International Carrot Day

Today is International Carrot Day!

Carrots are biennial root vegetables, meaning they take generally around two years to complete its life cycles. Carrots are generally orange in color thanks to their high amounts of beta-carotene, a red-orange pigment. While carrots are generally orange, they actually can come in a variety of colors. There are variants of carrots that can come in red, yellow, purple, white, even black. These all came about thanks to the domestication of the wild carrot.

Carrots were originally grown for their leaves and seeds. In the 1st century AD, Greek physician Dioscorides described the carrot, saying the root can be cooked and eaten. While wild carrots originally grew in Europe and Southwestern Asia, they would spread all over the world. The Moors brought the plant to Spain in the 8th century. The modern carrot's history can be traced to Afghanistan in the 10th century. The 12th century saw cultivated carrots in China, and they'd come to Japan in the 16/17th century. It was also around that time that it would be introduced to Colonial America.

The orange carrot as we know it was born thanks to Dutch farmers in the 18th century. Even though there is evidence the color did exist as far back as 512 AD, it would be around this time that it was a known stable variant. There was a legend that the Dutch bred this variety to honor William of Orange, but the reality likely is that the Europeans embraced this variety because they thought it was prettier in soup. Yeah.

There is one fun urban legend around carrots. You see, carrots are rich in Vitamin A, which is good for eye health. When I was a kid, my mom told me a tale that British pilots would eat lots of carrots to give them good night vision, allowing them to make nighttime bombing raids during World War II. That was propaganda to hide the fact that they were using radar. 

Carrots have a very fascinating history, so enjoy one today! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! And if you want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!