Forum: Story Discussion and Feedback

In Jay Cantrell's Unforgettable Weeks, Chapter 2, the main character, Andy Drayton, says, "I know potatoes aren't a vegetable but I still consider them one."
I know what a character in a story says should not be taken as gospel, but I agree with the second part of his declaration "... I still consider them one."
Which brings up my question. If potatoes aren't a vegetable, what are they? They aren't meat. They aren't a fruit. They aren't a grain. They aren't dairy or eggs. I always considered them to be a starchy vegetable - but still a vegetable.

Depends, are you using the geo-science taxonomy definition or the nutritional definition?

A potato is neither an animal nor a mineral, therefore, it is a vegetable.

But seriously. They are a tuber, the root of the plant, and from a nutritional perspective they get lumped in with the vegetables.

Note: the 4 food groups have a lot of plant based materials in the wrong groups from a strictly biological basis. Most of the out of place items are considered vegetables.

Sweat Corn is considered a vegetable, but biologically, it's a grain. Biologically, tomatoes are fruit.

Depends, are you using the geo-science taxonomy definition or the nutritional definition?

A potato is neither an animal nor a mineral, therefore, it is a vegetable.

But seriously. They are a tuber, the root of the plant, and from a nutritional perspective they get lumped in with the vegetables.

Note: the 4 food groups have a lot of plant based materials in the wrong groups from a strictly biological basis. Most of the out of place items are considered vegetables.

Sweat Corn is considered a vegetable, but biologically, it's a grain. Biologically, tomatoes are fruit.

Mineral....lol

while we're on this why not do yams and sweet bpotatoes too...

And if we are talking tubers, why are peanuts and onions so neglected? Oh, not tubers...sorry.

The tomato, green bean, pepper, cucumber, etc., are fruits because they contain the seeds.

OTOH, rhubarb is no fruit (no seeds).

HM.

OTOH, rhubarb is no fruit (no seeds).

Rhubarb is poison.

Rhubarb is poison.

Only every part except the stalk.

if you are a rhubarb fan you'l love goose berries too...

If potatoes aren't a vegetable, what are they?

It is both insulting and incorrect to call a potato a vegetable just because it isn't sentient. The correct expression one should use is "légume".

As an aside it is incorrect to refer to them as tubers, Even Øystein Baadsvik couldn't play a potato.

:)

The correct expression one should use is "légume".

Sorry to disagree, but a potatoe is most definitely NOT a legume. Quit giving the largest family of plants on the planet honors they don't deserve. Potatoes are not peas. Closer to the root of a tomatoe, really.

Sorry to disagree, but a potatoe is most definitely NOT a legume.

I concur, you are absolutely correct.

However, I wrote "légume" which is french and has a different meaning.

a potatoe is most definitely NOT a legume

Sorry, but it is, the French definitely regard pommes de terre as légume. Their language, their definition.

HM.

The French 'Légume' means vegetable. It's not the same as legume in English.

I know, but JoyR had written légume and karactr cited her post ommitting the accent (accidentally I assumed) so I answered using the originally written légume.

BTW, the german word for vegetable is "Gemüse" but most Germans don't count potatoes as "Gemüse". "Gemüse" is often used only for vegetables served cooked, those used uncooked for salads are named "Salate" or "Salatgemüse".

HM.

I than consider that whole tangent an intentional attempt to obsficate the topic and be intentionally misleading by switching languages to one unfamiliar.

Quite like reading Umberto Eco.

??????

On behalf of all fat people (of which I am one) I think I can speak for all of us when I say potatoes are their own food group. It's science ... sort of!

Arguing over this is *cough* fruitless.

But it is not without musical instruments.

Potatoes are not peas.

True, but peas, like beans and lentils, are fruits.

HM.

Germans eat potatoes raw?

No.
Most Germans classify potatoes (cooked or fried) as "Sättigungsbeilage" like noodles or rice, to eat with a small amount of meat.

HM.

Gluttons are big fans of the Mangetout diet.

:)

Here, Mr. Creosote, have this wafer-thin mint...

From Miriam Webster:

: a usually herbaceous plant (such as the cabbage, bean, or potato) grown for an edible part that is usually eaten as part of a meal also : such an edible part

So yes, it's a vegetable by definition.

Snort. You win $5 for obscure movie reference.

That comes from the OP who says he cot it from a story here on SOL. I can't find anything in a Google search that would confirm this as a movie reference.

Who is that Miriam Webster?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merriam-Webster

Merriam-Webster, Inc., is an American company that publishes reference books and is especially known for its dictionaries.

In 1828, George and Charles Merriam founded the company as G & C Merriam Co. in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1843, after Noah Webster died, the company bought the rights to An American Dictionary of the English Language from Webster's estate. All Merriam-Webster dictionaries trace their lineage to this source.

In 1964, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., acquired Merriam-Webster, Inc., as a subsidiary. The company adopted its current name in 1982.[1][2]

Miriam Webster

"Biography
Miriam Webster
Band Members: Miriam Webster

Miriam Webster is an Australian gospel singer-songwriter. Her career began at the age of 15, when she won the interstate music awards. She has since toured Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and released several albums, of which the first is Never Alone. She has been serving with the Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia since 1996 and featuring on numerous Hillsong Music praise-and-worship albums since 1997."

Based on the photo online she qualifies as "cute".

That's the same link I posted - I must have been too subtle...

ETA: OK, mine was the Google redirect link to the video, gets to the same place - I thought I'd copied it from the browser address bar, what I think happened is the clipboard didn't get copied when I was moving from the computer I watched the video on (the one I'm sat at now) to the one with the forum open on it, which still had the Google search result in the clipboard from where I copied it to past into this one.

Oh, it is. They even linked the segment in the video from the movie.

But what you quoted the first time around and what I was basking my comment on did not come from the comment with the link to the Mr Creosote clip, it came from the OP

It was this line, "I know potatoes aren't a vegetable but I still consider them one." which isn't in the Mr Creosote clip.

?

Based on the argument this spawned I have new respect for that line.

Personally everything plant based I eat is a vegetable until I need to figure out its impact on my diet, which causes a headache.