Botanically speaking, the tomato you eat is a fruit. A fruit is any fleshy material covering a seed or seeds. Horticulturally speaking, the tomato is a vegetable plant. The plant is an annual and non-woody. Most fruits, from a horticultural perspective, are grown on a woody plant, with the exception of strawberries.

In 1893, the UNITED STATES SUPREME court ruled the tomato was a vegetable and therefore subject to import taxes. The suit was brought by a consortium of growers who wanted it declared a vegetable to protect U.S. crop development and prices. Fruits, at that time, were not subject to import taxes and foreign countries could flood the market with lower priced produce.