The planned charity tomato fight in Fgura on Sunday has come under fire from renowned hydrologist Marco Cremona and top chef David Darmanin for wasting food and water resources.
I call on L-Istrina to dissociate itself from this activity and not accept any donations arising from it
Organisers Fgura council said the 2,000 kilograms of tomatoes ordered from a group of farmers for the tomato fight were “of lower quality and cannot be eaten”.
Based on Spain’s famous La Tomatina, the event is the main attraction in Sunday’s Fgura Arts and Food Fighting Festival, which will raise funds for L-Istrina.
Tomatoes will be thrown in a confined, plastic-covered area of 12 metres by 15 metres, with roughly 80 people taking part at a time, on rotation.
But Mr Cremona told The Times that far from being a bit of harmless fun, he found it “incredible” that one can order 2,000kg of poor quality tomatoes days in advance.
“If this is the case, one should question why we are producing ‘poor quality’ tomatoes in the first place,” Mr Cremona said.
“Which then begs the question – should we be cultivating ‘surplus’ tomatoes in the dry Maltese summer when all the water for cultivation must be coming from boreholes that are sucking our aquifers dry?”
Mr Cremona said he found the event distasteful, not only because of the millions of people who suffer starvation in the world, but also because it gives the mistaken impression that Malta is self-sufficient in food and water.
He suggested that “poor quality” tomatoes would be better used as tomato paste, animal feed or as feedstock at the new Sant’ Antnin Solid Waste Treatment plant.
“I call on L-Istrina to dissociate itself from this activity and not accept any donations arising from it,” Mr Cremona said, pointing out that roughly 400,000 litres of water would have gone into the cultivation of the 2,000kg of tomatoes.
Taverna Sugu chef David Darmanin also thought the event sent out the wrong message, though he admitted it seemed a “really cool idea that sounds like a lot of fun”.
“There has been a steady decline in how we treat local ingredients – it makes me cringe when I think of all those tomatoes going to waste,” Mr Darmanin said.
Even if they were not the best quality, Mr Darmanin said they could be used in pastes, sauces, or preserved for winter, “so we can enjoy our own tomatoes instead of being forced to buy poor quality, chemically treated ones from abroad”.
“Our tomatoes are among the best in the world – I doubt that with Malta’s low yields you could order 2,000kg of rotten ones,” he added.
The tomatoes used in the event cost Fgura council €400 excluding the cost of delivering the fruits to the locality on Saturday.
They were bought using a €5,000 grant Fgura council received from the Local Government Department to organise the charity event.
Fgura council said the tomato fight will last 30 to 45 minutes depending on the number of participants who will all give a donation to L-Istrina. As of yesterday afternoon, more than 550 people had indicated they would be attending on the event’s Facebook page.
Responding to concerns raised by readers on timesofmalta.com, Fgura mayor Byron Camilleri said St John Ambulance staff as well as police and private security would be present, while eye protection and showers would be available. “Our contractor will clean the area as fast as possible. Personnel will be on site to ensure the area is cleaned to a satisfactory standard,” he added.
The event will be held in Valperga Street, below the bastions, from 5 till 11 p.m.
Besides the tomato fight, there will be a children’s area, food and drink stalls and top local bands including MsLeads, Ivan Filletti and Friends, and Airport Impressions.