Latest / Kidcast Daily / Ep268: Fruits and Vegetables

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Ep268: Fruits and Vegetables · Kidcast Daily

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  Spin the wheel, let's take a ride.
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  Sports and science bursting from inside a world of wonder open
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  wide. Come on kids, let's amplify kid
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  cats. Daily starts your day.
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  Fun and laughter come your way. Sports and trivia games galore.
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  Welcome to Kit Cast Daily, where we bring news, trivia, fun
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  facts, and more just for curious kids like you.
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  Today we're exploring a tasty topic that you see on your plate
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  every day, The difference between fruits and vegetables.
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  Have you ever wondered why a tomato can be called a fruit but
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  is found in salads with lettuce and cucumbers?
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  Or why we call carrots vegetables, even though they're
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  colorful and sweet. Get ready to become a fruit and
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  veggie detective by the end of this episode.
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  Let's start with a question. When you think of a fruit, what
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  comes to mind? Maybe apples, bananas, or
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  oranges. And for vegetables, maybe
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  broccoli, carrots, or lettuce. That's a good start, but there's
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  a lot more to it. First, let's talk about what
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  makes something a fruit. In science, fruits are actually
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  a part of the plant that grows from the flower.
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  The main job of a fruit is to protect seeds and help spread
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  them so new plants can grow. If you find seeds inside
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  something you eat, there's a good chance it's a fruit.
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  Think of apples where you see the seeds in the core, or
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  watermelons with seeds scattered inside.
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  Even foods you may not think of as fruits, like cucumbers and
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  tomatoes, have seeds inside, so they're fruits according to
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  science. Now what about vegetables?
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  Vegetables are all the other edible parts of a plant.
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  This includes roots, stems, leaves, and sometimes even
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  flowers. For example, when you eat
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  carrots, you're eating the root of the carrot plant.
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  Broccoli is actually a flower, and celery is a stem.
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  Lettuce and spinach are the leaves of their plants.
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  Here's a fun fact in kitchen, people sometimes use the word
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  vegetable for foods that are not sweet, like green beans and
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  fruit for sweet things like strawberries.
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  But scientists use the plants parts to decide not how sweet or
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  savory the food tastes. So even if you put tomatoes on
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  your pizza or in a salad, they are fruits because they come
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  from the flower and have seeds inside.
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  Isn't that surprising? Let's play a little quiz.
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  Which part of the plant is a potato?
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  Is it a fruit, a root, a stem, or a leaf?
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  Take a moment to think about it. The answer is a stem.
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  Potatoes grow underground and are called tubers, which are a
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  type of stem that stores food for the plant.
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  Let's dig a little deeper. Sometimes people get confused
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  because of how we use these words in the kitchen and in
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  science. For example, in cooking, we
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  usually call things fruits if they are sweet and vegetables if
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  they are not. But in science, the rules are
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  all about how the plant grows and what part you eat.
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  So bell Peppers, squash, pumpkins, and even avocados are
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  all fruits because they develop from a flower and have seeds
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  inside. Now let's try a yes or no
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  question. Can a vegetable ever have seeds
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  inside it? Think about what we've learned
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  so far. The answer is no, at least not
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  according to how scientists define it.
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  If it has seeds inside, it's a fruit.
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  Did you know that some foods can be both a fruit and a vegetable,
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  depending on who you ask? Botanists.
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  Scientists who study plants use the definition we talked about
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  before, but chefs and cooks use the taste and how they use the
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  food in recipes. That's why you might hear people
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  argue about whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable.
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  Here's another fun fact. In the United States, there was
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  even a court case about tomatoes.
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  In 1893, the Supreme Court decided that tomatoes should be
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  called vegetables for tax purposes, even though scientists
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  say they are fruits. This is because people usually
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  eat tomatoes and salads and main dishes, not as a sweet treat.
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  Let's try another trivia question.
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  Which of these is actually a fruit, eggplant, lettuce, or
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  carrot? Take a moment to guess.
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  The answer is eggplant. Eggplants have seeds inside and
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  grow from the flower part of the plant, so they are fruits in the
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  scientific sense. Let's look at some more
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  examples. Peas are seeds, and they come in
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  a pod. The pod itself grows from the
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  flower. So pea pods are considered
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  fruit, but the actual peas inside are seeds.
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  Green beans are the same way. Corn is interesting because the
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  kernels are seeds and the cob they grow on is technically a
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  fruit. 2 Now let's talk about some vegetables that are not
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  fruits. Carrots, as we said before, are
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  roots. Beets and turnips are roots. 2
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  Celery is a stem, and spinach or kale is made of leaves.
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  When you eat broccoli or cauliflower, you're eating the
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  flower part of those plants before it blooms.
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  Here's a yes or no question to keep you thinking Is a pumpkin a
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  fruit? The answer is yes.
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  Pumpkins, just like cucumbers and squashes, grow from the
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  flower and have seeds inside, so they are fruits.
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  Now let's share a few more fun facts.
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  Did you know that bananas don't have seeds that you can see, but
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  they are still fruits? The tiny black dots in the
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  middle of a banana are actually undeveloped seeds.
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  Wild bananas, which grow in nature, have much bigger, harder
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  seeds. Another cool fact is that some
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  foods are called nuts, like peanuts.
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  But peanuts are not really nuts in the scientific sense.
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  They are actually legumes, which means they grow in pods
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  underground, like peas and beans.
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  Here's another trivia question. What part of the plant is
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  asparagus? Is it a root, a stem, or a leaf?
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  Take a moment and think about it.
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  The answer is stem. When you eat asparagus, you're
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  eating the young stems of the plant before they branch out and
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  become leafy. It's time for a quick recap.
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  The main difference between a fruit and a vegetable is where
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  it comes from on the plant. Fruits grow from the flower of
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  the plant and have seeds inside. Vegetables are all the other
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  edible parts like roots, stems, and leaves.
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  In the kitchen, people might use the words differently, but
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  scientists always look at how the plant grows.
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  Let's wrap up with one last yes or no question.
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  Could a plant have both fruits and vegetables growing on it at
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  the same time? Think about what you know about
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  plant parts. The answer is yes.
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  For example, a plant could have leaves you can eat, like
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  spinach, and also make flowers that turn into fruit.
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  O next time you're at the grocery store or eating dinner,
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  take a look at what's on your plate.
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  Can you tell if you're eating a fruit or a vegetable?
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  Remember, if it has seeds and grew from the flower, it's a
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  fruit. If it's a root, leaf or stem,
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  it's a vegetable. And don't forget some foods like
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  tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins or fruits, even if we call them
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  vegetables in the kitchen. Thanks for listening to Kid Cast
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  daily. Now you're a fruit and vegetable
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  detective. Keep asking questions, stay
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  curious. And TuneIn next time for more
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  fun facts and cool signs. Grab your breakfast.
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  Feeling fine? Adventures waiting.