Are Tomatoes a Fruit or a Vegetable? (And How to Use the Tomato Strategy to Win Against All Odds)
By: Ankesh Kothari
Are tomatoes a fruit or a vegetable?
1. Botanical Scientists Say:
Anything with seeds is a fruit. Tomatoes have seeds in them. So they are a fruit.
2.The Cooks Say:
Not so fast. If we just go along with the seeds, cucumbers, corn, green beans and walnuts would come under fruits too.
Practical definition of an object comes from how it is used, not from what it has. From function – not form. Because tomatoes are used in savoury and not in sweet cooking – and are never served as desserts, they are not fruits. They are vegetables.
3. What does the law say?
Its 1883 and USA has enacted the Tariff Act. Taxes are imposed on imported vegetables. But not on imported fruits. Edward Hedden is the collector of port of New York. And he levies taxes on imported tomatoes.
So in 1887, the Nix family sues Edward Hedden for levying taxes on a fruit.
In 1893, the case reaches the US Supreme court. Both sides bring out their dictionaries and expert witnesses. After some consideration, the Supreme Court makes its decision:
(The US Supreme Court gives a reason saying that in common speech, tomatoes are vegetables. But critics say that if taxes were levied on fruits only and not on vegetables, the Supreme Court would then claim that tomatoes are fruits.)
Final verdict:
in USA at least, tomatoes are vegetables by law. Scientifically, you can call them fruits. But in supermarkets, you’ll never find tomatoes placed near apples and bananas and other such fruits because practically, tomatoes are used as vegetables.
(In essence, there is no final verdict. We will always have dinner table discussions debating whether tomatoes are fruits or vegetables.)
Notwithstanding if tomatoes are fruits or vegetables; did you know that tomatoes are one of the most popular plant foods grown?
Tomatoes Soaring Popularity
If you consider tomatoes as fruits, it’s the highest produced fruit in the world. Bananas – the number two fruit – lag behind tomatoes by a mighty 25%!
And if you consider tomatoes as vegetables, only potatoes, beans and sugarcane (for sugar) beat tomatoes in production.
That’s an astounding achievement considering:
1. Besides tomato soup, tomatoes aren’t the sole main ingredient for any other dishes
2. When you ask people what their favourite fruit or vegetable is, you will never ever hear tomatoes!
Tomatoes have become this popular not because they’re liked by all. But because they’re not unliked by anyone! Tomatoes are the best # 2 out there. They are the ultimate sidekick. Tomatoes popularity lies in going with everything.
Just like Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln Uses The Tomato Strategy to Become the President of USA
Its 1860, and the Republican Party in USA has to select their presidential nominee.
Every one thinks that William Seward – the senator from New York will win the nomination with ease. He is the most popular candidate by far.
There are a few other candidates too. Notable amongst them are Edward Bates of Missouri and Salmon Chase of Ohio. One comparatively unknown candidate from Illinois joins the race too: Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln knew that he wouldn’t be able to become the favourite choice of the majority of the delegates. Many delegates are too loyal to Seward, Bates and Chase already. But Lincoln also knows that no candidate has majority backing either.
So Lincoln decides on a strategy to become the number 2 choice of the highest number of delegates! His strategy is to give offence to no one. He wants to leave the delegates “in the mood to come to us, if they shall be compelled to give up their first love.”
So while Seward, Bates and Chase concentrate only on their core constituency, Lincoln travels the country – willing to go anywhere to give speeches. For eg: When Seward is on a trip to Europe and Cooper Union in New York is looking for a Republican to give a speech to its audience, Salmon Chase declines the invitation thinking that he can make no in-roads in New York – Seward’s state. But Abraham Lincoln jumps on the chance in a jiffy!
The Fight For the Nomination
May 18, 1960 comes. It’s the day when Republican delegates nominate their presidential candidate. A candidate requires at least 233 votes to win. In the first round, the results are:
- Seward: 173½ votes
- Lincoln: 102 votes
- Chase: 49 votes
- Bates: 48 votes
Seward has the lead with a very good margin. But things change quickly during the second round when people start changing their votes to select one sole winner.
