Tomatoes were once known as wolf peaches, and until around 1820, they were thought to be deadly poisonous! Through most of the 1800’s, tomato were considered a fruit, and according to botanists, the tomato is a fruit.

On September 26, 1820 Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson went to Salem, New Jersey, stood on the courthouse steps making a spectacle of himself eating one tomato after another while the crowd watched in amazement. Folks were sure he'd drop dead at any moment! He didn't.

Fruit or vegetable? On May 10, 1893, the Supreme Court of the United States set forth a ruling that legally made the tomato a vegetable. The reasoning behind this ruling was not based on science; it was to induce the ability to collect tax dollars. At that time, vegetables were taxable, fruits were not.

Along comes fruit merchant Joseph Campbell in 1897. With the help of a chemist, they developed a method of condensing tomatoes. Soon to be... a popular canned soup sold by Joseph Campbell & Co.

It's been a couple centuries since the tomato eating demonstration, but as verity verses myth continues so does Cousin Mary Jane. She looks to Colonel Johnson for inspiration in knowing it took a lot of years for public opinion to accept tomatoes as a delicious nutritious food.

Next time you're munchin' on a grill cheese sandwich with a cup of tomato soup, thank Colonel Johnson for that yummy combo. Just like Cousin Mary Jane boasts that hemp seeds are not marijuana; he was the guy who was compelled to prove tomatoes were not the belladonna they had been led to believe.

Cousin Mary Jane is standing on the courthouse steps shouting to the world, "You won't get "high" from eating hemp seeds! You won't fail a drug test! Hemp's a gluten free, plant-based protein food packed with fatty acids, vitamins and minerals providing maximum nutrition with minimum consumption"... and mighty tasty to top off your tomato soup too.

#EatSomeHemp

 Don’t let myth and political propaganda keep you from good nutrition. Hemp is not the belladonna that some would like you to think!