It's also a bit silly to say thatthe British randomly went the way of the potato and the mediterraneans went with tomatoes (and aubergines and peppers of course). Apart from anything else I would argue we don't see tomatoes as a side-salad - we use them in sauces, pies, soups, pizzas, pasta... they're going to be imported and often tinned or pureed of course.
The climate has a lot to do with us growing potatoes and the mediterraneans growing tomatoes. We don't have the long hot summers. We get bad blight now. It's easy to grow tomato plants, but not so easy to get a good ripe, sweet harvest from them.
(Just binned 6 tomato plants with blight, daily inspection of those left :'( :'()
Not that I'm saying there's not a problem with our attitude to food, or our agricultural system. I'm just saying it's not down to potato v tomato!