Green beans are actually a fruit -- and our minds are blown

If you are planning on serving green bean casserole at your Thanksgiving dinner as your vegetable, you might need to rethink your plans. But don’t blame us, blame the Supreme Court.

According to the Edible Academy at the New York Botanical garden, green beans are actually considered “dry fruit" -- unless they come from cans.

Toby Adams, the director of the Edible Academy, explained, "Fruits are structures that contain seeds, and a green bean is, basically, a pod that has seeds inside of it." However, while the food is technically a fruit—as well as a legume—it’s still considered a vegetable by many.

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That’s because the Supreme Court got involved in a case about tomatoes in 1893, after importers wanted it officially classified as fruit so they could avoid the 10 percent import tax imposed on vegetables. The court essentially ruled that tomatoes and beans, including green beans, are used in dinner recipes and therefore constitute a vegetable, while fruits are typically used as a dessert.

So, until there is a good green bean pie for dessert, the pod and seed dry fruit will still be called a vegetable. But, we're not sure that sounds too tasty.

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