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> Yep, not only that, but they are also berries. What gets me is tomatoes, 
> peppers (capsicum), and potatoes are all members of the nightshade family, 
> and IIRC all have toxic parts (stems and leaves, fruit isn't toxic on the 
> peppers and tomatoes obviously...tubers are edible on potatoes, but the 
> rest of the plant is toxic)

Slight derail, but something that amuses me is that most, if not all, plants 
contain compounds that either act as a defense against predators (i.e. 
biochemical warfare) or are potentially toxic anyway (ergot and other forms 
of mold poisonning). Exceptions are the parts, such as fruits, that actually 
require to be eaten by an animal to complete the reproductive cycle of the 
plant, but otherwise plants aren't quite happy to be at the bottom of the 
food chain. These compounds - alkaloids, tannins, glucosinates, lectins, 
antitrypsin factors and many others - are also called antinutritional 
factors, for a reason. Ruminants have a bacterial flora that takes care of 
the toxins, but monogastric animals like pigs, poultry and humans, less so. 
In fact, it's only through centuries of human-directed selection ("sweet" or 
"garden" or "food" varieties) and proper detoxification practices such as 
washing, peeling and cooking that we have edible plants.

Fresh meat, eggs and milk, OTOH, don't have this kind of built-in 
toxicological issues (they have others of course), which is pretty ironical 
given the bad press they get these days.

G.

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