Tomato: fruit or vegetable? In 1893, the US Supreme Court
unanimously ruled in Nix v. Hedden that the tomato is legally a vegetable and not a fruit, botanical definitions be damned. In 2001,
the European Union disagreed, saying that "tomatoes, the edible parts of rhubarb stalks, carrots, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and water-melons are considered to be fruit".
[more inside]
posted by davidjmcgee
on Nov 17, 2011 -
91 comments
Meet
Freddie:
He looks up at me and the bargaining begins. "If I eat two peas is that enough?" I am used to him starting the bids low. "Now Fred there are only seven peas on your plate, can't you just eat them? ". He then starts to turn pale. He slumps down into his chair and fiddles with his cutlery, accidentally on purpose knocking them onto the floor to create a diversion. Can one determined woman turn
Freddie into a vegetable lover?
posted by bigmusic
on Apr 26, 2008 -
66 comments
I’ve discovered that typically, a farmer who grows the forbidden fruits and vegetables on corn acreage not only has to give up his subsidy for the year on that acreage, he is also penalized the market value of the illicit crop, and runs the risk that those acres will be permanently ineligible for any subsidies in the future. (The penalties apply only to fruits and vegetables — if the farmer decides to grow another commodity crop, or even nothing at all, there’s no problem.)
If you can't stop demand, curtail production.
One farmer's view on the power of commodity crops. [more inside]
posted by Toekneesan
on Mar 1, 2008 -
33 comments
Mutatoes is a photographic collection by artist
Uli Westphal of non-standard fruits and vegetables found at Berlin groceries and farmers' markets. The distorted, the discolored, the bumpy, the stumpy, the coiled and the conjoined all get star treatment. (Flash site)
posted by hydrophonic
on Jul 27, 2007 -
21 comments
"Animal Vegetable Video endeavors to create the world's largest collection of video footage that has been captured from the perspective of animals, plants, and the environments they inhabit." The
navigation is a little wacky (click on the animal to see a video, or on the habitat to see more videos), but anyone crazy enough to strap a camera on the back of a tarantula is okay by me.
posted by majcher
on Jul 25, 2004 -
3 comments