Cucumbers

I ran into this on the wikipedia article about cucumbers the other day:

In the later 1600s, a prejudice developed against uncooked vegetables and fruits. A number of articles in contemporary health publications state that uncooked plants brought on summer diseases and should be forbidden to children. The cucumber kept this vile reputation for an inordinate period of time: “fit only for consumption by cows”, which some believe is why it gained the name, “cowcumber”.

That makes me realize just how long we have been demonizing food types without anything resembling solid evidence. It makes it easier to laugh at the biases we have in our own society.