1. The tomato has a lot of information about it and it will most likely have much more to come as new species are found and now a day even genetically created. People have done research and learned many things about tomatoes like their agriculture, economic impact, cultural impact and social impact. One controversy, other than the pronunciation of course, is whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable? Well in an article found on tomato.org states,”… more widely known as a vegetable. Botanically, a tomato (Solanum lycopersicum,) is the ovary of a flowering plant, therefore it is a fruit, or, more specifically, a berry.”(par.1). The actual origin of the tomato was believed to be in Peru which is in South America, and used by the Aztecs for food. There is a bit of controversy on who had actually brought the plant to North America as read in an article on hort.wisc.edu stating, ” Some believe Spanish explorer Cortez may have been the first to transfer the small yellow tomato to Europe after he captured the Aztec city of Tenochtítlan in 1521, now Mexico City. Yet others believe Christopher Columbus, an Italian working for the Spanish monarchy, discovered the tomato earlier in 1493.”(par.2). When it was first discover it was thought to also be poisonous do to the plant itself looking like a form of deadly nightshade which made people skeptical on whether or not it was really safe to eat. Not only do we find out that the tomato is not poisonous although it is actually healthy for you and filled with vitamins. A study was actually done to determine the medical use of lycopene found in tomatoes in the article on hort.wisc.edu it states the benefits of the lycopene, “Lycopene found in tomatoes is being studied as a potent carotenoid (anti-oxidant) a molecule, which protects against cancer-causing free radicals. Many studies confirm people who eat large amounts of tomatoes experience a reduced risk of cancer. Tomato breeders at the University of Florida are producing high lycopene cultivars found in L. pimpinellifolium (currant tomato) containing 40 times more lycopene than domesticated tomatoes. “(par.6). Now that we know about how it helps people medically and how we first discovered it lets talk a little about how we market this “miracle fruit” that can help prevent cancer. Today tomatoes are grown and eaten all over the world making around 125 billion tons a year. China is the largest producer of tomatoes followed by the United States, Turkey, India, and Egypt. In today’s market there is a huge demand for organic and heirloom tomatoes which are being offered as seed from seed merchants. The tomato today has come a long way then its ancestors in Peru and is most likely healthier due to our advances in botanic genetics. We learned today how the tomato is not a vegetable rather it is actually a berry and how this tasty berry first came to the North America. We learned the healthy and medical uses of the tomato which could prevent cancer and other diseases which could have us all saying, “A tomayto or tomahto a day will keep the doctor away.” Tomatoes are used for a lot more then what most people thought and maybe people can just keep finding more and more uses for it for the days to come. Tomatoes are used every day in hundreds of recipes including my personal favorite pizza. The tomato is the main ingredient in the sauce that is put on the pizza. This sauce is also used for other things like pasta, chicken parmesan, and eggplant parmesan to name only a few. There is one tomato recipe that is used most of all this is the recipe so that more people can learn to cook this delicious sauce, NO. 9. TOMATO SAUCE Cook for 10 minutes one pint of tomatoes peeled and chopped or canned; put through a sieve; melt 4 tablespoons butter; rub in 4 tablespoons flour; add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper; add the tomato, and cook until it thickens.(George W. Carver) This recipe is used all the time in order to make sauce for the entire world. While tomatoes can be used in many different recipes and eaten in different ways some people don’t really know the healthy properties of the tomato. The tomato is such a delicious food people don’t even think about the health of it sometimes which could be very beneficial. The secret to this “magical” fruit is something that is found inside of it called lycopene. There were 72 studies conducted to prove how the lycopene in a tomato can help prevent disease and even cancer, A review of 72 different studies showed consistently that the more tomatoes and tomato products people eat, the lower their risks of many different kinds of cancer. The secret may lie in lycopene, the chemical that makes tomatoes red. As a powerful antioxidant, lycopene helps neutralize harmful free radicals, which are implicated in cancer, heart disease, macular degeneration and other age-related illnesses. The evidence for a benefit was strongest for cancers of the prostate, lung, and stomach.(pr.2&3) The tomato is eaten by all who love them and they are inexpensive so they can also be bought by all. The tomato does not really have a correct way of eating it rather it has many different ways it can be cooked and eaten and does not require certain table manners to eat it correctly or “the right way”. Many families eat these healthy fruits each day which benefits them across the United States and even the world. The tomato is a very useful fruit and has many different varieties of ways to cook and eat it. This fruit can also help with people’s lives making them healthier and also preventing diseases for years to come. If tomatoes were to be consumed by more people than we would have a happier and healthier world. We know of another food that is in our culture, turkey, and the reason is thanksgiving, or the start of the Americas, but is there significance to the tomato as well? If so, how can people find out more about it? Many people know that the tomato is used in many different dishes and there is a food that everyone knows about and a lot of people love, which has the tomato in it. The food that is being talked about is pizza. Almost every American in their lifetime has had to have at least one slice of pizza whether the love it or don’t like it everyone has tried it at least once, which also means they have eaten a tomato. People eat pizza all the time in America and it has grown to be part of our culture as these statistics show, “93% of Americans eat AT LEAST one pizza per month. (Source: Bolla Wines.) 66.66% of Americans order pizza for a casual evening with friends. (Source: Bolla Wines.) Each man, woman and child in America eats and average of 46 slices, (23 pounds), of pizza per year. (Source: Packaged Facts, New York.) Italian food ranks as the most popular ethnic food in America. (Source: National Restaurant Association.) “(http://pizzaware.com/facts.htm). This shows how much pizza has really become a part of our culture which in turn means that the tomato has as well. The tomato has come a long way through time from being deemed poisonous to now a day where it is actually healthy for us which shows how much it has become a part of our culture and many others. Other countries make and sell millions of tomatoes every year. Our culture does not have a specific day for the tomato although it is part of Americans’ everyday life. It is in a lot of things that people eat every day such as marinara sauce , ketchup, and it even has its own tomato juice all filled with healthy vitamins. The tomato is just as much a part of our culture as the thanksgiving turkey is although it is not as famous because it does not have its own day of the year to be celebrated. The tomato may have its own day soon with its life saving properties and with all the people that love and enjoy them every day. If the tomato was given its own day it would become more a part of our culture. Tomatoes are a very interesting fruit and have much information to research the topic on. In the future there will be much more to say about this “magical fruit” as long as people keep eating it and it keeps making them healthier and healthier it will be talked about for years and years to come and there will be new recipes and maybe even new species of the wonderful fruit. Works Cited http://tomato.org/ http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/features/vegetables/tomatoes/tomorigin/tomato%20origin.htm http://health.learninginfo.org/health-benefits-tomato.htm http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/recipes/carvertomato.html http://pizzaware.com/facts.htm