Tomatoes

We all had the question on a test in school that asked if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable.  Strange thing is this question went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.  In that case, the Justices declared that the tomato is a vegetable and not a fruit.  The reason that this craziness went all the way to the Supreme Court was because in the 1880's, US tariff laws imposed a duty on vegetables and not on fruits.  The common sense approach used for the decision to declare a tomato as a fruit was that tomatoes aren't eaten as desserts, therefore they couldn't be a fruit. 

Another controversy surroundng the tomato occurred when it was first introduced into the United States during the time that Lincoln was president.  At that time, tomatoes were considered to be poisonous because they are bright red in color.  It is said that the enemies of Lincoln tried to poison him by giving him tomatoes.  Instead, the more tomatoes he ate, the healthier he became.  Who knows if the story has merit or not?

Today we know that tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C.  Time  magazine listed tomatoes as one of the ten best foods for cancer prevention.  And there is something special about a fresh, garden-grown tomato.  So, does it really matter whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable?  Of course not! 

It seems strange to us today that people would get so caught up in such a trivial thing about whether or not a tomato is a fruit or vegetable.  But it seems like we often get caught up in similarly trivial situations in our life.  We all spend too much time concerning ourselves with things that don't really matter when all we should be doing is enjoying the tomato.