Identität unseres Frischgemüses' appeared in German and Austrian book shops. The German book is focused towards German and Austrian readers.
Author's journey
Annemieke garnered a lot of media attention in Germany and Australia with the book. She is just back from a ten day author's trip to Austria. Here she spoke in front of a varied audience in different book shops, a large garden complex at the Dutch embassy, in her Viennese cafeteria and five other places.
Annemieke recently performed at various locations with her book, like in the Viennese book store Thalia below.
Together with ecologist Michaela Theurl at the European scientific institute IVM in Vienna.
"People are often surprised to hear my story. They believe Dutch tomatoes come from heated greenhouses. But they find it hard to understand that the manner of cultivation differs little from that of the German tomato.
A meeting with Marco Hennis, the Dutch ambassador in Austria, in the garden of his Vienna residence, former villa of the composer Richard Strauss, where Annemieke performed later that night.
Deep rooted prejudice
Annemieke noticed that the misconceptions are deep rooted in their neighbours to the East when she interviewed people at the Berlin market about tomatoes for her radio documentary. "Give me German tomatoes," they said. Annemieke: "They have this idea that the tomatoes grow in Brandenburg clay. I helped them escape from their illusion. They should be happy that the tomatoes are grown in a protected greenhouse and not in the poisonous, Brandenburg soil where it is virtually impossible to combat pests and completely impossible for organic tomatoes. I also asked them: "Why do you trust the German growers that you don't know and not Dutch growers with all their knowledge and experience?"
With her book and all the media attention, Annemieke hopes to bring the German and Austrian consumers back in touch with reality. "It is very difficult to draw people away from preconceptions, even if you're telling the truth. Above an interview with Annemieke that appeared in a popular German newspaper was the title: 'Wasserbome aus Amsterdam' (Depth charge from Amsterdam). Ridiculous, according to Annemieke. "The title had nothing to do with the content of the article. You can write whatever you want, the misconceptions are hard to knock. You can see this in the responses to an article that says that Dutch tomatoes can't be trusted and that you should choose a Brandenburg tomato to be safe. Although it probably came from the Netherlands as a seed and most of the technology is usually from the Netherlands as well."
Lack of transparency
Annemieke understands it. "Consumers are barraged by a flow of information left right and centre. On the packaging of German tomatoes it says that the vegetables are guaranteed not to have been genetically modified. This is as true as it is suggestive and therefore nonsense. People then conclude that Dutch tomatoes must be genetically manipulated. People are also frightened by all kinds of food websites.
Lack of transparency
Annemieke understands it. "Consumers are barraged by a flow of information left right and centre. On the packaging of German tomatoes it says that the vegetables are guaranteed not to have been genetically modified. This is as true as it is suggestive and therefore nonsense. People then conclude that Dutch tomatoes must be genetically manipulated. People are also frightened by all kinds of food websites.
Germans don't have events like 'Kom in de kas' (Visit the greenhouse). "The clarity we have in the Netherlands is lacking there. The greenhouse is kept out of view of the consumer. With pictures on the packaging that suggest the tomatoes grow on the field, the trade maintains these myths. There is a huge fear of technology when it comes to food."
Nuanced differences
The truth about the food industry remains difficult. Not just for Germans and Austrians, the Dutch media also sometimes has difficulty with nuanced differences. "In January I was interviewed by the Telegraaf due to the book and Grüne Woche. I said it was possible that German tomatoes are grown with Dutch seeds. In the article it was suggested that Dutch tomatoes are being sold as German tomatoes in Germany. That is an incorrect conclusion."
Nuanced differences
The truth about the food industry remains difficult. Not just for Germans and Austrians, the Dutch media also sometimes has difficulty with nuanced differences. "In January I was interviewed by the Telegraaf due to the book and Grüne Woche. I said it was possible that German tomatoes are grown with Dutch seeds. In the article it was suggested that Dutch tomatoes are being sold as German tomatoes in Germany. That is an incorrect conclusion."
Despite her extensive research, Annemieke certainly doesn't want to call herself the tomato expert of the Netherlands, as the Telegraaf did. "As an outsider to the sector I might know a lot, as far as knowledge is concerned the Dutch growers, scientists and trade are light years ahead of me of course. I'm no ambassador for the Dutch tomato, but I do my best to spread the truth." The book also isn't a promotion of the Dutch tomato, emphasises Annemieke. But because there are a lot of misconceptions about the Dutch products, it often does work in the favour of the Dutch.
Grateful
Annemieke likes going out to tell people about her findings. Over the coming months there are more readings planned in Germany. "It keeps me sharp, following the new developments. The gas being turned off in Groningen and the focus moving increasingly towards geothermal heat for instance, is of great interest to me."
There will be no more books about vegetables and fruit, however. The investigative journalist will be focusing on all kinds of other topics again. "I was never a food freak," she clarifies. "The tomato was a way to research the food industry. Its a great symbol of a world that was unknown to me. I'm very grateful to the Dutch agricultural sector. I spoke to a lot of seed companies, breeders, growers, people from the trade and scientists. I asked them a lot of critical questions and they gave me very honest and open answers. This meant I was able to paint a picture of the truth."