Produce Points

I’m ready to bet that at least 90 percent of you know that botanically a tomato isn’t a vegetable. But I’m also prepared to say that only maybe 40 percent know that a strawberry isn’t a berry at all. It isn’t even a fruit.

Agriculturally, the strawberry is considered a pseudocarp or a  “false fruit;” it is a multiple fruit encapsulated in fleshy structure. Basically, the actual fruit (or fruits) are the tiny, seed-like specks on the outer surface called achenes. You can find more cool strawberry facts here.

Now, I also discovered the basic difference between fruits and vegetables. Seeds. If a crop’s got them, it’s a fruit; if it doesn’t then it’s a vegetable. With that in mind, think of produce like cucumbers, zucchini, avocados, peppers, pumpkins and olives – it’s all fruit.

Also, apparently, the so-famous tomato became a vegetable due to the Tariff Act of 1883. In the case of Nix vs. Hedden on May 10, 1883, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the tomato a vegetable therefore making it subject to import tax, because fruits were exempt.