FOOD NEWS
Thomas Jefferson Horrified Dinner Guests By The Way He Ate Tomatoes
by REBECCA CHERICO
Apart from being the United States' third president and the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson also enjoyed being a dinner host.
He loved to wine and dine with his guests, and during one of his soirees, he decided to shock and impress his assembled guests by eating a raw tomato in front of their very eyes.
Tomatoes are part of the nightshade family, which includes some highly toxic members, and it’s thought that some of Jefferson's contemporaries believed tomatoes could be deadly.
It makes for a great headline: Founding Father Boldly Bares Teeth to Tomato — and Lives to Tell the Tale. The only thing is, it may not be true.
It's not clear that tomato eating would have impressed most colonists in the 1700s as a dangerous stunt, though it might have in other times.
Whether or not the tomato tale is true, it is rooted in real facts: Jefferson was an innovative gardener and an early advocate for eating and growing this New World plant.