Chattanooga and Knoxville food banks were the winners when 300 students from UTC and UTK raised 1,200 pounds of food by getting dirty in a tomato fight sponsored by Mayfield Farm and Nursery in Athens. The non-perishable food items were collected as entry donations at the event. Michael Mayfield, owner of Mayfield Farm and Nursery, said he realized “throwing tomatoes seems like a contradiction to a food bank fundraiser,” but he explained that the tomatoes used were not marketable.
Thousands of tomatoes, miniature, squishy weapons, were stored in 5-gallon buckets. It took the students 30 minutes to launch all those past-their-prime veggies.
The fight was slated as “the largest tomato fight in North America.”
McMinn County fire units were on hand to hose off the contestants after the battle.
