“Vegetable” is actually not a scientific term and simply refers to the edible part of the plant: roots/tubers, stems, leaves, etc. A fruit is the seed-containing part of a plant. If you want to get all botany-nerdy, a fruit is the fleshy or dry ripened ovary of a plant. We often assume that fruits are always sweet, but that’s not necessarily true. For example: Fruits Vegetables Avocado Coconut* Coffee Cucumber Eggplant Pepper Squash Tomato Beets Cabbage Carrots Kale Onions Potatoes Spinach Yams *The fruit part of a coconut is actually the fibrous husk, and is not edible. We think of mushrooms as vegetables, but they’re technically fungi and not plants at all. (They’re still good for us, though!) pile of veggies