20 Photos That Prove That You Don’t Have a Clue How Your Food is Grown

We all know how our food looks like, but I can bet that wouldn’t have ever thought about where does it come from? Does it grow on a tree or a bush? Is it underground or above it? No worries now, I am gonna tell you about some of the foods that you wouldn’t have thought how it looks, before coming into our houses. Ever since we have started buying food, we have lost contact with what it might’ve been before coming into grocery stores. So, obviously we have lost touch with what our food looks like as it’s growing. Here are 20 photos that will prove this theory, and will blow your mind with how actually food is grown!

20. Passion Fruit

The exotic flowers attract a number of butterflies and insects and most species have evergreen foliage, which you can use to provide a living privacy screen in your yard. Passionflowers need filtered full sun or partial shade to produce the best flowers. It is popular in drinks and smoothies, as it is believed to be rich in immune-boosting vitamins as well as iron, riboflavin, and niacin, but would you recognise it if you saw it? It comes from a total alien-looking flower and contrary to wide-ranging belief, it doesn’t grow on trees, but on a vine. 

19. Papaya Fruits

The papaya is the fruit of the Carica Papaya tree. It is native to southern Mexico and Central America and is now cultivated in many tropical regions. The fruit sometimes used to be referred to as a “tree melon.” In Australia it is called Papaw or Paw Paw. Today there are two varieties of papaya, Hawaiian and Mexican. The Mexican papaya can weigh as much as ten pounds while the Hawaiian usually weighs about a pound. It is the smaller Hawaiian papaya that is found in most produce aisles. The papaya was introduced to Hawaii in the early 1800s. Today, Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows papayas commercially. It looks like as they would come from a jungle vine, but in truth, they grow on large plants that look like palm trees. Like other fruits that hang from branches, papayas don’t, papaya fruit nurtures right out of the side of the tree, while its branches grow above the trunk and provide canopy.

18. Kiwi

Kiwifruit (also known as kiwi), is the edible berry of numerous species of woody vines in the genus Actinidia. The most common cultivar group of kiwi is oval. It has a fibrous, dull greenish-brown skin and bright green or golden flesh with rows of tiny, black, edible seeds. The fruit has a soft texture with a sweet and unique flavour. But have you ever wondered where does this delicious fruit grow?

17. Black Pepper

It is a flowering vine, mostly cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and then used for its spicy properties. It gives great taste in cooking and is also known for its great benefit in correcting hearing problems. Black pepper is the world’s most imported and exported spice. And is one of the most common spices supplementary to cookeries around the world. And it grows on a plant!

16. Watermelon

It is grown in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide for its large edible use, which is a special kind of berry with a hard rind and no internal division. The sweet, juicy flesh is usually deep red to pink in colour, with numerous black seeds, although seedless varieties have also been produced. The fruit is eaten raw, cooked or plucked. But have you ever wondered where does it grow?

15. Black Rice

It is deep black coloured, usually turned purple when cooked. Its dark colour is primarily due to anthocyanin content which is higher by weight than any other coloured grain! It is used mostly for creating porridge, desserts, cake and traditional Chinese black rice. Its black colour looks magnificent in farms.

14. Apricot

Apricot is a fruit or the tree that bears the fruit. They are produced singly or in pairs in early spring before the leaves. Its pulp is very fleshy and its taste can vary from sweet to tart. It is also dried and sold. Dry apricot is an excellent source of nutrition too.

13. Indian Gooseberry

The Latin name for the Gooseberry is Ribes uva-crispa. And they grow on bushes. Bushes can fruit for at least twenty years and produce fruits that are classed as being red, yellow, green or white. The tree is considered sacred by Hindus as a deity, Vishnu, is believed to dwell in it. The tree is worshipped on Amalaka Ekadashi.

12. Peanuts

PEANUTS ARE NOT NUTS! Would you ever think that peanuts are actually legumes? Only because their name has ‘nuts’ in it, doesn’t make them nuts. They don’t grow on trees like real nuts such as chestnuts, hazelnuts and acorns. They grow underground! Peanuts are edible seeds inside pods, and they are part of the Leguminosae family, where soybeans, chickpead, peas, clover and lentils also belong.

11. Walnut

They’re a nutritional powerhouse. They’re delicious and versatile. Walnuts are the oldest tree food known to man, dating back to 7,000 B.C. The ancient Greeks and Romans were well aware that walnuts had special health benefits and wrote extensively of their medicinal uses.

