I enjoy reading the comics in the paper and have found that truth is often funnier than fiction.
May 11, 2014
This Foxtrot comic made me think about the difference between fruits and vegetables. I soon realized that what determines a fruit or vegetable largely depends on who you ask.
Scientifically-speaking, from a botanist's point of view, a fruit is the ovary part of the plant, the place that bears the seeds. The fruit is basically a means of spreading the seeds around (I talk more about this here). Given this definition, many foods we call "vegetables" are actually fruits - avocado, cucumber, all squash, peppers as well as the ones mentioned in the comic, to name a few.
And "vegetable" has no meaning in botany which classifies by edible plant part - for example, "fruit" or "leaves" (like lettuce, cabbage, kale) or "stems" (like celery or rhubarb). And mushrooms are fungi. Seriously.
But the U.S. government, as part of their healthy eating campaign - the food pyramid I grew up with or, more recently, the "my plate" - differentiates fruits and vegetables in the more "traditional," albeit incorrect, manner with less sweet fruits (cucumber, tomato, beans, etc.) called vegetables and more sweet fruits (apples, oranges, strawberries, etc.) called fruits.
However you categorize them, we are supposed to eat five servings (½ cup = 1 serving) of fruits and vegetables a day. I do ... do you?
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