Fruit or Vegetable?– a bit of “Acorn” news

Submitted by Acorn Farmers Market & Cafe board

Do you eat five servings of fruits/vegetables a day? In Manchester, surveys say only about a quarter of us do. With local summer produce coming on strong, try for five a day.

You might ask if you can eat five fruits and no vegetables or five vegetables and no fruit. Well, let’s first define a fruit and a vegetable.

According to botany classifications, a fruit develops from a flower and has a seed(s) in it. Apple – for sure a fruit! Zucchini – no wait, most people call zucchini a vegetable but according to botanists it is a fruit. Tomato, pepper, peas, beans – yep all fruits.

So what is a vegetable? Carrots, beets, radishes, parsnips, lettuce, spinach, kale – all produce that is the leaf, stem or root of the plant.

Here is a simple rule – just eat five a day and don’t worry if it is a fruit or vegetable!! Instead think about how to get in five and try for different colors. It is really not that hard. In general, one cup of raw fruit/vegetable is a serving and half cup of cooked fruit/vegetable is a serving. If you had 1 serving for each breakfast, lunch, dinner and then a serving for each of two snacks, you are set for the day.

Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café will be a non-profit food store in Manchester next spring. The address will be 327 W. Main. You’ll find lots of fruits and vegetables at Acorn and we won’t care if you call a zucchini a fruit or a vegetable – just happy you are eating them!

We have tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and kale plants growing in pots outside the building – two fruits, two vegetables!

To follow progress on this new food store, which will sell locally grown produce, meat, dairy, eggs and more – all produce by local farmers go to the web site www.acornfarmersmarketcafe.org and like us on Facebook @Acorn Farmers’ Market and Café.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.