‘How to live longer’ is a question many people want to know the answer to, and many studies have proven what you eat can have a positive effect on longevity. 

Consumers need health information which is clear and unambiguous. Advice to “eat more fruit and vegetables” gives consumers no guidance on the quantities involved. Popular advice is to eat “five portions a day”.

But when it comes to specific foods to eat, which ones are best?

In the late 1700s, a large percentage of Europeans feared the tomato.

It is not difficult to overstate the contribution of tomatoes to our culinary culture.

Imagine how poorer we would be without pizza, marinara sauce, salsa, or any of the countless dishes that rely on the savoury vegetable, although biologically the tomato is a fruit. 

Today, physicians encourage including tomatoes in our diet to provide vital nutrients to our body. 

Until the end of the 18th century, it was a different story. 

Doctors warned that tomato consumption would lead to such maladies as appendicitis and cancer of the stomach. 

Tomatoes were avoided at all costs and believed to be poisonous until one man changed everyone’s mind.

There was one fellow who thought differently. 

Robert Gibbon Johnson. Photo: Wikipedia

Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson of Salem, New Jersey encountered the tomato on his travels and brought some home with him in 1808. He wanted to encourage tomato production in the US and offered awards to anyone who could grow the largest tomato each year. He did not have a lot of takers, however, because of the conventional wisdom about its toxic side effects.

Johnson grew frustrated when his words failed to persuade the public. Finally, he decided on an extreme measure to prove that the fruit of his prize plant was safe to consume. 

As the story is told, on September 26, 1820, Johnson stood on the steps of Salem’s courthouse. As a crowd gathered to watch, Johnson ate an entire basket of tomatoes. 

Everyone watched, with morbid fascination, at what was apparently an attempt to commit suicide in full public view. When Johnson wiped his mouth and patted his full tummy, demonstrating that he suffered no ill effects from his snack, he thus proved the tomato was safe to one and all.