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Tiny tomato beats out beefier entries at MU Tomato FestivalMissouri What the winner lacked in size, it made up for in plenty of juicy flavor. The Sun Sugar Hybrid, a small orange cherry tomato, was by far the top scorer--beating out 54 competitors--in a taste contest judged by more than 350 tomato lovers at the University of Missouri's Third Annual Tomato Festival. The diminutive winner scored a 4.25 average on a five-point grading scale, besting Missouri Pink Love Apple, an heirloom variety, which scored 3.71. Runners-up included heirlooms Beefsteak from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, and Black, a variety with an unusual non-tomato purplish-black coloration, said MU horticulturalist Leslie Shaw. The lowest score went to Green Sausage, a hybrid, scoring at 1.45 out of five. Seven of the top 10 selections were heirlooms as opposed to hybrids. Heirlooms, dear to the palates of many tomato aficionados, are open or self-pollinated as opposed to hybrid varieties, which are cross-pollinated in an effort to create certain characteristics such as size, shape, color or taste. Seed from many heirloom varieties are passed down over family generations. Varieties must be at least 50 years old to be called heirlooms. In some cases, gardeners must search catalogues to find seed for their favorite heirloom variety. Some heirloom seeds no longer exist. The orange-yellow color of the winning Sun Sugar Hybrid threw some diners off when the MU Bradford Research and Extension Center sold the tomatoes to on-campus dining facilities for use in salad bars. "But once people tasted the Sun Sugars they became very popular," said Shaw. In addition to tasting the 55 tomato and 32 pepper varieties, visitors strolled through the Bradford tomato plot and heard informational talks from MU horticulturalists. U.S. annual per capita consumption of fresh tomatoes is about 19 pounds, according to the USDA Economic Research Center. Americans consume an additional 74 pounds per person each year in processed foods.  (Photo courtesy of University of Missouri Extension.) Date: 10/2/07
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