Appendix 5

The Great Tomato Hunt in Ontario, Canada

One of the premier giant tomato contests in North America, started in 1989, The Great Tomato Hunt took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at Consiglio's U-Save Center on St. Clair Avenue. The contest, usually held on the first Saturday in September, was initiated by the late John Consiglio, founder of the U-Save Center. Presently it is run by John's son, Sal Consiglio , also known locally as The Big Tomato.

What started as a few people weighing tomatoes in the ounces, grew to hundreds of entries and tomatoes weighing as much as 7 pounds. Entrants lined up carrying their tomatoes in small decorated baskets, boxes, and bags as they awaited their turn at the scale. An example of the success of this contest is the fact that in 2004, the top three tomatoes weighed at Consiglio's were in the top-ten ever weighed officially in North America. At one point, six of the top-ten North American tomatoes ever, were weighed by Sal Consiglio at The Great Tomato Hunt.

The contest was held as an annual fund raiser for The Heart and Stroke Foundation in honor of John Consiglio. The U-Save Center donated $10 for every kilogram of tomatoes weighed at the contest, and that amounted to thousands of dollars over the years.

If you wanted to see some really big tomatoes, you went to Toronto on Labor Day weekend. If the world record held by Gordon Graham was ever to be broken, it was felt that it could well happen at The Great Tomato Hunt. The winning tomato in 2006, grown by Gianfranco Sarin, weighed, a near record breaking, seven and four-tenths pounds. Unfortunately, The Great Tomato Hunt is no more.