Shiny, Red Decorations

In colonial times, farmers grew plump red tomatoes. Incredibly, no one ate them. Instead, tomatoes were used as decorations. Most people believed that tomatoes were deadly poison.

Well before colonial times, the Aztecs in Central American and the Incas in South America first grew tomatoes. Wild tomato plants can still be found in Peru's mountains. Hundreds of years later, Cortez discovered tomatoes in gardens in Mexico. But tomatoes did not come from Mexico. Spanish explorers brought tomatoes back to Europe and the Caribbean. From there, early colonists brought them to America.

Except for its fruit, all parts of a tomato plant are poisonous. Early botanists noticed that the tomato plant closely resembled a poisonous plant known as deadly nightshade. Later, a European botanist classified the tomato as a "wolf peach". This name linked the misunderstood tomato to poison and werewolf superstition. Much later, botanists changed their views and renamed the tomato the "edible peach".

Why did people believe that tomatoes were poisonous? Until the 1800s, rich people ate with pewter flatware off pewter plates. Acidic foods, like tomatoes, caused lead to leach out of the pewter into their food. This caused lead poisoning and death. Poor people ate from wooden plates, so they were not afraid to eat tomatoes.

By the 1800s, tomato seeds were sold in catalogs. It seemed like everyone was growing them by the year 1824. Joseph Campbell built his empire on tomato soup. Tomato ketchup became extremely popular. By the turn of the 20th century, waves of European immigrants brought tomato recipes to North America. Tomatoes were absorbed into American kitchens. Now, the average American eats twenty pounds of tomatoes per year.









- - - - - - - - - -
© Don Johnston Incorporated
For use with Protocol in Accommodations for Reading (PAR) by DeCoste & Wilson
donjohnston.com/par