Transcript: listen to interview

Announcer Introduction: "Most of us have a food that we hate. I personally cannot abide porridge. But most of us keep our culinary aversions to ourselves. Not G----- F------! He says right out load he Hates tomatoes, that's Hate with a capital H. And he shares his hatred with the rest of the world on his antitomato website. That's a big hate. We reach Mr. F------ is Windsor, Ontario."

Interview: Announcer: "My goodness Mr. F------ what did these little red things ever do to you?"

G-----: (laughter) "They're poisonous. I've always hated tomatoes - can't be explained."

Announcer: "Truly, ever since you were a child?"

G-----: "Oh yeah."

Announcer: "What is it about them that you find so nauseating?"

G-----: "The smell. The looks are down on the low end, it doesn't really matter about the looks even thought they look like if they're not even finished growing yet, I mean that doesn't really bother me. But the smell, obviously they taste - I wouldn't even taste one because of the smell."

Announcer: "Now, there's a lot about the smell of tomatoes on your website actually, and I was intrigued to read it. Maybe I grew up in the days when tomatoes weren't very much, but I don't associate much of a smell with tomatoes at all."

G-----: "That's because they don't seem poisonous to you! No I may be being a bit radical on saying that they're poisonous, I mean if someone's got tomatoes, cutting them up on the other side of the room I can smell them. The smell just drives me nuts. It's not really the taste because I never put them in my mouth. But yeah there are a lot of people out there that HATE them, and it's the one thing that they'll tell you it's just the smell to start with. There's something in there."

Announcer: "Well must say, that we were talking about this in a story meeting with the As It Happens crew early today, and uh we got all sorts of opinions going back and forth. People do feel very strongly about tomatoes for one reason or another. Is there a bit of a paranoia going on here? Did you see the movie Attack of the Killer Tomatoes? Is it a movie thing you got going?"

G----- "No I didn't see that movie yet, I don't know what it's about really. Um, it's just not my type of movie."

Announcer: "You say you ate ketchup..."

G-----: "Yeah Ketchup's alright. I mean, I don't eat it on everything. I don't even remember the last time I tried it. It doesn't have the same tomato characteristics of a raw, fresh tomato. It doesn't smell like it, taste like it, therefore to me, it's a cover-up you know what I mean? I'm not going to be scared of it or anything. It's funny about what you were talking about with people and their opinions on tomatoes is, in my experience is a lot of people who I've asked, 'Well, do you like tomatoes, do you not like tomatoes?' you know you'll find your people who really like them. There are a lot of people. But then you'll get your small percentage of people who can't stand them, and I'm telling you these people can't stand them."

Announcer: "You get that sense when you read the website, the people that have responded who agree with you, that if it's was on a plate they'd run a kilometer just to get away. What's the reaction been to your website, because it's also a little silly too you know?"

G-----: "Yeah, it silly, last June I put it together. I didn't quite know what to put on the web. I wanted to do something because I had the ability to, and I wanted something out there, I just couldn't think. Tomatoes were the stupidest things I could think of. I was good at pushing my reasons why I hate them so much, so I had something to start with. Then once I got it going, the only thing that kept the site alive and going and kept me to go back to it and update it was the fact that, there were people emailing me with their stories, their unique ideas on why tomatoes are the worst vegetable/fruit/berry in the world."

Announcer: "Have you thought about; enough people have responded at this point have you thought about any kind of a sub-set for the web site for people who dislike certain type of tomatoes, only the kind you get in Windsor for example?"

G-----: "Well, if there's one thing I don't want to do is change the theme. The general idea of it just being out there on it's own, and people writing me and telling me their story, and me able to put their story on the website is good enough for me. It's what makes it alive. It's what keeps people writing in. It's something that annoys me when you ask for no tomatoes and it's given to you. And by then it's already seeped into your bun, or the rest of your food and you got those seeds everywhere else. It's really annoying. There's people I know that insist that they are allergic to them when they go to the restaurant, so that this will emphasis that they do not want to see any tomatoes on their sandwich, or whatever they ordered."

Announcer: "Well you've contributed to antitomato awareness today. Thank you Mr. F------"

G-----: "Thanks very much."

Announcer: "Bye now"

G----- "Buh Bye."

Announcer Conclusion: "G----- F------ is his name, my apologies. And he cultivates his antitomato website at his home in Windsor, Ontario. "