# Things That Are Not Food Being Treated As Food **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2025, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222 "2025-09-20T11:37:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/1 "2025-09-20T11:37:00Z")
On a prompt from SMBC, I googled “babydoll breed of meat-sheep” and was directed to links about the Southdown Babydoll Sheep. Having put both lamb and mutton into my mouth, it has become clear to me that sheep are not made of food. Why should I consider southdown babydoll sheep to be an exception to this fact? ETA: Is it because they were cooked? Should I have tried them raw? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/2 "2025-09-20T11:45:15Z")
More lamb for me! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/3 "2025-09-20T12:50:46Z")
There are things you can do to eggplant to make it palatable… but any of those recipes would be even better if you started with food as the ingredient. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/4 "2025-09-20T13:15:44Z")
I was recently reading _The Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England_ by Ian Mortimer and I was surprised to learn how much sheep have changed due to selective breeding. They were much smaller animals a few hundred years ago. The average adult sheep in 1500 weighed just twenty-eight pounds. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/5 "2025-09-20T13:29:30Z")
Some people claim that Brussel Sprouts are food 🤢 - but they will never pass my lips! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/6 "2025-09-20T15:11:54Z")
Beets smell like a dank, moldy, mildewy basement. Not to mention, their unnaturally red color has to indicate that they’re poisonous. Yet, some people actually eat them, or so I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/7 "2025-09-20T15:16:10Z")
I’ll accept any non poisonous plant or animal as food. Mushrooms are neither plant, animal, nor food. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/8 "2025-09-20T15:19:05Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Some people claim that Brussel Sprouts are food 🤢 - but they will never pass my lips! I was with you for the vast majority of my life, but last week I decided to give them a shot. Admittedly, they were glazed with some sort of gochujang-maple-bacon concoction, but they were pretty decent. My other takes are a bit weird. I don’t believe that tomatoes are food, but they are certainly an ingredient in some very good food. Mushrooms are the same way to me. I have no desire to eat one, but I add them to my spaghetti sauce and a brown sauce that I make (mmm, hunter sauce), even if I’m eating alone. I think onions and garlic are food, but my body doesn’t seem to agree with me. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/9 "2025-09-20T15:26:43Z")
Sorry, I don’t believe you can make eggplant edible in any way whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/10 "2025-09-20T15:32:20Z")
Years back I coined a word. Anything I find repulsive I call “broc” which is short for broccoli. Smells like a soiled diaper while it’s being cooked. Tastes like an old grandmas unwashed nether regions. Stinky, sour, bitter, gross. Completely disgusting! [Url= [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oMZHja6dmgc&pp=ygUVdGhlIHNpbXBzb25zIGJyb2Njb2xp\](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oMZHja6dmgc&pp=ygUVdGhlIHNpbXBzb25zIGJyb2Njb2xp%5C)]Broccoli[/url] ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/11 "2025-09-20T15:34:00Z")
In the last twenty years ago or so, plant breeders have produced cultivars of Brussels sprouts that are much less bitter. Any Brussels sprout-haters here who have not had any in a long time should try them again. ETA Same thing for broccoli. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/12 "2025-09-20T15:50:05Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Sorry, I don’t believe you can make eggplant edible in any way whatsoever. Almost anything’s edible if you deep-fry it and smother it in mozerella and tomato sauce. > [@pkbites](#): > > Tastes like an old grandmas unwashed nether regions. I’ll take your word on it, as I lack the relevant experience. > [@Ynnad](#): > > In the last twenty years ago or so, plant breeders have produced cultivars of Brussels sprouts that are much less bitter. Any Brussels sprout-haters here who have not had any in a long time should try them again. ETA Same thing for broccoli. I’ve heard that too, but it doesn’t explain the fact that both were plenty yummy 30 years ago. I think that the biggest change is just that, now, more people know enough not to cook all veggies to mush. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/13 "2025-09-20T15:55:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Almost anything’s edible if you deep-fry it So you’ve been to Wisconsins state fair I take it [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/v7ymxA2Cxt8/hqdefault.jpg "Cleaveland Show - Wisconsin") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ymxA2Cxt8) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/14 "2025-09-20T16:42:13Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Admittedly, they were glazed with some sort of gochujang-maple- **bacon** concoction, but they were pretty decent. (Bolding mine) I think I’ve found the reason. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/15 "2025-09-20T18:05:52Z")
I am also Team Anti-Eggplant, but very pro Team Sheep. YMMV, as it obviously does. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/16 "2025-09-20T18:14:36Z")
Circus Peanuts\* Necco Wafers\*\* \*packaging material \*\*subway tokens ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/17 "2025-09-20T18:14:54Z")
You really can’t appreciate sheep or goat until it’s slow-cooked in Mexican spices and stuffed in a taco. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/18 "2025-09-20T18:29:37Z")
Peeps. (more packaging material) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/19 "2025-09-20T18:32:47Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Peeps. (more packaging material)- I don’t know how I left those out! A terrible oversight. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222/20 "2025-09-20T18:35:52Z")
Peeps aren’t packaging material; they’re decorations. Re-usable decorations, that last from year to year indefinitely. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-not-food-being-treated-as-food/1023222.md?page=2)