Vegetables and Fruits

In 1893, in the case of Nix v. Hedden, the U.S. Supreme Court formally recognized the tomato as a vegetable, thus taxing it according to the 1883 Tariff Act, which placed a duty on imported vegetables. Although the court acknowledged that, botanically speaking, the tomato was a fruit, it stated that in commerce and the common language of the people, the tomato was considered a vegetable and that it was “usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert.”