Fruits and Vegetables

This passage outlines the difference between fruits and vegetables.

Lexile Level: 980L

Categories: Science & Technology Animals & Nature

Did you know that some foods that we think of as vegetables are really fruits? Let's take a look at the definitions of vegetable and fruit to see if they can help us figure out which is which. A vegetable is defined as a part of various plants that is eaten as food. It's easy to see that things like potatoes, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, carrots, and other foods would be considered vegetables. A fruit is defined as the fleshy, seed-bearing part of a plant that is eaten as food. Can you see how this definition differs from that of a vegetable? According to this definition, it's a fruit if it has seeds. That means foods with seeds, such as green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, and peppers, aren't vegetables at all. They are fruits! Can you think of any other foods that we think of as vegetables but which are really fruits?