Tomatoes are Evil?

I love tomatoes. My sister hates them. In fact, if she is served a salad with tomatoes she will pick them out piece by piece no matter how finely chopped. So from an early age, I have been aware of this first of two great tomato controversies.

Tomato Controversy #1
People either love tomatoes or hate them. There is no middle ground, no fence sitting. People have very strong opinions about tomatoes, as shown on this website here: www.tomatoesareevil.com

I have since learned, through the wonders of the internet, that tomatoes are of the nightshade family. But wait, isn't nightshade poisonous? Yes, that's right. Well, actually it's the leaves that are poisonous, so don't put those in your salad. With that in mind, perhaps it is not so surprising that tomatoes were considered decorative and inedible until about 1800 in the United States.

The thing is, I have this odd notion that my body is somehow lacking in some nutrient that only a tomato can provide-- some kind of strange tomato deficiency-- and that is why I love the taste of tomatoes so much.

Or maybe it is because vine ripened tomatoes have an increased level of sugar. Hmmm. I'm sticking with my first theory.

Tomato Controversy #2
Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

C'mon, we all know it's a vegetable, right? I mean, it goes in a salad, what more proof do you need?

(The following is shameless lifting from another site).
"Botanically speaking, these "vegetables" are technically botanical fruits because they are seed-bearing structures that develop from the ripened ovaries of flowers."

Okay, so why do we keep insisting it's a vegetable?

(More shameless lifting).
"The controversy over whether a tomato is a fruit or vegetable reached the U.S. Supreme Court. A tariff law that imposed a duty on vegetables but not fruits caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance. On February 4, 1887 action was brought against the collector of the port of New York to recover back duties paid under protest on tomatoes imported by the plaintiff from the West Indies, which the collector assessed under the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883. This controversy was settled in 1893 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the tomato was a vegetable. The Court's official interpretation was based on the popular dictionary definition which classifies a vegetable as something eaten at dinner with your main entree, but not as a dessert. The case is known as Nix v. Hedden, 149 U.S. 304 (May 10, 1893)."


Oh, it's because the Supreme Court says so! Well, I guess we can all sleep better knowing that little controversy is settled once and for all.

However, you'll be relieved to know there are absolutely no controversies associated with ketchup... Oh, wait a minute... Catsup? Or Ketchup? Hmmm.

But no matter how you spell it, everybody loves ketchup, right? I mean, it goes with practically everything, from hotdogs to hashbrowns. I don't think there's much to argue about here-- except for those people who put it in their tuna fish. That's just weird.