And that remark about Plato and his potato reminds me of WS Gilbert:

"Then a sentimental passion of a vegetable fashion must exicfte your
languid spleen
An attachment a la Plato for a bashful young potato
or a not-too-French French bean!
Though the Philitines may jostle you will rank as an apostle in the high
Aesthetic band
if you walk down Picadilly with a poppy or a lily in your medieval
hand..."

from 'Patience'
WS Gilbert