I learned from a professor yesterday that the tomato, though technically a fruit, is legally designated as a vegetable. Yes, folks, a court of law took it upon themselves to decide whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. The case has not been overruled, so it is, I presume, still good law:
Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas. But in the common language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions, all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert.
Nix v. Hedden 149 U.S. 304, *307, 13 S.Ct. 881, **882 (U.S.1893)
What does this say about our justice system?
I think the decision is asinine, but grounded. People expect all fruits to be sweet.
ReplyDeleteIsn't "Vegetable" a made up designation anyways? Plants bear fruits, these are picked, and then the grocer seperates them into "fruits" and "vegetables".
ReplyDeleteThere is a clear botanical distinction between fruits and vegetables.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/bot00/bot00283.htm
Question - Why is a tomato a fruit and not a vegetable? More
generally, what is the difference between a vegetable and a fruit?
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Generally, a fleshy growth originating from a flower and carry seeds is
considered a fruit. So a gourd or cucumber or pea pod is a fruit too.
A potato fails because it does not come from the flower and is part of the
root, cabbage and spinach and is leaves and stems, etc.
Don Yee
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Please refer to previous answers to this famous question:
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~robsond/solutions/horticulture/docs/tomato.html
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutother/tomato
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question143.htm
Anthony R. Brach, Ph.D.
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Botanically speaking, anything that bears seeds is a fruit. The fruit forms
from the reproductive part of the plant, i.e., the flower. The ovary of the
flower becomes the fruit and inside the seeds form. So a tomato comes from
the flower and inside are the seeds. So it is a fruit. A nut is a seed and
the shell is the fruit. Anything from a part of the plant that is not the
flower is vegetative, i.e., does not reproduce. So leaves, stems and roots
are vegetables. So lettuce, carrots and potatoes are vegetables.
vanhoeck
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A fruit is a seed bearing structure derived from the flower, and is not
necessarily edible. A "vegetable" in human dietary terms, is any edible,
non-seed bearing part of a plant.
J. Elliott