Central Ohio Community Birthplace of the Tomato?
Saturday, September 1st, 2007
Reynoldsburg Ohio is of course the “Birthplace of the Tomato.” They say so. Reynoldsburg has the Tomato Festval every year.
Each year I am confused by the evidence from Wikipedia and elsewhere about the tomatoes history:
North America
“The earliest reference to tomatoes being grown in British North America is from 1710, when herbalist William Salmon reported seeing them in what is today South Carolina. They may have been introduced from the Caribbean. By the mid-18th century, they were cultivated on some Carolina plantations, and probably in other parts of the South as well. It is possible that some people continued to think tomatoes were poisonous at this time; and in general, they were grown more as ornamental plants than as food. Cultured people like Thomas Jefferson, who ate tomatoes in Paris and sent some seeds home, knew the tomato was edible, but many of the less well-educated did not.”
And that’s after all the stuff about tomatoes in Europe, Mexico….
Even Wikipedia’s Reynoldsburg entry says:
“Reynoldsburg is known as “The Birthplace of the Tomato” and the “Tomato Festival” is held there every September. Every year there is a Tomato Festival Queen.”
The 2007 Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival is September 5th to September 9th according to the Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival site.
Columbus, Christopher Columbus was one of the first that did not think the world was flat…. Columbus finding the new world must have been responsible for the tomato native to Mexico going back to Europe. Reyoldsburg is a suburb of Columbus… so it all fits together. Kinda sorta.
