An update from non-computer science land
My girlfriend recently informed me that my post on malformed tomatoes was part of larger phenomena: the unusually-shaped vegetable (USV). The wikipedia entry contained some links eye-opening links, and after a comprehensive survey of USVs worldwide, I have determined that their most prominent public representative is the cubic watermelon.
These box-shaped melons were first cultivated by farmers in Zentsuji, Japan to facilitate packing, and might I say, mission accomplished! Still, if Japan is so pressed for space, they should probably get to work scaling down their quadruple-decker hamburgers.