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Our Misunderstood Friend, The Tomato

Originally posted to scgardener.webs.com on August 3, 2013 at 9:55 PM

As gardeners continue to be amazed at the abundance that is the tomato harvest, a few interesting tidbits about one of the gardener's favorite plants. (Kudos and a shout out go to the following sources: Wikipedia, the food section of About.com, and HGTV Gardens)


Fruit or Vegetable?

First up, most gardeners know that botanically speaking, the tomato is a fruit. Why is that? Well, it's got seeds in it, right? And the thing shows up from the flowering part of the plant, right? Well, that's the textbook definition of a fruit. So how is it that in 1893, all nine justices of the highest court in our land ruled it a veggie? Ah, grasshopper, to answer that, as with so many other great mysteries of the universe, one must follow the money: it has to do with taxes and custom regulations and dictionaries and the is-ness of "is". And just to make sure things are chrystal clear, in the early 80s the Reagan administration decided to allow school administrators to count tomato ketchup as a vegetable when planning school lunches. (No, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!). Glad we were able to put the fruit/veggie issue to rest, once and for all: in the quantum world we live in, the tomato is both a wave and a particle, so we move on...


Poisonous?

Next issue: tomatoes were originally thought to be poisonous. Oh my, I hear the collective groan: "What are you talking about?" Well, it turns out that this one is a tale rooted in provincialism (bad pun alert) at the tail end of the 1500s and early 1600s. If you happened at the time to be living in South America (or Spain, France, or Italy, for that matter), you were busy chomping on (which is to say, enjoying the yummy goodness of) the beautiful ripe tomato sitting on your dinner table. But if you had ties to the Brits (and yes, we're including the British colonies in the Americas here), you may have been influenced by the writings of barber/surgeon/naturalist John Gerard (ah, the definition of "Reneisance Man", no? Weird Al should write a song: "Where Have All The Barber/Surgeon/Naturalists Gone?"). In 1597, Gerard published a tome of almost 1500 pages, entitled Herball, or General Historie of Plants, in which he states that the tomato is indeed poisonous (probably because of its being in the nightshade family, the actual nightshade being quite deadly when ingested).

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Ok, time for a bit of a sidebar. One article I noticed makes the following observation:

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French botanist Tournefort provided the Latin botanical name, Lycopersicon esculentum, to the tomato. It translates to "wolfpeach" - peach because it was round and luscious and wolf because it was erroneously considered poisonous. The botanist mistakenly took the tomato for the wolfpeach referred to by Galen in his third century writings, ie., poison in a palatable package which was used to destroy wolves.

Still a Favorite

Despite all the historical confusion, today the tomato enjoys a special place in the hearts of most gardeners. Perhaps this is because we know the little gems to be packed with essential vitamins (A and C) as well as calcium, potassium, and lycopene. Perhaps it's the fact that we can't find a supermarket tomato that has the same rich, deep flavor as that reaching our table from the garden. Or perhaps it's the simple truth that very few things are as easy to grow. Whatever the reason, according to the USDA, Americans eat somewhere between 22 and 24 pounds of tomatoes per person per year, about half of which is in the form of ketchup and tomato sauce. By the way, that stat indicates that we Americans eat more than twice the amount of tomatoes per year than we do chocolate. Something to think about the next time you're enjoying a plate of delicious spaghetti, a cheesey slice of pizza, or chips and zesty salsa.

Categories: GardeningVegetables

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