THE SCHIZOPHRENIC SOUTH ARKANSAS VINE RIPE PINK TOMATO

By Taken by fir0002 | flagstaffotos.com.au Canon 20D +
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 (Own work)
 [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)],
 via Wikimedia Commons

The official state fruit of Arkansas is the South Arkansas vine ripe pink tomato.

The official state vegetable of Arkansas is the South Arkansas vine ripe pink tomato.

Well, which is it? The South Arkansas vine ripe pink tomato cannot be both a fruit and vegetable, can it?

Yes it can. Botanically, a tomato is a fruit, as it is the fleshy thingie on the tomato plant which holds the seeds. However, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, a tomato is a vegetable. In one of its many decisions where the Court chose to ignore reality in order to achieve a desired result, it determined in 1893 that a tomato was usually not served as a dessert like many fruits were. Therefore, according to the Court, notwithstanding the scientific evidence to the contrary, the tomato was thus a vegetable and subject to a ten percent tariff on vegetable imports.