The Killer Tomato

It's hard to believe that the tomato has only been a part of the American diet for about 200 years. Even though the tomato is widely eaten, enjoyed, and loved in a variety of forms and dishes, today, it used to be, in fact, believed to be poisonous.

History of the Tomato

Historians believe that the tomato was first cultivated and enjoyed by the native people along the Andes Mountains in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. And later brought to Central America by a pre-historic Indian migration. But somehow the tomato didn't continue its

migration northward and into the states, instead, it took a trip overseas to Europe.

It was in Europe that the tomato got its bad reputation as a poisonous, murderous fruit. What the early Europeans didn't know is that the poison actually came from their lead-painted plates and cups. The acid from tomatoes would cause the lead to seep out and contaminate the food, leading to lead poisoning and death. Luckily, for the tomato, not everyone in Europe ate form fancy lead-painted plates. So while the rich people were dying of lead poisoning, the poor people enjoyed and loved the tomato, and by the mid 16th century, the tomato had been included in a Nepalese cookbook.

It wasn't until the early 1800s, that the tomato finally made its way back overseas and into the United States. But people still believed it to be poisonous. It took a brave and funny man by the name of Robert Johnson to convince people that tomatoes were in fact safe to eat. In 1820, Robert sat on the steps of a New Jersey courthouse eating tomatoes in public. Spectators anxiously crowded around him waiting for him to drop dead, but to their surprise, he didn't.

Growing Popularity

Once people finally excepted the tomato as a safe-to-eat fruit. The tomato's popularity skyrocketed. By the 1850s, the tomato was widely accepted and liked in the United States. In the 1880s, the invention of pizza is what helped boost the acceptance of the tomato in Europe. Similarly, the invention of canned tomatoes and tomato soup by Joseph Campbell in the 1890s boosted the tomato's popularity and consumption in the US. Now the USDA reports that an average person consumes about 20 pounds of fresh tomatoes in a year.

From Killer to Helper

Another reason why the tomato was thought to be poisonous was that it has similar botanical characteristics as nightshade. Although it is true that tomatoes are under the same family as nightshade, they are perfectly fine to eat. In fact, there is a lot to gain from eating tomatoes. Tomatoes are packed with Vitamin C. One medium tomato can provide as much as 40% of the Daily Value (DV) of Vitamin C for the average adult. It also provides as much as 15% DV of Vitamin A, 8% DV of Potassium, and 7 to 10% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of Iron.

Tomatoes also contain anti-inflammatory properties as well as a nutrient called Lycopene, an antioxidant, that comes from the tomato's red pigment. Some researchers say that the Lycopene in tomatoes could be a key factor in combating many health problems such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, and some Cancers. Although not enough evidence has been found to label lycopene as a cure for any disease, it definitely looks to be a step in the right direction. A study done by the University of Athens Medical School has shown that people who follow the Mediterranean Diet, a diet that includes the tomato as a prime ingredient in most dishes and recipes, have lower death rates for heart disease and cancer. Another study was done by the University of Montreal and they saw a correlation between a tomato-rich diet and the reduction of pancreatic cancer in men by 31%.

Fun Fact

Tomatoes are one of the few natural foods that don't significantly decrease in nutrients when cooked and processed. So the tomato sauce on pizza is just as good in nutrients as eating a fresh tomato.

Fruit vs Veggie

To end the fight of whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable, I must say that the tomato is botanically a fruit. However, in the late 1800s, the US Supreme Court ruled tomatoes to be a vegetable so it can be taxed accordingly.

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