Gradually tomatoes joined the corn and beans on the Mesoamerican plate and soon they were cultivated as well. Exactly when this happened is not known, but the earliest records indicate tomatoes have been cultivated since 500 B.C. Early tomatoes were probably small and yellow. The ancient Aztecs gave the tomato its name: Tomati means "the swelling fruit."
Spanish explorers not only took New World gold to Europe in the early 1500s, they also brought exotic, new foods, including tomatoes, peppers and pumpkins. The Italians called tomatoes pomi d'oro, apples of gold. The French called them pommes d'amour (apples of love) because they were thought to be aphrodisiacs; eating tomatoes was once forbidden because they were thought to cause too much passion.
In fact, when first introduced, European tomatoes were not grown to be eaten, but, instead, were primarily an ornamental garden plant due to a widely held misconception that they were poisonous because they were related to the deadly nightshade family. Of course, it was the Italians who took that first bold step and started eating tomatoes around 1520.
Surprisingly, the tomato made its circuitous way to North America, not from Central or South America, but, instead, from Europe. Spanish conquistadors introduced tomatoes to Spain in the early 16th century; Europeans brought them back to America in the late 1700s. Founding Father Thomas Jefferson is known to have grown them -- and the rest, you might say, is history! Today, tomatoes are America's most popular vegetable; we eat more than 12 million tons a year.
Tomatoes today are an important part of healthy eating. Those of us who live near the Carrboro Farmers' Market can celebrate tomatoes for much of the year, with as many as 100 varieties to choose from. Yesteryear's small wild tomato hidden in the highlands of prehistoric Peru has evolved into countless varieties of plants that produce tomatoes of all sizes, shapes and colors -- as many as 7500 varieties. Tomatoes are eaten in so many ways by people in so many cultures, it's hard to imagine life without them.
Melanie Raskin is one of 35 volunteers at the Carrboro Farmers Market, which has been bringing local foods to the community for more than 30 years. Open year-round, 60 farmers and artisans sell vegetables, fruit, meats and fowl, canned and baked goods, dried flowers and greenery, cheese and crafts at the Carrboro Town Common Saturdays, 7 a.m. to noon and Wednesdays, 3:30-6:30 p.m. For more information go to carrborofarmersmarket.com. Carrboro Farmers' Market Tomato Day Volunteer Susan Spalt contributed to this column.
