All Tomatoes are Poisonous in Rhode Island

New England Legends Podcast

Jeff Belanger

History, Paranormal, Ghosts, Folklore, Places & Travel, Monsters, Society & Culture, Legends, Newengland

4.8 • 951 Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Episode 407 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger travel to Newport, Rhode Island, to meet artist Michele Felice Cornè, the man who introduced the tomato to the diets of Newport in the early 1800s. Before Cornè, everyone knew the tomato was poisonous… right?! His former home still stands in town. We explore the story!

See more here: https://ournewenglandlegends.com/podcast-407-all-tomatoes-are-poisonous-in-rhode-island/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Ooh, nice garden, Jeff.
0:04.0	Thank you so much.
0:05.2	I do this every year, and I always start in the spring, and I've got so much ambition.
0:10.2	You know, imagining I could definitely be a farmer post-apocalypse.
0:13.7	Yeah, I'm sure you'd be great at that.
0:15.7	Well, at least the tomatoes are coming in nicely.
0:17.9	Even I can't mess that up.
0:19.4	Oh, I love garden fresh tomatoes.
0:22.1	So do I, which is why I usually plant the most of those.
0:25.4	And there's nothing like them, right?
0:26.7	I mean, John Denver even wrote a song called Homegrown Tomatoes.
0:30.4	Little salt, little pepper.
0:32.0	Mmm, the best.
0:32.9	I agree. And it's why we do the work each summer.
0:36.4	So, Ray, would you like a tomato?
0:39.7	Sure. They look great.
0:42.0	Are you sure?
0:43.7	Well, I think so. Why?
0:46.3	Well, there was a time not that long ago when people thought tomatoes were poisonous.
0:50.8	Come on.
0:51.8	No, they did. They were sure of it.
0:53.9	So today, we're heading to Newport, Rhode Island, to meet the man who convinced New
	...

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