Carrots

(Daucus Carota)

WHAT ARE CARROTS?
Carrots are a taproot, a type of root which grows downwards into the soil and swells. Carrots come in many sizes and shapes: round, cylindrical, fat, very small, long or thin.

Native to Afghanistan, carrots were known to both the Greeks and Romans. In fact, the Greeks called the carrot "Philtron" and used it as a love medicine--making men more ardent and women more yielding. The Roman emperor Caligula, believing these stories, forced the whole Roman Senate to eat carrots so he could see them "in rut like wild beasts."

India, China, and Japan had established carrots as a food crop by the 13th century. In Europe, however, they were not well known until well into the Middle Ages. At that time, doctors prescribed them for everything from sexual maladies to snakebite--which some would argue, are biblically connected. In Holland, the original red, purple, black, yellow, and white varietals were hybridized to today's bright orange, with its potent dose of beta carotene.

From thence, carrots moved to England, during Elizabethan times. Some Elizabethans ate the roots as food; others used their feathery stalks to decorate their hair, their hats, their dresses, and their coats.

Carrots arrived in the New World with the early colonists, but they were allowed to escape cultivation and subsequently turned into the omnipresent and delicate wild flower Queen Anne's Lace. If you doubt it, pull up a plant by the roots and surprise your nose with its carroty smell.

The folk belief that carrots enable one to see in the dark--or at least improve vision--enabled the British Royal Air Force to disguise its use of radar from the Germans during World War II. The story goes that the Air Force bragged that the great accuracy of British fighter pilots at night was a result of them being fed enormous quantities of carrots--and the Germans bought it because their folk wisdom included the same myth.

HOW ARE CARROTS PRODUCED?
Fields are seeded with precision seeders from January into July. They take 6 to 21 days to germinate and 70 to 100 days to mature fully. Carrots are mechanically harvested by machines which pull carrots up by their tops, cuts the tops off and drops the carrots onto a conveyor leading to a trailers. They are also harvested by in machine which lifts the carrots with the soil then it shakes the soil out leaving the carrots which are then loaded into trailers.

WHAT DO CARROTS LOOK LIKE WHEN I USE IT?
Carrots are a common and popular vegetable to be eaten fresh. Baby carrots are particularly tender and juicy. They can also be canned or frozen. Carrot juice is a very nutritious drink especially high in beta-carotene. Carrots are used in baking in such delectables as carrot cake or muffins. Carrots are rich in minerals and vitamins.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CARROTS LEAVE THE FARM?
Carrots are harvested into large bulk trucks which take the product to on-farm packing operations. Upon arrival, carrots are unloaded onto a line where they are hydro-cooled, graded and packaged. They are held in cold storage or shipped to wholesale distributors as the market demands. Carrots can also be purchased with the tops on. These carrots are typically harvested at a younger stage and are usually hand harvested, then wrapped in bunches, resulting in "bunched carrots".

WHAT CHALLENGES DO CARROT PRODUCERS FACE?
Numerous root diseases affect carrots (black root rot, cavity spot), but proper cultural practices can keep them under control. Carrot fly are kept under control through an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. Growers also face strong market competition from the western Europe

WHO'S INVOLVED IN PRODUCING CARROTS?
Producer
Seed supplier
Farm equipment supplier
Agribusiness suppliers
Processing plant

NUTRITIONAL FACTS
Serving Size: 1 medium carrot (78g)
Calories 35
Calories from Fat 0 % Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 40mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 8g 3%
Dietary Fibre 2g 8%
Sugars 5g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A 270%
Vitamin C 10%
Calcium 2%
Iron 0%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet.

Interesting Fact About Carrots:
The carrot is a highly refined version of a common weed, Queen Anne's lace. Both plants originated in the Middle East.

Eat to Beat Breast Cancer
New research has uncovered one reason why what you eat may protect you from breast cancer -- or put you at risk. Among a group of women with a family history of breast cancer, those who began eating more vegetables and less beef and pork had less damage to their DNA, the genetic material that controls the function of all your cells.

Why DNA Is Key
That's important because there's strong evidence that damaged DNA leads to cancer. The strongest protection came from cooked vegetables -- possibly because the vegetables we cook tend to be the most nutrient-dense ones, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, brussels sprouts, and, of course, broccoli (Journal of the American Dietetic Association, May 1998). A Veggie Rx For this study (the Women's Healthy Eating and Living Study), women were asked to eat five servings of vegetables, 16 oz of fresh vegetable juice, plus three fruit servings a day.