Can you imagine pizza or spaghetti without tomato sauce? Fries without ketchup? Greek salad without tomatoes? What a horrible world this would be, huh?
That could be the case, if our red little "friends" were found to be guilty back on June 28 of 1820 in Salem, New Jersey, when they were accused for being "poisonous outlaws."
The Menu of the Day
Almost 200 years ago, some folks suggested that tomatoes were poisonous "outlaws" that murdered their poor, innocent fans who loved to eat them. Funnily, some other folks would even claim that tomatoes were pure evil and that's why they are red just like the devil.
One of the fruit’s earliest cultivators named John Gerard, was the person who started the rumor that tomatoes were poisonous and could be deadly, because they contained low levels of the toxic chemical tomatine. He wasn't entirely lying though. Indeed, tomatoes contain very low levels of tomatine – a glycoalkaloid found in the stems and leaves of tomato plants.
However, Mr. Gerard forget to mention a very IMPORTANT information: the levels of this glycoalkaloid in tomatoes is so ridiculously low that the fruit could never be dangerous. In spite of that, Gerard’s theories became so wildly popular that there was a true "tomato-hunt" in England and its North American colonies.
The Aftermath
Happily for all of us who love and freely consume tomatoes today, a New Jersey farmer going by the cool name Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson, decided to take action and solve the issue for good. During the harvest of 1820, he publicly consumed a big, juicy tomato on the courthouse steps in Salem. The judges waited for him to die instantly, but after a couple of hours Mr. Johnson was still alive and healthy staring at them like a true champion.
The judges decided to triumphantly declare the tomato's innocence by stating, "Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson ingested a tomato without incident." Soon after this incident, people in all over the Western world began consuming tomatoes fearlessly, while tomato became (and still is) the first and only fruit in recorded history to ever be put on trial as a criminal.
References:
Belief that the tomato is poisonous was disproven
A Tomato Was Put on Trial in New Jersey in 1820
Being A SteemStem Member
I once met a girl who is allergic to tomatoes. For her, I'm sure she considers the tomato a criminal, as she could potentially die just from the symptoms she experiences after she eats a tomato or any tomato-based food.
I felt sorry for her. I think that a life without pizza or even marinara sauce is a bleak life indeed.
Great post, as usual. It's now my daily routine to start my morning with a fresh cup of coffee as I log onto here and read your wacky facts. :-)
Awwww and I just powered up (I sold all my steem dollars for steem power) and my vote gives 10 cents ...so you got a daily income there honey lol
Great story,so we have Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson to thank for tomato's hot being evil.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much, mate :)
I think that if I only had a "Colonel" in front of my name then I would get a lot more credit for all the poison I've had to swallow in my time :-)
Colonel Once Uponatime. Nice ring to it too!
LOL... Colonel Once Uponatime I will admit that this sounds like the second coolest name (including Colonel) I ever heard. However, let's be honest....When it comes to Colonels, this guy will always be on top :P
He only has first mover advantage. I WILL disrupt!
Ok, that's one of the best names I have ever heard! "Colonel Once Uponatime"!!!
I would even give you a medal, in honor of your name ;)
If only I had a chest to pin it upon :-)
Lol.. I do not know about you but I was hungry when I saw the picture of KFC :p
It has delicious chicken..
I think the smell of KFC is overwhelmingly seductive, so I often succumb to going in to eat and am so disappointed by the mundane taste which never lives up to the smell. I think they must spray some odour pheromones into the exhaust outlet to fill the air outside the store with an irresistible smell.
I agree with you... I can not resist....general all junk food have very nice smell and taste maybe also spray to attract customers..
it's such an awesome,way of thinking, i would never think that way in a million years
love this post
Thank you :)
So Delicious
Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
Fruit, dear
τελος καλο ολα καλα παντως :p