10. Cardamom

Cardamom, every Indian’s Elaichi is the common spice which is derived from the seeds that are contained in the pods from a number of plants which belongs to the Zigiberaceae family. A group of plants which is native to certain parts of the Indian sub-continent. The tropical forests of the Western Ghats which is considered to be the very birthplace of the spice is known today as the ‘Cardamom Hills’.

9. Cashews

You might be thinking that this is a nut, but let me tell you that you are wrong. Cashews grow out of ‘apples’. The cashew is harvested as well as the apple-like fruit, what people make jams and juices out of. It’s not commonly known that cashew shells are poisonous. Raw cashews are surrounded by a souble shell which contain urushiol. Its a kind of resin that can produce rashes and it is toxic to ingest.

8. Pineapples

Pineapples regenerate! You can plant pineapple leaves to grow a new plant. Hawaii produces about 1/3 of all pineapples in the world. Pineapples are a cluster of hundreds of fruitlets. Pineapples take about 18-20 months to become ready to harvest. Pineapples are native to South America before Christopher Columbus discovered them in 1493. One pineapple plant can produce one pineapple at a time. Pineapples ripen faster upside down.

7. Cinnamon

Cinnamon comes from the bark of the cinnamon tree. The cinnamon tree can grow up to 60 feet. Cinnamon sticks are also called quills. Cinnamon is a powerful antioxidant that aids in controlling blood sugar. Cinnamon also contains other minerals such as iron and magnesium. Cinnamon compliments both sweet and salty dishes (and drinks). Cinnamon is often used in traditional medicine. Cinnamon also has many alternative benefits such as for in beauty products and the house.

6. Brussels Sprouts

They are a type of cabbages! Brussels sprouts look like baby cabbages for a good reason: They’re a member of the cabbage family that includes veggies with edible leaves. Unlike most other fruits and vegetables, brussels sprouts don’t need to ripen before you eat them. You can boil, steam, microwave (with some water to keep them drying out), stir-fry, roast, or bake Brussels sprouts. Overcooking Brussels sprouts produces a sulphur-like smell, which is usually what turns people off from the produce.

5. Figs

Fig trees have no blossoms on their branches. The blossom is inside of the fruit! Many tiny flowers produce the crunchy little edible seeds that give figs their unique texture. Figs are harvested according to nature’s clock, fully ripened and partially dried on the tree. Figs naturally help hold in moisture in baked goods, keeping them fresher. Fig puree can be used to replace fat in baked goods. Figs made their first commercial product appearance with the 1892 introduction of Fig Newtons® cookies. The fig tree is a symbol of abundance, fertility and sweetness. Eating one half cup of figs has as much calcium as drinking one-half cup of milk.

4. Lychee

Lychee is tropical plant that belongs to the soapberry family. It originates from China. There are three subspecies of lychee, but only one is commercially important (cultivated as a source of food). Lychee was the favourite type of fruit of many Chinese emperors. Lychee blooms from November to February in the northern hemisphere and from April to August in the southern hemisphere. Flowers are fragrant and they attract bees, main pollinators of this plant. Lychee is also known as “Chinese strawberry” because it originates from China and looks like strawberry. This fruit is the symbol of love and romance in China.

3. Pistachios

Pistachios are nuts! Pistachios come in many colours. Many different countries dye pistachios to make them more eye-catching. In the U.S. pistachios were dyed red to disguise imperfections in the shells and to make them stand out in vending machines. They are normally green. Pistachios are one of the oldest flowering nut trees, and are one of the only two nuts mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 43:11). Humans have eaten pistachio nuts for at least 9,000 years. Pistachios are related to the mango and the spice sumac. In China the pistachio is known as “the happy nut” and in Iran as “the smiling nut”. Pistachios are also known as “the green almond”.

2. Almonds

You might have not thought about it but they grow on trees!  Almonds are actually stone fruits related to cherries, plums and peaches. The protein in almonds is more like the proteins in human breast milk of all the seeds and nuts, which is why it is the choice of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine as the base for its baby formula. Chocolate manufacturers currently use 40 percent of the world’s almonds and 20 percent of the world’s peanuts.

1. Dates

The word “date” comes from the Greek word daktylos, meaning finger. Date palm trees need at least 100 days of 100ºF heat and plenty of water to produce the best quality fruit. There are more than 200 varieties of dates. Medjool is the hardest to grow and therefore one of the most expensive to buy. A date pit almost 2000 years old was recently sprouted by Israeli researchers. An ancient variety thought to be extinct is back. Very few people are allergic to this fruit.