# An Ethical Question...Tomatoes at the Supermarket **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 11, 2000, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ethical-question-tomatoes-at-the-supermarket/44946 "2000-12-11T00:02:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ethical-question-tomatoes-at-the-supermarket/44946/21 "2000-12-13T15:23:50Z")
OK, typo freaks- that’s “bussels”, not bussels. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ethical-question-tomatoes-at-the-supermarket/44946/22 "2000-12-13T19:17:16Z")
Thanks for clearing that up, **Zette**. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ethical-question-tomatoes-at-the-supermarket/44946/23 "2000-12-13T19:17:19Z")
> [@](#): > > OK, typo freaks- that’s “bussels”, not bussels. Actually, it’s spelled **bussels** … 🙂 > [@](#): > > _Green Bean wrote:_ > (and these grape tomatoes were on the small side…) Actually, that may explain the discrepancy; small tomatoes will pack closer together and have less air between them. So possibly the packaging mechanism (or humanoid) “knows” that a pint of these tomatoes weighs a certain amount, but since these are smaller than normal…well, you can figure out the rest… ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ethical-question-tomatoes-at-the-supermarket/44946/24 "2000-12-13T19:31:04Z")
Count me as one who has always been a litle confused by the old “a pint’s a pound the world around” bit. If they are being sold by weight, as **Flashpoint** posits (BTW - a grand welcome to ye, madame) why would the sign say the price per pint? And **zette** , as you pass the seafood department, could you pick me up a bussel of mussels? In the spirit of “the customer is always right,” I suggest the only responsible solution is to put one container in your cart, and another down your shorts. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ethical-question-tomatoes-at-the-supermarket/44946/25 "2000-12-16T16:19:47Z")
Damnit!! bush·el1 (bshl) n. Abbr. bsh., bu., bu A unit of volume or capacity in the U.S. Customary System, used in dry measure and equal to 4 pecks, 2,150.42 cubic inches, or 35.24 liters. A unit of volume or capacity in the British Imperial System, used in dry and liquid measure and equal to 2,219.36 cubic inches or 36.37 liters. See Table at measurement. A container with the capacity of a bushel. Informal. A large amount; a great deal. Sometimes my brain just hurts. Zette ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ethical-question-tomatoes-at-the-supermarket/44946/26 "2000-12-16T17:16:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by frogstein \* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Green Bean wrote:_ > > (and these grape tomatoes were on the small side…) > > Actually, that may explain the discrepancy; small tomatoes will pack closer together and have less air between them. Woe…Got to be a little careful here. If you consider the packing of a bunch of identically-sized and shaped things and assume they are not squishable, then in fact the packing fraction is **independent** of their size. While the air gaps are smaller for the smaller objects, there are a larger number of these air gaps. Now, you may be right though once one relaxes the “identically-sized” and “not squishable” assumptions. I.e., if the small objects have a broader (fractional) size distribution or if they are more squishable (again in a fractional sense relative to their size), then one might indeed find the smaller objects pack to a high volume fraction than the large one. But, I just want to make the point that it is by no means completely obvious if, and by how much, the packing fraction will increase with decreasing size of the tomatoes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-ethical-question-tomatoes-at-the-supermarket/44946.md?page=1)