Tomatoes, members of the Nightshade family, were long considered poisonous and dangerous to eat in the United States.  There are many stories about the first person to eat a tomato, but the most frequently told involves Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson of Salem, New Jersey where he was a gentleman farmer.  He introduced tomatoes to the area around 1820.  To convince local farmers and citizens that tomatoes are safe to eat, he marched to the courthouse steps and, in front of a crowd that expected him to keel over, consumed a basket of tomatoes. 

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How many tomatoes can you eat in two minutes?  Become the champion Topsfield tomato-eater and win bragging rights and a ribbon.