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Tomato pies and fried green tomatoes garnered more than 1,500 votes over four days as voters determined finalists for the Bama’s Best Tomato Dish Contest.

Food purveyors moving on to the Flavorful Four are:

Claunch Cafe in Tuscumbia for Tomato Pie

FDL Gourmet To Go in Montgomery for Tomato Pie

Gather in Atmore for The Train Wreck

The Wildflower Cafe in Mentone for Tomato Pie

Judges will taste-test each nominated dish with the winner announced later this summer. The Flavorful Four will receive plaques with the winner also receiving a cash prize; features in Neighbors magazine and on Simply Southern TV; and bragging rights.

Votes were cast on Sweet Grown Alabama’s Facebook page and Instagram stories. Others vying for a chance at the Flavorful Four were The Avenue Pub in Tuscaloosa, The Downtown Chief in Gadsden, Walters’ Gas & Grill in Society Hill and Walton’s Southern Kitchen in Huntsville.

Bama’s Best Tomato Dish is sponsored by Sweet Grown Alabama — whose members grow the freshest, best-tasting tomatoes, among numerous other products.

Sweet Grown Alabama is a nonprofit foundation that enhances marketing opportunities for Alabama farmers by connecting retailers and consumers to Alabama-grown foods and other agricultural products. Learn more at SweetGrownAlabama.org.

Neighbors is a publication of the Alabama Farmers Federation, the state’s largest farm organization with more than 340,000 member families. For more information, visit AlfaFarmers.org.

Simply Southern TV is a production of the Alabama Farmers Federation with major support from Alabama Farmers Cooperative. For more information, visit SimplySouthernTV.net.

Let’s Talk Tomatoes

Fruit or vegetable? Scientifically, tomatoes are a fruit. However, nutritionists categorize tomatoes as a vegetable.

Tomatoes are Americans’ second favorite vegetable behind potatoes. Per capita, Americans consume 20.3 pounds of fresh tomatoes and 73.3 pounds of processed tomatoes annually.

California ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for tomato production, followed by Florida, Indiana and Michigan.

Tomatoes are native to South America. They spread to other parts of the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas.

Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A and antioxidants.