Question: What determines whether a food is a fruit or a vegetable?
Answer: Fruits are the part of a plant that has seeds. Vegetables are the edible portion of a plant such as roots (carrots), leaves (lettuce), stems (celery) or flowers (broccoli). They are usually from a plant with a soft (not woody) stem.
Tomatoes, squash, peppers and eggplants are fruits that are generally considered vegetables. Botanically, they are fruits. Peas are seeds of the plant and are considered vegetables too.
Source: Vegetable Research and Information Center, University of California, Davis; Photo source: CDC free CDC13689_lores
