There's no evidence that broccoli is mentioned as anything other than link bait. This looks like one of a large number of interpersonal conflicts that appear in

There's no evidence that broccoli is mentioned as anything other than link bait. This looks like one of a large number of interpersonal conflicts that appear in the discussion of what constitutes a good diet. I don't see anything of important note. The essay at LinkedIn derides an op-ed on the NYT. The LinkedIn author assumes that op-eds are supposed to be reliable, and that the 'New York Times would allocate its imprimatur and rarefied real estate to an infomercial masquerading as an Op-Ed' is 'a genuinely big, genuinely fat, and lamentably disappointing surprise'. This is a misunderstanding of the op-ed page, which frequently contains "informercials". These are considered opinion pieces, and not journalism, and definitely have contained outright lies. (A Google search finds many claims for lies. See http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117240/nicolas-maduros-new-york-times-op-ed-distorts-venezuelan-history http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117240/nicolas-maduros-ne... , http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/the_nyt_spread_the_big_lie_of.php?page=all http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/the_nyt_spread_the_big_lie_of.p... for two.) The reference to "broccoli" is apparently in reference to an unpublished exchange between the two authors ("The author in question ... engaged me recently in such an exchange to tell me: the broccoli did it!"). None of the links given refer to that exchange. The NYT article doesn't use the word "broccoli". The closest there is a lament about the increase in eating starchy vegetables. Broccoli is not a starchy vegetable. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_non-starchy_vegetables http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_non-starchy_vegetables .) The LinkedIn essay also ends "The broccoli didn’t do it. We are fat and sick for rather obvious reasons. If we’ve had enough of that, it’s time to act accordingly, by getting sick and tired of business as usual."