In round 2, Seward receives 184½ votes – hardly moving ahead. But Lincoln makes huge strides and receives 181 votes – only 3½ votes behind Seward. Both Chase and Bates lose ground and the match is now between Seward and Lincoln alone.
But over the years, Seward has made quite a few enemies. And not many people like him outside his core constituency. Where as, Lincoln has spent a lot of time making sure he is the number 2 choice of the majority of the delegates. And so, in round 3, Lincoln quickly gains the lead and crosses 233 votes to become nominated as the Republican Presidential candidate!
After the Republican delegation, many people are shocked and surprised to know that Seward – who is a house hold name – lost to Lincoln who is comparatively unknown. Many think that Lincoln won due to trickery.
But Lincoln wins because he adopts an approach of becoming the best number 2 man out there and offending no one. His competitors – although more well known than him, lose because even though they have more friends, they have more enemies too.
“Lincoln was considered less radical than Seward and Chase, but less conservative than Bates. He was less offensive than Seward to the Know Nothings, but more acceptable than Bates to the German-Americans.” – Doris Kearns (Historian and author of “Team of Rivals – The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.”
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Action Summary:
- If the competition is stiff, and you’re not the first one on the scene – instead of trying to become the number one choice of people, position yourself to become the best number 2 choice out there.
- Because everyone else will be vying for the number 1 spot, the competition for the number 2 spot will be next to nothing.
- To become the best number 2 out there, you have to implement the strategy of increasing your reach without offending anyone.
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In USA, the Saturday after Thanksgiving is the day when most number of tomatoes are sold in the year. How come? Because everyone makes sandwiches out of Thanksgiving leftovers. And they need tomatoes for these sandwiches!
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Avis became the no.1 car rental company because of their “We’re No.2 so we try harder” campaign. And they kept on using the same campaign for a long time even after they had become no.1!
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“If we just go along with the seeds, cucumbers, corn, green beans and walnuts would come under fruits too.”
Uhh, that’s because they are.
Thanks Teknetos. Botanically speaking, you are 100% correct.
But culinary-ly speaking, a great many “fruits” are considered as vegetables and nuts and even grains.
Botanically speaking there is no such thing as a vegetable. Vegetable is a culinary term, which makes the argument sort of bizarre.
Whether or not tomato is a vegetable, Whether or not people like tomatoes……..this post is awesome. Keep the good work going Ankesh. Believe it or not, nontoxin.com is not one of my bookmarks. I expect you to post more frequently. Thanx.
I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.
Thank You Mike!
I never knew that about walnuts! Oh, and you forgot about spaghetti sauce! Still, good point. I mean, I wonder who actually has the most power right now, the vice president of the US or the actual president?
Thanks Michelle.
I’m too ignorant of the current American politics to know who is more powerful – the president or the vice president.
But to know that, I would – without prejudice – look at: 1. Who has more friends and followers. 2. Who is getting more things done.
Gandhi was thus more powerful even though he didn’t hold any office in the government of India.
I like this intentional strategy of being number two. People use it extensively in PPC marketing, and now I’ll be keeping an eye out for all of the other places I’m sure it’s used regularly.
Thanks Sarah.
Unfortunately, the strategy of focusing on being # 2 is not used as much as it should be… because every one wants to become # 1.
But when the market is crowded and you’re not the first one on the scene, focusing on being # 2 is actually the fastest way of becoming # 1 in the field!
Btw – you’ve got a very cool website over there!
There are numerous people that don’t like tomatoes. This is just tomato growers lobby propaganda. – benjamin koshkin
Hehe
Actually – my intention for writing this piece was… I wanted to call Lincoln a tomato
But funds from tomato growers lobby are accepted over here!
(Disclosure: I’m not sure but I think Ben’s not serious. I certainly am not serious with this comment of mine.)
I do not like tomatoes. Is there something wrong with me? William Michael Adkinson
Thanks Mike
You don’t like tomatoes. But is it true that you don’t even like foods made out of tomatoes?
No ketchup? No salsa? No pizza gravy? No pav bhaji (Indian dish)?
I actually know a couple of people who don’t like raw tomatoes. But they can’t live without ketchup. Maybe I should have been a bit more clearer… ah well!
