Originally published at: US government may demand we stop considering potatoes a vegetable - Boing Boing
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Ok, so the USDA is just troIIing us by calling tomatoes “vegetables,” right?
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This is reminiscent of the reclassification of Pluto.
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That was literally my first thought 
Canada considers it a veggie, and it looks like Europe is a bit of mixed bag, but does in fact lump it into being a starch or with grains more often than not:
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Gotta admit, in my house, potatoes are considered a “starch,” separate from veggies. Of course, as we are all very aware, if I was running things, we would probably be in worse shape than we are currently, so YMMV.
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Sheesh, next you’ll be telling us that you don’t properly classify your olive oil as “fruit juice.”
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Ours too! Wisdom passed from great grandma is one starch per meal, but as many vegetables as you want.
But, my first thought was that it sure ain’t an animal or a mineral, so that leaves vegetable!
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It does cause one to consider, do we classify apples as “fruit,” or as “pome?” A plum as “fruit” or “drupe?” Where does it end? Oh, the madness!!
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I don’t know, but potatoes are pomme de terre (earth apples) in French. 
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So pizza is a veggie but not potatoes. Got it.
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But hard cider still counts, right?
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All thanks to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the 1883 Tariff Act:
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Potatoes are pretty nutritious; you get enough vitamin C from them to stave off scurvy, for example.
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Remember when the Regan folks called ketchup a vegetable?
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But not if you fry them:
Vitamin C begins to denature at temperatures as low as 86 °F,
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