The Trouble with Tomatoes

For as long as mankind can remember the world has been filled with unanswerable questions. Is there a God?, What is the meaning of life?, and is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? For centuries scholars and the general public have been divided over this seemingly basic question. Families destroyed. Relationships fractured. All in the name of the humble tomato.

As is common practice in great theological debates such as this, one often turns to science for clarity on the subject. Officially the tomato is recognised as a fruit, part of the berry family. The tomato is made up of the ovary, seeds and pericarp (edible layer on the tomato). This is in contrast to a vegetable where the edible part consists of the root, stem, or leaves of the plant.

Anatomy of a fruit

Unfortunately for us the answer is not as simple as science would have us believe. In the Tariff Act of 1883 the U.S Supreme Court ruled that the tomato should be considered a vegetable because it is used like a vegetable. Clearly the decision of the Supreme Court trumps any scientific basis for categorising things. When has the U.S Supreme Court ever been wrong? This decision was to have drastic consequences for the world, sparking a conflict that still rages to this day across dinner tables and kitchens.



The tomato is not alone in its absurd classifications. As defined in European Law the carrot is considered as a fruit for the purposes of jam classifications. Strawberries and raspberries are not botanically considered berries because they have more than one ovary. In fact fruits that fall under the berry category include the watermelon, avocado, and banana

So the answer to the most important philosophical question of our time ultimately comes down to, where you live, if you are a botanist, and if you really care.

But wait, if a tomato is considered a fruit, is ketchup technically a smoothie?