
Why Are Carrots Orange? It Is Political (2009) - edward
http://www.nextnature.net/2009/08/why-are-carrots-orange-it-is-political/?hn
======
matznerd
There are a lot of other interesting food facts out there, especially how our
food has changed dramatically in the last few thousand years. People consider
vegetables and fruits as healthy because they fall under those categories, yet
we have completely altered the levels of sugar and other factors to make them
more marketable and desirable. For example, wild bananas required a machete to
open and had such large seeds and low sugar content that no one really ate
them. Another example is corn, the original corn had 5-12 kernels per cob and
was in a hard shell as hard as an acorn, it was high in starch not sweet at
all, around 2% sugar and 20% protein. The corn in the store today is 2-4%
protein and up to 40% sugar. So just because you are eating a vegetable
doesn't necessarily mean it is healthy.

[http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/07/10/195592468/eating...](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/07/10/195592468/eating-
on-the-wild-side-a-field-guide-to-nutritious-food)
[http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/11/29/2013/eating-
wilde...](http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/11/29/2013/eating-wilder-foods-
for-a-healthier-diet.html)

~~~
oofabz
You can see a striking comparison between corn and the wild plant it was bred
from on Wikipedia:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maize-
teosinte.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maize-teosinte.jpg)

In the old world, the cabbage family is a similar example. Starting from wild
mustard, humans created broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, radishes,
rapeseed, turnips, and more.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, which are actually the same species. Radishes,
however, are just in the same family, while rapeseed shares the same genus.

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dklsf
How can "some scholars doubt if orange carrots even existed prior to the 16th
century", if there are drawings of orange carrots from the year 512?

[http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karotte#/media/File:Gemeine_M%C...](http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karotte#/media/File:Gemeine_M%C3%B6hre_\(Wiener_Dioskurides\).png)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Dioscurides](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Dioscurides)

~~~
wobbleblob
Shhht, don't waste a great opportunity to blame the Dutch for something that's
probably bad.

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jamescun
While not directly related, I recently learned another interesting fact
related to carrots. The old saying of "carrots helping you see in the dark"
was actually invented by the British Royal Air Force during WWII to disguise
from the Germans that they had invented Radar.

[http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/carrots.asp](http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/carrots.asp)

~~~
derefr
Carrots contain beta-Carotene (bet you can't guess the etymology.) Beta-
Carotene gets metabolized into various forms of vitamin A, including retinal,
which is necessary for eye health.

So, it's not that carrots can help you see in the dark; it's more that some
eye diseases (which have initial symptoms including diminished night vision)
can be prevented by eating carrots, just like some gum diseases can be
prevented by eating oranges.

~~~
glabifrons
I can't help, but wonder what the carotene levels are in the white, red, and
purple variants of carrots. I'd expect it to be quite low, since carotene is
where the orange and yellow carrots (and melons, and squash) are supposed to
get their color.

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hetman
What the linked article fails to explain is why the politics of the
Netherlands should influence the farming practices of an entire continent.

Also, since this is posited to have been a political statement in support of
William of Orange, one would expect such carrots to be uncommon in the Spanish
sphere of influence, against whom he rebelled. Perhaps someone can indicate if
that is not the case, though a quick search suggests that orange is the
predominant form there too.

Ultimately this sounds like a fun post hoc story, the spread of which was
probably driven more by nationalism than fact.

~~~
inoop
By the 1700's the Dutch Republic was no longer at war with the Spanish crown,
but the Orange family still enjoyed great popularity and political influence.

The political statement should therefore probably be seen more in the context
of the internal struggle of pro-Orange and pro-monarchy catholics versus pro-
republic protestants than anything else. It is likely any foreign buyers never
even got the reference to begin with.

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lenlorijn
The source says "it is unlikely that honouring William of Orange had anything
to do with it", then how can he make this claim?
[http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history5.html](http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history5.html)

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ThatMightBePaul
Another possibility, [http://consumerist.com/2010/05/11/if-youre-going-to-eat-
a-ca...](http://consumerist.com/2010/05/11/if-youre-going-to-eat-a-carrot-
from-your-garden-be-sure-its-not-hemlock/)

Orange carrots might've also been an easy "ok, it's not hemlock, it's safe"
indicator.

~~~
seszett
Hemlock doesn't have a large taproot like cultivated carrot, it's really not
possible to confuse them (unless you're eating the leaves like your article
suggests... I didn't even know carrots leaves were edible).

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jpatokal
Interestingly, the "default" carrot in India is not orange, but purple. Which
means there is a good billion-plus people for whom "a thousand years of carrot
history" have not been wiped out.

There are non-orange carrots in my local supermarkets in Sydney on occasion as
well, but they're considerably more expensive and don't actually taste any
different, so there's not much of a market.

~~~
train_robber
Hmm, a bit surprised! I haven't seen a lot of purple carrots in India, atleast
in my part of the country (Kerala). Default carrots for me is still orange. I
came to know of the existence of purple carrots only very recently.

~~~
jpatokal
Huh, interesting, maybe it's a regional thing? In and around Delhi the default
carrot is definitely purple (well, maybe closer to red, but definitely not
orange).

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melloclello
I'm sure convenience also played a part - just for the heck of it, I cooked a
meal with purple carrots in it recently and they stained the fuck out of my
kitchen bench, hands, and the vegetable soup they were in. It was like working
with beetroot.

~~~
doyoulikeworms
How did it taste?

~~~
melloclello
Kinda earthy, rather than carroty. Distinct beetrooty flavour.

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GigabyteCoin
I'd be curious to know if it was only the colours which were affected by the
selective breeding of orange carrots.

Are purple carrots healthier? Would they have more antioxidants present as
most darker vegetables and fruits do?

~~~
thret
They're a different colour but otherwise the same. You couldn't tell the
difference with your eyes closed.

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Tosh108
Interestingly a lot of the rainbow colored carrots the are promoted als
"original carrots" are also new "breeds", often newer then the orange ones.
More colorfull and more sweet then the original.

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reitanqild
They are not entirely wiped out here either, just last year one of the largest
food chains here in the Nordic countries sold mixed colour carrots (at a
premium price IIRC.)

