How many times has this happened to you: you get a craving for Arkansas tomatoes, maybe for a homemade BLT or a caprese salad. However, it’s Monday, and the farmers markets won’t be open until the end of the week. Where do you go? I’ve been in that situation several times, with my local grocery store being no help and me with no idea where I can get my hands on those perfect tomatoes (and no, a tomato from California or Mexico will not cut it).
Fortunately, you and I will never have to worry about that again, thanks to Bo Bennett of Little Rock Tomato. Little Rock Tomato is a local distributor of produce grown right here in Arkansas. Bennett has produced this map of some of his biggest customers; while mom-and-pop stores are my favorite locations to buy from, their supplies are not always guaranteed. This map shows the locations that stock the most Arkansas tomatoes from Little Rock Tomato, so they’re almost always guaranteed to have some on hand.
Please note that this map is not all-inclusive. There are two venues it omits that you should also keep in mind:
Farmers Markets
There is simply no better place to get Arkansas produce than your local farmers market. Period. Farmers pay a small fee to set up a stall at the market, and beyond that, there is no middleman. The vast majority of the money you spend goes directly to the farmer. And the produce from the markets is as good as you can get, most of it having been picked just a day or two before. In Little Rock, you should absolutely check out Hillcrest Farmers Market and Dogtown Farmers Market (Argenta) on Saturdays, Bernice Garden Farmers Market on Sundays, and Westover Hills Farmers Market (Heights) on Tuesday evenings.
Hall and Sons Produce
The family at K. Hall has been selling Arkansas produce for decades now. It’s one of the most reliable sources of fresh fruits and vegetables in Arkansas, with customer service to match. Better yet, you can also get plenty of southern foodstuffs you can’t always find in grocery stores. That includes hog jowls, turkey necks and chow chow. K. Hall is an Arkansas treasure, and you should absolutely keep it in mind for your produce needs.
With that, here is a map showing Little Rock Tomato’s best resources for Arkansas tomatoes near you. Edwards Food Giant and Save-a-Lot are the most frequent on the list, but you’ll notice that almost every Central Arkansas community is represented here. So next time you get that craving for an Arkansas tomato in the middle of the week, you’ll know exactly where to go.
