The Oklahoma legislature has declared watermelon to be a vegetable, and the state vegetable at that.
You may now commence laughing.
Don’t they have anything better to do?
Let’s be fair. The term fruit is a botanical term but it is also a culinary term and mixing up the two uses will get you hosed all over the place. The term “vegetable” is almost strictly culinary and it can be whatever people decide. Now watermelon generally looks like a fruit and smells like a fruit but you can make things like pickled watermelon rind that more closely resemble what most people call a vegetable.
This can’t be called pure ignorance because the whole system is arbitrary in the first place. I guess they really wanted watermelon listed as their vegetable and it is impossible to prove them wrong.
Almost all states have a huge list of what is the “state” this or that. It includes flowers, trees, dogs, drinks etc. Look up your state if you don’t know what they are and you will find that some legislative meeting has decided on 20 or more of these designations.
Since this is MPSIMS, I will indulge myself by not commenting on the OP, but instead offer the following quote by Mark Twain.
“It is the chief of this world’s luxuries, king by the grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat. It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took; we know it because she repented.”
Fruit or vegetable, who cares?
My state legislature recently voted Rocky Mountain High by John Denver our second state song. An amendment to the resolution that would have specified that the “high” was a reference to elevation and “in no way reflects or encourages drug use” was defeated.
I don’t know how long this all took, but since the obscure Where the Columbines Grow is still our official primary #1 state song, many of us also wonder if they are running out of things to do.
Apparently not, for which the citizens of Oklahoma should fall to their knees and thank God.
I am an Okie born & bred, and I think there are lots of reasons for laughing at Oklahoma, but I don’t think this is a very good reason.
“Watermelon is a member of the cucurbitaceae plant family of gourds (classified as Citrullus Lantus), related to the cucumber, squash, and pumpkin (Maynard, 2001). It is planted from seeds or seedlings, harvested, and then cleared from the field like other vegetables. Since watermelon is grown as a vegetable crop using vegetable production systems, watermelon is considered a vegetable (Wolford, 2004).”
(Found here.)
Have they also declared pi to be “3” when calculating its volume?
Are they planning to declare evolution ‘just plain wrong’? :eek:
South Carolina has a State Dance. The Shag is waaay cool.