“What’s the fastest vegetable?”/“A runner bean.”

A “runner bean” isn’t necessarily athletic, but there’s a riddle:
 
Q: What is the fastest vegetable?
A: The runner bean!
 
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1972.
 
   
Wikipedia: Phaseolus coccineus
Phaseolus coccineus, known as runner bean, scarlet runner bean, or multiflora bean, is a plant in the legume or Fabaceae family.
 
It is grown both as a food plant and an ornamental plant.
     
22 October 1972, The Sun-Herald (Sydney, Australia), Junior sec., pg. 79, col. 4:
Q. What is the fastest vegetable?
A. The runner bean!
—Kerry McDermott (12), South Coogee.
 
Google Groups: alt.support.depression.manic
ZZZZzzzzzz - I wish
Jason and his Argonauts
1/4/99
(...)
is it spring yet? which talking of beans reminds me of a funny thing what’s the fastest vegetable in the world? a runner bean of course.are beans vegetables? i don’t know i guess they are
   
Google Books
Toby and His Old Tin Tub
By Colin West
Minneapolis, MN: Picture Window Books
2005
Pg. 37:
What’s the fastest vegetable?
A runner bean!
 
Twitter
Tia Gow
‏@tiajadegow
@TheWantedMusic What’s the fastest vegetable? A runner bean #TWFanFriday
7:47 AM - 3 Sep 2010
 
Secret Seed Society
Top 100 veggie jokes of all time
April 27, 2011
Here’s a growing collection of the top 100 veggie jokes of all time…
 
What’s the fastest vegetable?
A runner bean
 
Twitter
Shelton Family Farms
‏@SheltonFarm
Q: What’s the fastest vegetable?
A: A runner bean http://fb.me/LzT74TOW
7:57 PM - 5 Jul 2011
 
Twitter
Orckid Design
‏@OrckidDesign
Oh Dear! Bad jokes from the Studio
What’s the fastest vegtable in the world…?  A RUNNER BEAN!
10:51 AM - 31 Aug 2011
 
Google Books
101 Amazing Food Jokes
By Jack Goldstein
Andrews UK Limited
2013
Pg. ?:
What’s the fastest vegetable?
A runner bean!
 
Google Books
1001 Kid’s Jokes
By Kay Barnham
London: Arcturus Publishing
2016
Pg. ?:
What’s the fastest vegetable on earth?
A runner bean.