As a corollary to the First Amendment’s freedom of speech, could we at least have a strong suggestion to listen?
I don’t mean to just zip it, and fidget until it’s our turn to parrot our side’s bumper-sticker; but to really listen.
That might be the most revolutionary change in this country since 1776.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Tomatoes: Vegetable or Fruit?
Those who consider tomatoes a vegetable can cite support from an unexpected source. It was legally declared such by the US Supreme Court in 1893 (Nix v. Hedden).
During the Civil War, when Union markets were cut off from Confederate produce, this need was backfilled by growers in the Caribbean. After the end of Reconstruction, a tariff was placed on imported vegetables, to help southern growers recover. The application of tariff to tomatoes was challenged, on the basis that tomatoes are a fruit (indisputable from a botanical perspective, less so in culinary practice).
In 1893, the Supreme Court put culinary usage (and powerful agricultural interests) ahead of science, and declared that, legally at least, tomatoes are vegetables.
This is the same court which had ruled seven years earlier that corporations are people (Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad), so their tendency to weigh commercial interests over reality was already established.
During the Civil War, when Union markets were cut off from Confederate produce, this need was backfilled by growers in the Caribbean. After the end of Reconstruction, a tariff was placed on imported vegetables, to help southern growers recover. The application of tariff to tomatoes was challenged, on the basis that tomatoes are a fruit (indisputable from a botanical perspective, less so in culinary practice).
In 1893, the Supreme Court put culinary usage (and powerful agricultural interests) ahead of science, and declared that, legally at least, tomatoes are vegetables.
This is the same court which had ruled seven years earlier that corporations are people (Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad), so their tendency to weigh commercial interests over reality was already established.
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