Not exactly….

Great question — and no, fruits and vegetables are not the same thing, although they’re often grouped together when we talk about “healthy eating”.

I’ve learned that “vegetable” is not a botanical term. It’s a culinary term, meaning that we differentiate between the two when we’re cooking.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

Fruits

Vegetables

• Come from other parts of the plant (roots, stems, leaves)
  
• Usually not as sweet
  
• Examples: carrots (root), lettuce (leaves), broccoli (flower buds), celery (stalk), potatoes (tubers)
  

So, a tomato is a fruit botanically, but we usually treat it like a vegetable in cooking. Same goes for zucchini, squash, and eggplant.

In short:
~ All fruits and vegetables are plants.
~ But not all fruits are vegetables, and not all vegetables are fruits.

Remember, fruits & veggies have similar nutrition. So if your kiddo likes fruits, serve plenty at each meal and remember to keep introducing veggies (exposure, exposure, exposure). And for extra exposure, here’s a great book about the parts of plants that we eat.

Fruit with cream cheese dip

(be sure to add some veggies to keep up the exposure 😉

Reach out at Karen@CoastalFamilyNutrition.com or call the office at 603-674-2479.

Please feel free to share this with someone who may like to learn more about feeding kiddos!