tomatoes and carbon footprints

i have noticed that in the three countries kavitha and i have visited, i have had dishes containing tomato in each. brazil, they were somewhat anorexic, artificially ripened, bruised, mealy, pale on the inside, and bland. argentina, they were like brazil´s, but about three times worse. in uruguay, i have managed to have tomato in my meal over the past two days, and the tomatoes have been fantastic! ripe, firm on the outside and tasty. with three countries in such close proximity to each other, why is this? is the soil that different? do they import tomatoes from other countries?

before i left on this trip, i managed to go for tea with emma and we were discussing how people can justify travel given all of the carbon emissions. on this trip, kavitha and i will have taken about 7 flights - 5 short haul, and 2 long haul. this is in addition to all the trains, boats, buses, subways, taxis, and the like in each of the places we visit. these backpacking trips i see as an educational experience (i hear the choruses of ¨NERRRRRRD!¨ in the background) and i try to bring back all this knowledge to the people i know in as many forms as possible.

residual questions;

1) who is kavitha, REALLY?
2) what are the trade agreements between the mercosur countries?
3) who is artigas? is he the founder of uruguay?
4) why is there such a large shortage of coins in argentina?
5) why is argentina so hesitant to use credit cards? is it tied to their uber-inflationary period?