The term vegetable in its broadest sense refers to any kind of plant life or plant product; in the narrower sense, as used in this article, however, it refers to the fresh, edible portion of a herbaceous plant consumed in either raw or cooked form. Market gardening produces assorted vegetables for a local market. The development of good roads and of motor trucks has rapidly extended available markets; the market gardener, no longer forced to confine his operations to his local market, often is able to specialize in the production of a few, rather than an assortment, of vegetables; a transformation that provides the basis for a distinction between market and truck gardening in the mid-20th century.