Potato: A vegetable?

It all started when someone (name is hidden for privacy reasons) told me they were having chips and gravy for lunch. This same person had been telling me off earlier for not eating "properly from all the food groups" coz I don't eat much red meat. When I questioned their choice of meal, the answer was "potato is a vegetable".

STOP PRESS!!!

A potato is a vegetable? Now my whole world has been turned upside down. How can something so un-green be a vegetable? After all, potatos bear more resemblance to peanuts than it does to a lettuce or a broccoli (which are definitely vegetables).


So anyway I say to my team member, "Hey, is a potato a vegetable?" And suddenly half the team at work is gathered around discussing whether or not a potato is a vegetable. After hearing all their thoughts, I have come to this conclusion:

Whether or not a potato is a vegetable depends on what gender you are. A male's answer is typically YES, a potato is a vegetable and thus consumption of chips and other potato-based foods can be considered eating vegetables. A female's response is invariably NO, a potato cannot be considered a subsitute for 'real vegetables' - leafy green vegetation. Therefore, potato-based food cannot be considered healthy by simply being in the vegetable food group.

Of course, if you want to know the scientific answer, you can read about the potato here. Interestingly enough, those two pictures are of potato flowers - pretty flowers for such an ugly thing.

What do you think? A potato is classed as a "root vegetable" but do you really consider it to be a vegetable? Were all vegetables created equal?