The Treachery of Tomato Merch
My friends—and the all-knowing algorithm—have me pinned as a tomato girl. They're not wrong.
I wrote the following mini-essay last summer, which is why it will seem a bit out of season (haha). I’m sending it out now because I’m in the depths of winter malaise1 and still have a bit of writer’s block. I came across it while cleaning out my inbox the other day and was pleasantly surprised to find past me had done present me a favor in writing this down.
Tomatoes haunt my Instagram feed, popping up in suggested posts and sliding betwixt my friends’ stories in sponsored advertisements. On tiny tees, on totes, on baseball caps. Recently, they breached the bounds of social media: A friend texted me a link to a succulent tomato bustier.
I was tempted. My friends—and the all-knowing algorithm—have me pinned as a tomato girl. And, don’t doubt it, I am one.
But to the best of my ability, I have tried to resist the siren call of tomato girl merchandise. It is all a ploy by the agents of late-stage capitalism to convince me to buy the signifier of the thing, rather than the thing itself.
It is perhaps no coincidence that the images of tomatoes have become increasingly salient and salable while the quality of supermarket tomatoes has declined, and the expensive heirloom varieties available (seasonally) at farmer’s markets have become elite status symbols, bordering on fetish objects, in and of themselves. We are what we buy, but heirloom tomatoes are fleeting, whereas a $20 tomato crop top is forever (even if that means forever in a landfill).
This is, of course, not the exclusive province of tomatoes. The mania for tinned fish that took over my TikTok feed in 2020 and 2021 was nearly as quickly supplanted by viral tinned fish prints, pottery, accessories, all while global fish stocks continue to decline.
Citrus, coffee, wine, Aperol, martinis—the price of these items is skyrocketing due to a number of factors, like inflation and climate change, while the cost of fast fashion emblazoned with their images plummets to rock bottom. At the US Open, I spotted a baseball cap with an image of the Open’s signature beverage, the Honey Deuce, for sale. It can cost hundreds of dollars to even enter the grounds during the tournament, but for $40 plus shipping and tax, you can get a piece of Honey Deuce memorabilia without the hassle of seeing any tennis.
I’ve singled out mostly edible items here, but I could also point to cacti and potted plants, National Parks, and coffee cups. Visiting a National Park is expensive and time consuming, and you probably have to dip into your limited stash of PTO. Doing so regularly is hard. Buying a t-shirt, maybe as a reminder of one of your precious and few halcyon vacations, is a lot easier. Images are a heck of a lot cheaper than the actual things that bring us joy, pleasure, and nourishment.
There are surely many more examples of simulacra for sale that I am completely unaware of, because they fall outside the bounds of my personal, targeted advertising.
You! I! We! Must! Resist! We will have our tomatoes, and eat them, too. After all, we have enough t-shirts already.
I think this essay is newly relevant, for several reasons. The first is that many consumers are boycotting large retailers right now as a form of political protest. Atlanta Pastor Jamal Bryant and other faith leaders organized a 40-day boycott of Target after the company rolled over for the Trump administration by rolling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. It began last Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, and will continue for the duration of Lent. The boycott began just days after a 24-hour nationwide economic blackout, which encouraged consumers to avoid spending any money at all, and if they had to do so, to shop at local, small businesses and to pay with cash. Others boycotts have targeted Amazon and Tesla.
Many Americans are also rightly worried about the havoc that the Trump administration’s actions—particularly mass lay-offs, mass deportations, and trade wars—could have on the economy. Consumer confidendence is low and even experts have said a recession is possible. So, many people might be pulling back on their spending right now, especially on non-essentials.
Finally, I want to believe that awareness about the horrors of fast fashion, and overconsumption in general, is growing thanks to mainstream coverage like Netflix’s Buy Now. I don’t really know if it’s moving the needle. Obviously, my social media feeds are biased towards sustainably-minded users and content creators, so it’s hard to know what the impact has been outside my bubble.
My hope is that all of this adds up to people thinking more critically and carefully before they buy things, and particularly things they don’t need. Nobody is perfect—certainly not me—but buying less is better for the planet, for your personal finances, and, especially if your home tends to be cluttered and disorganized, probably better for you.
And when people do spend money on non-essentials, I hope it’s with local retailers, indie artists and designers, and, most importantly, on things that really bring them joy. Like a really good tomato.
reading list
“In 20 years, the fleeting time it takes for a human baby to grow into a young adult, the country has lost 22 percent of its butterflies.” [Catrin Einhorn and Harry Stevens for the New York Times]
This article, about the fired federal workers (including National Parks employees) whose friends and family have responded with glee, satisfaction, and stubborn support of the administration responsible for their loss of employment, is so heartbreaking and discouraging. The lack of empathy continues to shock and horrify. [Matt Sedensky for the Associated Press]
“The Trump administration is planning to terminate National Park Service leases and shutter 34 offices across the country that function as visitor centers, law enforcement offices, museums and hubs for critical park services.” [National Parks Conservation Association]
Trump has ordered an expansion of logging on 280 million acres of public land while circumventing the Endangered Species Act. [Oliver Milman for The Guardian]
Canadian hikers and other tourists are cancelling trips to the Adirondacks because of President Trump. [Tim Rowland for Adirondack Explorer]
‘We’re losing our environmental history’: Yours truly on the Trump administration’s assault on public data and information, and the people fighting back. [Jessica McKenzie for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]
It’s not really because of winter.
It’s so hard not to preach and lecture about not spending money on unnecessary stuff especially through the likes of Amazon but desperately wanting and needing to stop all that these corporations do to ruin the environment, abuse workers, destroy downtowns etc. etc.