Renewed focus on freshness: Orem tomato farm goes back to basics

OREM — For Dale Allred, the tomato is king.

"There's just all these varieties," he says. "Black ones, orange ones, red ones. … I've had so many people tell me, 'I don't like tomatoes.' And I say, 'I don't think you've ever tasted one.' "

Dwarfed by a jungle of 10-foot tomato plants, Allred holds up a peach-colored cherry tomato, a variety that took him three years to develop.

"This is called 'sunrise,' " he says. "It's kind of got a citrus taste to it."

Allred's sunrise tomato is just one of the 62 heirloom tomato varieties grown at his Jacob's Cove Heritage Farm, where the goal is to provide the community with fresh, toxin-free fruits and vegetables — mostly kinds that were grown for centuries before being abandoned for strains that could be shipped long distances.

"These are varieties that were selected essentially as the best for all these years," Allred says. "Then all of a sudden, we were hoodwinked. (They are) a piece of our heritage as human beings."

Having spent more than 25 years working as a consultant for commercial growers in Mexico, Allred knew he couldn't compete with major farms. But four years ago, he began wondering if local residents would be willing to try an alternative.

"I've always wanted to grow tomatoes," he said. "I thought, 'You know what? Maybe there's a market for really good-quality, local stuff.' "

It wasn't long before Allred realized he was right. In just a few short years, what started as a family backyard experiment turned into a massive growing project with almost 3,000 tomato plants alone. Last year, the family sold their Pleasant Grove home and moved to a farm — now Jacob's Cove — at 1526 S. Geneva Road.

About 500 local residents get their produce through the farm's community-supported agriculture group, paying for a weekly supply of fresh fruits and vegetables. The cherry tomatoes come newly picked from Allred's quarter-acre greenhouse, and the other produce — just as fresh — comes straight from a nearby garden that covers three-fourths of an acre.

And people are responding to the fresh food, Allred says.

"They're looking at their weight going up … and they can't get to the bottom of what it is," he said, "and they're just throwing up their hands and saying, 'You know what? I can go down here to this farm, and I know what I'm going to get.' We're just tapping into that."

But local residents are not the only ones who have discovered Jacob's Cove. The farm's tomatoes have found their way into two of Utah County's premier eateries.

"They're unparalleled," said Joseph McRae, who operates Pizzeria 712 in Orem and Communal in Provo with Colton Soelberg. "You could not improve upon them."