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production as the seasons change. In the winter season, they come from the Southern Hemisphere. “It’s the beefsteak, it’s the Roma tomatoes, it’s the grape tomatoes — those are the tomatoes that that are in season,” he says. “When Florida comes in season, we get Florida tomatoes. When we have local tomatoes, we’re definitely all over that, because our local tomatoes are the Creole tomatoes. That’s an unbelievable tasting tomato.” Rouses customers can’t get enough of those locally grown Creole tomatoes. There are some up-and-coming varietals that are growing in popularity, too. “Tomatoes are becoming like apples — they’re getting sweeter and sweeter,” he explains. “There’s one called a Cloud Nine tomato that you have to actually try just to know how tasty it is. The ones we carry have won awards.” Orange and yellow tomatoes are also a favorite for shoppers. “If you just can’t eat tomatoes because of the acid, the orange and yellow ones are actually lower in acid and much easier to eat because of it. But I’ll tell you what: Tomatoes have really been, to me, one of the surprise fan favorite categories in recent years, because a lot more people are eating them for health reasons,” he says. It’s not just the produce that makes him happy to go to work each day. It’s also the farmers who grow it. “When you hear from the grower, the actual farmer of the fruit, and you hear in their voice how excited they are — that’s what gets me excited. Just hearing them and their voice and their enthusiasm and pride in their product: It just makes me happy. It makes me happy because I know that our loyal customers are going to be happy, and everybody’s going to have a good eating experience.” That, he says, is a win-win. “Our grower is going to be able to partake in a good sale, we’re going have a good sale for our customers, and then our customers are going to eat something that’s really good, and really good for them. It’s a win-win all the way around.”

How to Cut an Onion without Crying Why does chopping onions make you cry? It’s not only because it’s a chore. Onions absorb sulfur in the soil they grow in, which builds sulfur compounds called amino acids sulfoxides in the individual cells within the onion. Cutting or crushing an onion releases an enzyme called allinase. The allinase mixes together with amino acid to create sulfenic acid. The sulfenic acid quickly changes into syn-propanethial-S-oxide, which turns into a form of sulfuric acid, and the gas from the sulfuric acid is what causes your eyes to sting and tear up. So how do you avoid, or at least minimize, the tears?

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Your best bet is to freeze an onion before slicing it. The enzymes in the onion are less reactive when they are cold. Even cooling the onion for a few minutes in the freezer helps, or soaking it in cold water before slicing it. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Finally, the more pungent an onion is, the more likely to trigger tears — more sulfur equals a more pungent flavor. Choose a sweet onion such as a Vidalia. They are less likely to make you tear up. Vidalias are grown in low-sulfur, sandy soil, so they are naturally low in sulfur compounds, which gives them their signature mild sweetness.

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Using a well-sharpened knife will help you cut quickly, and damage fewer cells, and release less alliinase, and so on, which all leads to less crying for you. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Turning on a vent while you chop may help keep the gas from hitting your eyes. Goggles are a much better and proven solution. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT We’ve heard that pushing your tongue to the roof of your mouth or chewing gum helps, but keeping a piece of bread in your mouth while you slice is the way to go. The bread will absorb some of the sulfuric compounds before they have the chance to reach your eyes. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT You can run tap water over the onion as you cut it. The running water dissolves the chemicals. That’s pretty tricky, though, and only works for the first few steps in the onion-cutting process.

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