Even more unacceptable is how, for the last nine years, the tomato tower has been promoting a marketing slogan with these words emblazoned in black and green paint: \u201cWelcome to Sacramento. America\u2019s Farm-to-Fork Capital.\u201d<\/p>\n
This atrocious paint scheme evokes neither a farm nor a fork \u2014 and certainly not a tomato.<\/p>\n
This tower is Sacramento\u2019s most underutilized marketing device.<\/p>\n
Alec Wasson, who represents the Tomato Products Wellness Council<\/a> and is paid to be a \u201cchief tomato evangelist\u201d \u2014 only in Sacramento! \u2014 knows what we should do.<\/p>\n \u201cTransforming the tower into a tomato would give that story the bold, nationally recognizable symbol it deserves,\u201d Wasson told me. \u201cWith a little (okay, a lot) of paint, Sacramento could turn the Farm-to-Fork slogan into something real, visible and unmistakable. A destination.\u201d<\/p>\n An idea ahead of its time<\/p>\n A confession. I had this idea before, too. I think I was ahead of my time.<\/p>\n It was in 2003. I had been living in Sacramento for a dozen years. I had the same job at The Bee. The giant gray tower was a blank canvas, devoid of words. I suggested that Sacramento embrace the tomato. Stephanie Taylor, a renowned Sacramento-based artist<\/a> then and now, sketched the tower\u2019s red possibilities.<\/p>\n The area council member at the time, the late Robbie Waters, loathed the idea. He was proud of securing what was then the city\u2019s largest American flag for the top of the tower. \u201cWith all due respect, I do not feel this \u2018tomato\u2019 comes remotely close to the artwork she is so well known for,\u201d he wrote in The Bee in April 2003.<\/p>\n Taylor\u2019s memories of Waters can be summarized in two words: \u201cBah Humbug,\u201d she emailed the other day.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was a great idea,\u201d she said of the tomato tower.<\/p>\n Waters wasn\u2019t all wet. Credit him for converting the tower into a messaging device with city funds that Waters had set aside. The tower welcomed motorists to \u201cThe City of Trees\u201d from 2005 to 2017. Then Sacramento switched slogans, as if a city can declare itself the lead of a national food movement. All while painted like a fading Christmas ornament.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tomato embodies the full power of Sacramento\u2019s Farm-to-Fork story,\u201d Wasson said. Local farmers like Ray Yeung<\/a> have their heirlooms featured in signature local restaurants such as Mulvaney\u2019s B&L<\/a>, whose owner, Patrick, has helped place the city on the global food map.<\/p>\n And then there is the most humble tomato of them all, the processing tomato. \u201cSacramento is California\u2019s capital and the epicenter of the most important processing-tomato-growing region in the world,\u201d Wasson said. What better way to remind motorists of that?<\/p>\n In 2003, the Sacramento Business Journal and Mike Testa of Visit Sacramento embodied a lack of civic confidence that Sacramento still hasn\u2019t outgrown. They and others wrongly feared derision if the city painted the tower as a tomato.<\/p>\n An alternative: A true Farm to Fork tower<\/p>\n Sacramento could have showcased its Farm-to-Fork culinary life on the tower. Instead, the current message is a muddled mess. The words are too small to read as viewers pass by at 65 mph. The infrastructure remains a canvas waiting to be illustrated.<\/p>\n It is Taylor\u2019s stroke of genius to consider painting the tower in a cornucopia of our local produce. And look closely at the \u201ct\u201d in the much larger Sacramento font designed for drive-by viewing. Taylor had been commissioned in 1991 by a firm to create a similar mural for a location of some distinction. Ever heard of The Walt Disney Company and Disneyland Paris?<\/p>\n \u201cAll the bounty of this valley deserves to be represented, from the tomato to walnuts,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n And what better place?<\/p>\n As a preacher of fiscal discipline for Sacramento, I cannot make a full-throated case for using the general fund to paint the water tower as a tomato \u2014 or a vegetarian Thanksgiving. But maybe, just maybe, someday inspiration will strike.<\/p>\n We need a California food council or tomato magnate with deep pockets to recognize the tower\u2019s untapped potential. Any Sacramento leader who fears such an opportunity should stick a fork in it.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n The Freeport water tower began its messaging evolution in 2005 with the slogan, “Welcome to Sacramento City of Trees,” June 28, 2005. Sacramento Bee\/ Florence Low Florence Low The Sacramento Bee <\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/WaterTower.jpeg\" "\\"WaterTower\\"")
The 2017 rebranding of the Sacramento water tower as a farm-to-fork capital was executed in words too small for many motorists to read, the structure remaining in a dust of silver. Andrew Seng aseng@sacbee.com <\/p>\n Sacramento-based artist Stephanie Taylor sketches a more compelling way to illustrate the region\u2019s farm-to-fork heritage than merely stating so in words on today\u2019s staid 66-year-old silver tower. Stephanie Taylor <\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SAC_xm_230523tomPhilp012505.jpeg\")