Yep, The Oklahoma State Vegetable Is The Watermelon

If you were living here in fifteen years ago when the Oklahoma legislature officially settled the argument over whether the watermelon was a fruit or a vegetable, you might remember it was quite the scandal.

They officially adopted watermelon as the official state vegetable passed in a 78-18 vote, and when challenged as to why watermelon was chosen as a vegetable, the SWOK state senator that championed the issue gave the most glorious quote on the matter.

After admitting that it was in fact technically a fruit, he added "but it's also a vegetable because it's a member of the cucumber family" still not realizing that cucumbers are also a fruit... but the watermelon is also, actually, classified as a legit vegetable.

Now we've long argued about the fruit/vegetable classifications of tomatoes, even though every scientific source in the world classifies it as a berry, it's still technically a vegetable based on how it's grown defined by the broader use of the word.

Webster's Dictionary defines 'vegetable' as 'anything that is made or obtained from plants.'

Even though that's a huge umbrella definition, it sticks.

Truth be told, just like the tomato, watermelon can be both a fruit and a vegetable at the same time, though I don't think anybody would ever treat a melon like a mater in this world.

Other food things you may not know are... Pop-Tarts are really just breakfast ravioli. Chili can have beans. Burgers and hotdogs are sandwiches. Ketchup belongs on hotdogs, and deep dish isn't pizza... it's a casserole.