Fruit or Vegetable? Let the court decide.

[vaking]

Botanically speaking, a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant, i.e. a fruit. However, from a culinary perspective the tomato is typically served as a meal, or part of a main course of a meal, meaning that it would be considered a vegetable (a culinary term which has no botanical meaning).

This argument has led to actual legal implications in the United States. In 1887, U.S. tariff laws which imposed a duty on vegetables but not on fruits caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance. The U.S. Supreme Court settled this controversy in 1893, declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, using the popular definition which classifies vegetable by use, that they are generally served with dinner and not dessert. The case is known as Nix v. Hedden.

It should be noted that strictly speaking the holding of the case applies only to the interpretation of the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883 and not much else. The court does not purport to reclassify tomato for botanical or for any other purpose other then paying a tax under a tariff act.

In concordance with this classification, the tomato has been proposed as the state fruit of New Jersey.

[just4funsies]

Using this same logic, all varieties of cucumbers, okra, squash, beans and peppers are fruits, too.

[scmhogg]

Alex,

That's what you get when you let the court decide.

The best argument, I ever heard, by a Judge in a settlement conference, went like this: [addressed to the parties] "You two should get together and decide how to divide your things, if you leave it up to me to decide, there's no telling how I might rule." [Judge's eyebrows raise and a slight smirk appears on his face!]

They settled.

Steve

[BobSch]

Wasn't there a big flap over school lunches several years ago when it was decided that ketchup should be counted as a vegetable because it was made from tomatoes?

[thestinker]

Wow...no wonder it takes months to get a court date. They are all busy deciding wother something is animal, veg, or mineral!!!!

[germdoc]

I don't like to think I'm eating a plant's ovaries...

Course that's better than eating Rocky Mountain oysters!

[BobSch]

I don't like to think I'm eating a plant's ovaries...

Course that's better than eating Rocky Mountain oysters!

Took a lot of cojones to admit that.

[bigsteel15]

I don't like to think I'm eating a plant's ovaries...

Course that's better than eating Rocky Mountain oysters!

Never did try them. Smell too much like liver when they are frying.
My buddys dad always said they were best fresh cut and still warm into the pan..

[Larryl]

I don't like to think I'm eating a plant's ovaries...

Course that's better than eating Rocky Mountain oysters!

Depends on how the're prepared, and of course, the brand and quanty of beer being served.

[JSUPreston]

I don't like to think I'm eating a plant's ovaries...

Course that's better than eating Rocky Mountain oysters!

Man, you are are nuts for admitting that you've eaten those.

[LCHIEN]

Ah, Rocky Mtn Oysters.

I was on a business trip with my boss, we were in the "field" in the mountain states and
took the client, who was spending big bucks with us, to dinner.
He wanted to order Rocky Mountain oysters appetizer when he saw them on the menu.

We had them and they were OK. When we finished and got the entrees
I asked him how he liked the R.M.O's. He went on for several minutes about how he thought they differed from Pacific and Atlantic oysters
and it became quite clear he had no idea!

But he being the client, I glanced at my boss and bit my lip to keep from grinning and I think he did, too. Later we shared a laugh. We never did tell him what he ate.

[just4funsies]

That was just NUTS!!