“When I lived in Catalonia a few years ago we knew the Aretxabaleta tomato there.” The coordinator of the Haziera project of the Cristina Enea Foundation, Marc Badal, has just presented in May a book on this variety of tomatoes. Aretxabaleta tomato has been studied in the last two years with the researcher Marta Barba Gassó. Biodiversity, territory and shared knowledge. It has been edited in both Basque and Spanish.

History of drunk tomato

Aretxabaleta tomato, pink tomato, drunk tomato… In Debagoiena the fruit is very varied. The authors have delved into the history of the variety of tomatoes, dialoguing with the producers of the region and sharing experiences and concerns. In fact, the tomato from Aretxabaleta has a rather curious story. In the 1980s, a farmer planted seeds and liked the tomato he received. For fear of losing her, she decided to enter a safe place and donated the seeds of that tomato to a member of another farmhouse who was working on organic production. Thus began the expansion of Aretxabaleta, which in the following years was expanding and improving both inside and outside the region.

Awakening consciences through the “famous” variety

Badal believes that the history of this tomato is not so well known in society in general. One of the author's intentions is to promote awareness among citizens through the deepening of the journey. “These famous varieties of seeds help open up other varieties and allow people to reflect on biodiversity,” he said in an interview with the Landaberri program of the Basque Country Irratia.

Without leaving aside the special characteristics and quality of the tomato itself, perhaps the main peculiarity of the Aretxabaleta tomato has been its character thanks to social synergies. It has been extended to the experience of citizens of sharing territory and knowledge: “The tomato from Aretxabaleta has spread horizontally below, far from the power games that surround the production and marketing of seeds within the framework of current industrial agriculture.”