skinny girls & mayonnaise

Sometimes in life you stumble upon an odd confluence of food and commerce. And more often than not, the Japanese are behind it. Witness the business I noticed today on a sojourn to L.A.’s Little Osaka to pick up some fish: The Tomato Bank.

Happy customer leaving the Tomato Bank

I’m not sure I would feel confident entrusting my savings to the Tomato Bank. But maybe that’s not what kind of bank it is. Left to my own imagination, I conjure images of people queuing up with arms full of tomatoes, waiting for an available teller. Farmers would get to go in the shorter “Business Accounts” line. When you went to the ATM, sun-dried tomatoes would come out.

My sister is afraid the world economy is going to collapse, and is talking about stockpiling food. In the old days, before currency, people would often barter in food. Perhaps in the coming years a Tomato Bank will be more important than a money bank.

The worlds of cosmetics and food converge in the Butter Stick — a Chapstick for your toast. Available at finer markets and beauty supply shops near you. If you open a new account at the Tomato Bank, you’ll get the complimentary gift of a nice refrigerated logo handbag in which you can store your Butter Stick when you’re on the go.

In Japan, Toyota sells a car called the “Deli Boy.” Designed, I imagine, for the unique needs of the large population of young male delicatessen workers? Wonder why that one never made it overseas…