How a Green Tomato Sorter Works | The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation

On this segment of The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation, Albert Lawrence meets with Don Douglas, the President of Weco -- a company that creates sorting technology for tomato harvests. The tomato harvester uses optics, light, and computer software to analyze and then sort the green tomatoes from the red tomatoes.
Related video: How Farmers Harvested and Threshed Wheat in the 1890s
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[@lupearenas5994]

In the 1970s, prior to this technology, it was families and high school students that boarded these harvesters and sorted the tomatoes. For my sisters and friends, this was a summer job to earn money for our school clothes or save up for a car. I think we had so much fun because at the end of August, this "gig" was over for us. But for the migrant families, it was not. I am grateful our parents let us keep our money and spend it as we wished. Teach by example a strong work ethic, and you'll not need to worry about that child as they move into adulthood.

[@YouTubehndl]

Dude you’ve got that Sir Trevor McDonald mustache and his mannerisms with an American accent instead of a British one. Love your style man.

[@magic19us]

That was incredible....had no idea that tech existed!

[@challengerhobo7769]

fr darren

[@thenonsensechannel808]

Even the optic missed some green tomatoes, still it’s impressive. 👍

[@Bababui69]

Green tomatoes are great for pickling.

[@dansullivan2782]

Fascinating! To what percentage accurate is the sorter? Like, what percentage of green tomatoes are missed? Is there a fail rate?

[@suzanni]

75% accuracy if I remember correctly from the vid

[@greeleyestateslove]

Do the green tomatoes stay on the ground to become new soil?

[@frankenstein6677]

Not a good idea usually, though I think it'd work for tomato farms. Green tomatoes are poisonous for most other plants, much like the rest of the plant, as well as potato plants. It's a toxin known as solanine.

[@lindorplays5900]

No idea why but the beginning of the video looked like a video game

[@siopengtam6482]

👍💯

[@MeowsyDancer]

Whoa! What year was this invented?

[@kuldeepdahiya8846]

The Real Fruit Ninza 😎

[@BongDaChongKuoGo]

The real fruit ninja 🥷 🍅

[@MyFiddlePlayer]

If you drop those green tomatoes into a bin instead of onto the ground, in a week most of them will be red tomatoes. You can run them through the sorter again at that point. It is a shame that they waste them in the video.

[@doowappable]

Simply not worth it, first you will need a giant bin, a simple bin he can carry would be full in 2 minutes, just look at how much red ones he's harvesting, truckloads. Other than that it's good composter for the soil. Also, fruit that is ripened after harvest have less flavor.

[@deannaspencer8988]

All Stores 900,000 Please Lower the price of all Brands of Military Equipment and Local for All Brands of Fresh Produce and Production Cost Now 900,000 That's Too Much $$ 900,000 Now The Whole World 900,000 Now 🙏 🤲 🕍 🕌 ⛪ 🛕