1893: Nix v. Hedden found the Supreme Court of the United States in a precarious position of having to decide whether the tomato was a fruit or a vegetable. 

Circa 2003ish. I found myself in a precarious position when, upon making it to the third round in a series of incredibly intense interviews for a job I coveted, I was asked what my favorite fruit was, and, meaning to impress with my savvy, I answered, the TOMATO. What I didn’t realize at the time was that when the VP corrected me to say the tomato was, in fact, not a fruit and was a vegetable, he was not looking for me to defend my answer and quote SCOTUS Justice Horace Gray’s decision, in which he stated that “botanically speaking, tomatoes are fruits of a vine” and (here is probably where I lost the opportunity to progress in the interview process) “common language of the people…these are vegetables”. VPs don’t like to be told they are common- and quite honestly, neither, I believe, does the tomato…

In Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World, William Alexander takes us on a journey of the evolution and travels of the fruit/vegetable that has more drama than any “housewives of….” or high school locker room! 

Reading this book took me longer than Atlas Shrugged on a warm summer day (ok, at least a week, and still a favorite for many reasons) -but not because it is a difficult read. It’s under 300 pages and easy to get through. What took me so long to read this text, which went seamlessly from an intriguing novel to a textbook, was all the notes I felt compelled to jot down, the endless stops to go and research the Museo del Pomodoro- yes there is an entire museum dedicated to the tomato! Dr. Phelps’ “tomato pills,” which promised to be a cure-all at the height of the cholera epidemic, urban legends that countries, regions, companies, and generations of communities hold onto like it’s their family Bible. 

It is all so intriguing- who would have thought there was so much history, economics, politics, and art (did Warhol’s Campbell’s soup series pop in your mind?) of all things, that have been directly affected by this thing we still can’t agree on how best to enjoy it (hint: no right or wrong answer- although I vote for, in the field, right off the vine!)

We won’t give away all the great tidbits of the book, but suffice it to say that this book will most certainly be one that I read again and again as we continue to build the movement of ReGenXer, where we work together to elevate our local farmers utilizing a foundation of Regenerative Agriculture. 

You can be a part of the movement! Got Dirt? Get Soil is more than a catchphrase. It is a way of thinking, remembering, and reviving indigenous knowledge paired with the latest scientific discoveries. 

There is no Planet B- while it is great to learn and discover other planetary orbs- let’s do all we can to take care of the one we have! Like the tomato itself, we hope to evolve, change shape and flavor and application….

In order to get the full scope of this mysterious fruit/vegetable, I must really dig into all available information, so I’m off to track down where I can watch “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” – how did I miss out on that classic?!