The food we eat comes from one place for many of us: the grocery store. It's not every day that we are constantly looking up and researching how our food is created, planted, raised, and picked. Truth be told, many of us don't eat our fruits and vegetables just plain, we spice them up or deck them out a bit before we bite on in. So, when we find out more information, it's a big surprise to us all.
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For some of us, broccoli is a major side dish in our households.
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Broccoli is a vegetable that we can all get down with. It makes an excellent side dish for a variety of meals. If you're making an Asian dish, broccoli with beef or chicken goes excellently. If you're doing Italian, a little pasta with broccoli in garlic and oil works just fine. And, if you want to even sautee it, or grill it, broccoli works with just about all our meals.
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But if we were going to grow our own broccoli, well, we'd be surprised where it actually stems from.
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Looking at broccoli's history of where it actually comes from and how it is made, you would be surprised to find out that it's not "broccoli" that is grown, but instead it comes from something that you would never expect. Surprisingly, broccoli comes from wild mustard.
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A recent tweet shared online surprised many individuals who had no idea that many vegetables we love actually come from wild mustard.
A tweet shared by Vince Crow identified that many are surprised that broccoli is not a vegetable that occurred "naturally" in society, and instead was created due to human breeding of wild mustard. Other vegetables as well come from wild mustard, too.
Some of the most popular vegetables all come from one plant species.
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Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, and brussels sprouts all stem from the plant species of wild mustard. According to research, the wild mustard plant stems from the Mediterranean region and farmers there noticed specific characteristics and traits of it.
As for broccoli, it was the Italians who discovered and produced it.
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When using the wild mustard plant, it was all about the flowers in order to create both broccoli and cauliflower. During ancient Roman times, broccoli was created and discovered. However, broccoli wasn't truly introduced as a crop in the United States until the 1920s.
Now, broccoli is one of the most popularly consumed vegetables.
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Broccoli is one of the most popular vegetables consumed in the United States. It took about 60 years for Americans to mass purchase and use broccoli, however, taking off in the 1980s. Additionally, Americans enjoy broccoli for a variety of reasons—many for the vitamin and nutrients that come from it.
Many online were surprised that broccoli came from "human manipulation."
Some people pointed out that broccoli being created by manipulating plants and roots, such as the wild mustard plant, could lead many to infer that it was the first "GMO." GMOs are also known as "genetically modified organisms." They are also seen as negative things.
People dislike GMOs due to their toxicity.
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Many think GMOs are a bad thing for individuals and society because they use pesticides and toxins in order to mass-produce food and increase the output of produce. GMOs use more toxic combinations of pesticides. Many choose to eat "organic" because of this.
Others see GMOs and human-produced food as a capitalism issue.
Some individuals see the GMO and capitalist market as the true problem when it comes to the mass production of food and produce. The issue lies within the intent to mass-produce something quicker than the competitor, which leads to using any means necessary.
Another person jumped in with an interesting take.
One Twitter user said that not one vegetable That we eat occurs naturally. In fact, humans are responsible for "genetically" altering plants and breeding different roots so that we can create what we enjoy and eat now.
Others had a few jokes to add on.
Many were joking around that they were "shocked" that people would make certain vegetables on purpose—like Brussel sprouts. For many, the leafy green veggies are the ones they stray away from—who would want to make them on purpose?!?
