#637 Fear Of The Veggie

Fun Fact #637

Fear Of The Veggie

There is a fear which every child knows, one which has become so famous it’s almost comical that parents have to teach their kids to eat it. Today we focus on The “Terror” Vegetables. 

Fruits are often sweet and good to eat. This is in large part because the plant wants you to eat them and *Erhem* spread its seeds elsewhere. In contrast, Vegetables are all the non-seed bearing parts of the plant. Thus a plant is generally against these being consumed and is more likely to put bitter tasting compounds into it as well as other resources which can make it taste “woody” and less appealing. Since most of this is due to the chemicals in the food, the smell and taste can influence what consumes it. This is partly why the government has restrictions on what animals can consume (particularly milk-producers like Cows and Goats). 

It is for this bitter taste/ smell however that eating your veggies can be beneficial. For instance Spiders, Mosquitos and Horse Flies are known to have a severe aversion to Allyl Methyl Sulfide (found in Garlic) which the smell of can come out in people’s sweat for days after consumption. Meanwhile those which smell sweet can actually attract insect bites. 

 Taking this to its logical conclusion, you COULD tell your kids that eating their vegetables will make monsters avoid them. I mean you might traumatize your kids into fearing what might happen if they stop eating their veggies, but hey broccoli will never be a leftover from your dinner table again. Heck you could even write a DND campaign with this as a mechanic (# of Days without eating a Veggie increases the # of Monsters encountered. Or eating fruit increases the level of monsters encountered). The VeggieTales you could spin are endless.

    Lastly The Fear of Vegetables is an actual documented Phobia called lachanophobia. In any case, thanks for reading and please have a wonderful day.