Eat Them In Season: 5 Reasons To Feast on Local Tomatoes At Café Services Business Food Service Management Locations.

How do you know it’s August in the northeast at a Café Services business food service management location?

Just look at the tomatoes. Atop burgers and deli sandwiches, at the fresh salad bar, and in soups, dressings, sauces, quesadillas and seafood—sweet, juicy, locally-grown tomatoes add luscious color and flavor to every food station, every day.

It’s easy to see why. In season through mid-September, this popular fruit that acts like a vegetable is abundantly available at local farms in an array of hues and varieties—like heirloom, cherry, beefsteak and grape.

That’s good news for Café Services business diners. Because along with great taste, tomatoes are rich in vitamins and naturally low in sodium, saturated fat, cholesterol and calories. Eating more of them is a delicious way to feel good and look you best by taking care of your health.

Here are five reasons to eat tomatoes when you can—especially over the next few weeks while they’re still at their freshest:

1. Fight cancer. A natural cancer fighter, tomatoes contain lycopene, which reduces the risk cancers including prostate, ovarian, mouth and colon. Antioxidants like vitamins A and C fight the free radicals that cause cell damage.
2. Control weight. Because tomatoes are low in calories and high in water and fiber, they fill you up without piling on calories or fat.
3. Preserve your skin. Tomatoes, like carrots, contain beta-carotene, which protects skin from the sun’s harmful rays. Lycopene in tomatoes makes skin less sensitive to UV light damage, a cause of fine lines and wrinkles.
4. Build strong bones. Vitamin K and calcium in tomatoes is great for building and repairing bones. It can even strengthen and add shine to your hair. Tomatoes also contain lycopene, which helps fight osteoporosis by improving bone mass.
5. Keep blood sugar in balance. Tomatoes are a good source of chromium, which helps regulate blood sugar—important for preventing diabetes.

Source: LeQuang, Jo Ann. Beliefnet. 9 Surprising Health Benefits of Tomatoes. Retrieved from http://www.beliefnet.com/Wellness/Health/9-Surprising-Health-Benefits-of-Tomatoes.aspx?b=1.

I’ve been born and bred corporate dining and corporate catering from the very beginning of my career in the Silicon Valley and now, since 2001 in the Boston Metro Area. While working my way up through the ranks, all the experience has led up to my current position as the Corporate Executive Chef for Café Services, based out of Manchester, NH. I have the privilege to be able to utilize creativity, research and technology to dream up our company’s new culinary programs and custom menus for corporate cafeteria clients and bring them to life. Café Services supplies the resources to ensure success of our ever-evolving companywide culinary initiatives and I’m very grateful for the opportunity. Seeing the success of new programs in the field is my motivation. It’s a win win.