I’m one of the people who don’t like tomatoes but still happily eats spaghetti and pizza sauce. For me, it’s a texture thing, so I don’t like chunky salsa, but smooth hot sauce is great.
I think the point about it being number two is almost more relevant because even people who “don’t like” tomatoes still often consume them in other things.
Until very recently I did not like tomatoes. I now can only eat fresh ones. Old ones are difficult to pallet. However I have always liked cooking with tomatoes, especially for salsa. I have several recipes with tomatoes on my website at Casual Chefs
I was always told that it isn’t just that they have seeds but if the seeds were visible(fruit) and not part of the eating equation ex: if you eat the seed (making it a vegetable)
For example corn “seeds”(kernels) are visible, making it a fruit… but it’s the part you eat, therefore making it a vegetable.
Cucumbers…you see the seeds, therefore a fruit and you eat the seeds…but the seeds aren’t the only part you eat…there’s “meat” and skin (if you eat the skin) much like a watermelon…making it a vegetable…
Peas…are the seed, therefore a vegetable.
I dunno about the science behind these statements..this is just what my science teacher taught us….
I cut and pasted in the wrong spot for one of my paragraphs, here’s the correction…
Cucumbers…you see the seeds, therefore a fruit but you eat the seeds…making it a vegetable…but the seeds aren’t the only part you eat…there’s “meat” and skin (if you eat the skin) much like a watermelon…which is a fruit (visible seeds but you don’t eat the seeds)
I know lots of people who don’t like tomatoes and a couple of people whose favorite vegetable is tomatoes.
To be more technical, a Tomato is a berry.
Actually, tomato is a berry!
Wow, what an awesome post. So full of useful information and curious insight. I love the bit about Avis. They knew they were the underdogs, and they used it to their advantage. Instead of griping about not being number one, they admitted where they were, yet disclosed the benefits of being number two, and it worked.
I like tomatoes
Wow Abraham Lincoln truly was a tomato, who would have thought calling someone a tomato would be such great praise. Great article, and the absurdness of it all actually makes sense.
if you ask tomato a fruit or a vegetable? it depend, if you using to cook then you can say tomato a vegetable? but if you eat or make a juice tomato then it’s a fruit. but if tomato using on politic then it was a strategy (hopes it not worse)
i am confused on this topic,in sm books describe it as fruit n sm vegetable
Nice to topic to read. Keep up the good work you are doing. I have subscribed to your RSS Non Toxic Feed. Should keep me healthy.
Cheers,
Santosh Puthran
Management Accountant Blog
Ankesh,
You’ve managed to take an old and trite argument and use it to illustrate a useful (and obviously powerful point).
I consider myself a fairly well read American history buff, but I didn’t know the dynamics behind Lincoln’s win.
You mentioned tomatoes are never used as deserts. I remember well eating green tomato pie as a child. The flavor is similar to gooseberry pie… tart but sweet.
Thanks,
Rod
Lincoln was a Tomato! Very clever analogy. I never really thought about the idea of trying for second before but now I see that it makes sense. I never get to the line first so this might be a good strategy for someone like me.
Tomayto, Tomahto.. who cares.. they’re still delicious any way you slice them.
Good post.
One typo in “May 18, 1960 comes. It’s the day when Republican delegates” it should be 1860 not 1960.
Nice blog. I would rate this one over all the other. (I have read all of them)
I might want to make a small change:
“May 18, 1960 comes. It’s the day when Republican delegates nominate their presidential candidate. A candidate requires at least 233 votes to win. In the first round, the results are:”
The date should read 1860.
cheers
Interesting read, Thanks
Brilliant Post Ankesh! So it’s ends up saying that Way to be no.1 is to be no.2 before.
Hey Ankesh,
I know another dish or rather drink in which a tomato is the main ingredient… Why ofcourse its bloody mary! And I bet more people drink bloody mary than tomato soup!!
but nice read!! keep up the good work!!
I agree that this is one of your best articles till now…
Perhaps it’s a cultural thing. I believe that tomatoes and cucumbers are vegetables. Everything with seeds is a fruit?? What about a paprika? A known vegetable with seeds inside… Or are paprikas now a fruit, too? lol