by Glory Lennon

Created on: May 01, 2009

It is said three brothers while traveling about the countryside came upon an unfamiliar plant. As they were extremely curious and thought it looked good enough to eat they set out to find out if it was just that. The first brother, a noble botanist, tried the leaf of this plant. He became violently ill and died. The second brother, a learned apothecary, tried the roots of this plant. He also became ill and died.

The third brother, a lowly farmer and by his brothers' dearly held belief not too bright, decided the entire plant was poisonous. He refused to eat the bright red fruits which glowed enticingly up at him. They promised to taste good but seeing what befell his two far more intelligent brothers he ran from the innocent looking plant and spread the word to anyone who would listen never to eat any part of that plant.

For many years that plant was left alone never touched by anyone of sense and even some without any sense at all. Then came a person who possibly was too stubborn to listen, or maybe she was courageous enough to forego the warning or it could just be she had never heard of the three brothers and the dire tale of the deadly plant. Well, she popped the lovely fruit into her mouth and thought it just about the yummiest thing she had ever eaten. When nothing untoward happened she picked the rest gathering the fruit in her apron and headed straight for the kitchen to make what was probably the first pasta sauce made with plum Tomatoes.

Is there a moral to this tale? You should be able to think of it on your own but if you need some help try, "Don't judge the book by its cover." Or perhaps a better one would be, "Don't judge the poisonous plant by its various parts until all parts are proven to have no value." Maybe the leaves and roots of the tomato plant happen to be toxic to humans but the fruit certainly is not. Thus, isn't there still some value to this supposedly poisonous plant? Apparently so if you've ever heard of antioxidants, the cancer fighting substance in tomato among other fruits and vegetables.

It should get you to thinking that we take an awful lot for granted. We hear say green potatoes are poisonous and will make us ill if ingested yet what person doesn't love a nice baked Idaho potato with a juicy steak? Rhubarb leaves are toxic and yet we can safely eat the stalks. We eat the apple and yet its seeds are loaded with arsenic. Bamboo shoots are practically lethal if eaten raw but soak out the cyanided which lays in wait within and then

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