How Salem, NJ Played a Part in People Everywhere Eating Tomatoes

Did you know there was a time when tomatoes were not a part of our diet?

People avoided them, thinking they were poisonous.

Then someone ate one.

Actually that someone ate more than one. It happened right in South Jersey!

According to the Library of Congress, Salem County, New Jersey was home to something called "the tomato trials" that happened on the steps of the Salem County Courthouse in 1820.

A guy named Colonel Robert Johnson ate a bunch or tomatoes - and didn't die - thus proving tomatoes were safe to eat.

Hold on, the Library of Congress editor who wrote this particular story, says she really can't substantiate the story, because it truly is just a story passed down thru the years.

Hey, we're fine with it! The "fact" has actually been published elsewhere too.

It's pretty cool to know pasta sauce (or is it gravy?) wouldn't exist if it weren't for that day on at the Salem County Courthouse.

Would we be eating Bacon and Lettuce sandwiches?

Go tomato! Go Jersey Tomato!

What I really want to know though, is who looked at a lobster and said, "Let's eat that?"

SOURCE: Library of Congress Blog.