• spongebue@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Kinda related, I studied in Spain for a semester. Was taking with my fellow American roommate about the debate of if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable. Our host mom’s daughter’s boyfriend (Cuban, fwiw) overheard, and we told him about the “controversy” in the US but all 3 of us agreed it was a fruit. Host mom overheard us and asked what we were talking about, and the Cuban told her. “Well yeah, of course it’s a vegetable”

    I couldn’t understand every word but when I could tell they were arguing about some vegetables having seeds or something like that I knew I spread something.

    • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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      2 days ago

      You’re both right. It’s important to note that this classification only applies to botany. Botanically, it’s a fruit. Just like a peanut is botanically a bean.

      Culinarally, tomatoes are a vegetable.

      And for the purposes of tariffs, taxes, and customs, according to Nix v Hedden, it’s a vegetable.

      There are many ways to classify an item. This just happens to cross boundaries depending on context.

    • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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      2 days ago

      All fruits are vegetables, not all vegetables are fruits. All edible plant matter is vegetable. Fruits are, well, the fruit of a plant.