Investigating the tomato | France 2 | Envoyé Spécial

Insipid, say consumers. Why is it that today, tomatoes? the most eaten fruit/vegetable in France – no longer have any taste?We set out to discover certain forgotten varieties of tomato with Louis Albert de Broglie. Over the last ten years, he has converted his chateau into a tomato conservation area.Naturalists record no less than 1,200 different varieties of tomato throughout the world. Yet 80% of the tomatoes sold in France are either round or on the vine. We discovered that these varieties of tomato are selected for their colour and their supermarket shelf life. Why has the flavour of tomatoes been deliberately sold short and how can the price vary by as much as double? We investigated high-tech production units in Brittany, the tomato country in France. Ahead of taste, it’s the highest profitability of the tomato plant that is sought after. From Andalusia, in Spain, Europe’s new market garden, the same tomatoes are invading the French market, at prices that defy all competition. We got behind the scenes in the greenhouses that stretch for miles to discover the other side of the picture: it’s illegal labour, from Morocco in particular, that is feeding Europe today.