Tomato… Fruit or Vegetable?

This is an age old question that is always a good topic of debate among food enthusiasts. I always forget the answer to this one, and today I’m making BLT’s for dinner, which reminded me of the great fruit or vegetable debate.

To really understand if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, first we need to know what technically makes fruit a fruit, and what makes a vegetable a vegetable. The main factor to determining if produce is considered a fruit or a vegetable is to find out DOES IT HAVE SEEDS?

In the case with a tomato, the answer is yes; this means that technically, a tomato is a FRUIT.  It also means that cucumbers, squash, green beans and walnuts all fruits as well.

VEGETABLES such as, radishes, celery, carrots, and lettuce do not have seeds (that are part of what we eat anyways) and so they are put into the grouping of vegetables.

So… I don’t get it.  The tomatoes are always in the vegetable section of my grocery store.  In cookbooks, they’re always considered a vegetable as well.  No wonder why I always get confused as to the answer of this question.  If you ask me, a tomato is a vegetable.  Plain and simple.  Think about it… you don’t just pick up a big, juicy tomato and eat it like an apple now, do you?

What’s your verdict?  Is the tomato considered a fruit or vegetable?