Why Your Vegetable Garden Doesn't Exist

When a botanist’s mother tells them they better eat their veggies, they can muster a pretty compelling counterpoint: “Vegetables aren’t real.”

Okay, so that’s not strictly true. But in the scientific study of plants, “vegetables” just aren’t a thing. The term conveys no technical meaning. “Fruit,” on the other hand, does: it’s any part of a plant that contains a seed or seeds. To a botanist, an apple is a fruit. So are tomatoes. Pumpkins and cucumbers also make the cut. 

To find a veggie precedent, you’d have to talk to gardeners or the US Supreme Court. To crop-growers, vegetables are any plants humans eat that are grown in a single season, eaten “either cooked or raw, during the (main) part of the meal, and not as like a snack or dessert,” Steve Reiners, a professor of horticulture at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, told CNN. 

And to the Supreme Court, it’s all about how they’re used. In 1893, the Court ruled that beans and tomatoes “may well be included under the term 'vegetables.' As an item of food on our tables, whether baked or boiled, or forming the basis of soup, they are used as a vegetable, as well when ripe as when green. This is the (main) use to which they are put.”

No matter what vegetables are, though, mothers have a point. When it comes to healthy foods, veggies can’t be beat. Rich in fiber and nutrients, they provide a wealth of benefits. They help us feel fuller and for longer. They ward off cravings for sugary or fatty treats. And they combat all kinds of health risks, including cancers and heart disease. 

Reflect: How do you decide which foods are good for you, and has your view on that changed over time?

Gif of vegetables in a basket from GIPHY.