More government documents—this time a clutch of ten small, four-page leaflets published by the Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1950 and 1951. Each one begins with the phrase “How to choose and use…” a vegetable or fruit, and we’re only missing the apple and grapefruit titles. All of them offer a bit of obvious advice (“When buying fresh snap beans make sure they are 1. Fresh, 2. Clean, 3. Firm and crisp, 4. Tender, 5. Free from blemishes”), information on serving yields, and how to store and cook them. They seem friendly and helpful, innocent of any bad intent (though the disembodied hands on some of them might cause a little unease…)
When we turn them over, however, their true nature is revealed. Each one shows a bizarre fruit- or vegetable-human hybrid, obviously bent on no good! The cabbage has assumed an almost completely human form; the intentions of the potato and snap bean couldn’t be more obvious; and the dried prune …! The full truth comes out when we consider when they appeared: atomic testing! Movies tried to warn us, but we never seem to learn: first our insects, then our food, then … us?
Deadly radiation now gives us food-humans, as terrifying as Them!, Giant Leeches, The Amazing Colossal Man, and The Horror of Party Beach—all brought to you by the United States government.