I was talking to a friend earlier and was startled to find out that she thought the "baby carrots" in the market were really baby carrots. So I figured I should post about them for all of those who haven't heard the news.In 2006, most baby carrots come from Bakersfield, California, and make up a third of sales of fresh carrots in the United States. These baby carrots are really full grown carrots that have been cut into 2" pieces and smoothed and shaped to look like baby carrots, the majority of which would have been thrown away as culls and few to cattle or just destroyed. In the late 1980's Mike Yurosek a farmer in California got tired of seeing 400 tons of carrots a day being discarded and came up with a way to shape and form them into what look like baby carrots. The rest is an American success story with raw baby carrots making up 1/3 of the sales of fresh raw carrots and are one of the top vegetables consumed in the US.
This isn't a bad thing because due to the popularity of carrots, new breeds were developed that are sweeter, less bitter and woody, crisp, and with more vitamins and beta-carotene. It used to be that you had to peel carrots so they wouldn't be too bitter to eat. Now looking back I can't remember when I did more than wash carrots before using. Peeling for me is a thing of the distant past.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-16-2007 @ 12:11AM
Aaron said...
Are you sure their aren't another type of carrots that are also called baby carrots?
I had some baby carrots in a sushi dish one time and they were awful. To me they tasted like condensed carrots. As in, they were the flavor of a whole carrot condensed into a smaller version. I enjoy carrots but these were so bitter that they were barely edible.-------------------------------------------Aaron, I have to agree with the other commenter. Those roots you had were most probably burdock root. It can be very woody textured and bitter, earthy, or woody tasting. --JMF--
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1-16-2007 @ 12:40AM
Bumpershine said...
Aaron,
What you ate was probably orange colored burdock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdock
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1-16-2007 @ 12:44AM
Scott said...
If you look closely at the bags they come in, they generally say, "baby-cut carrots" rather than baby carrots. Actual baby carrots are awesome. Baby-cut carrots... not bad, and they definitely have their benefits, but certainly not the deliciousness of the real thing. It always amuses me a bit to search the bag for the hidden "baby-cut" sentence.
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1-16-2007 @ 8:47AM
Carolyn said...
I have been to the baby carrot factory!!! Grimmway Farms in Bakersfield is the major producer of baby carrots. Most people are flabberghasted when they learn about the process to make baby carrots, and especially that they come from a factory. The factory is pretty cool, too.
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1-16-2007 @ 11:07AM
Mihai said...
This article is a bit funny for me, and probably not for the same reason as for you. I am from Romania and apart from not having heard of 'baby carrots' in my life (the idea isn't bad though), the last time I ate a carrot without peeling it was just about never. This isn't to say that we don't have them, but (and I venture to generalize) most Romanians buy carrots directly from farmers, in markets. And there they come in a brownish colour, with dirt all over. I wouldn't recommend taking a bite :). But I like it better like that, it feels more natural, more in touch with nature in a way.
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1-17-2007 @ 6:00PM
Ima Wurdibitsch said...
I had no idea.
I feel so betrayed.
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1-22-2007 @ 4:13AM
John said...
Yes most baby carrots are "made" from larger ones. Unfortunately a lot of the goodness is lost as, with most fruit and veg, the goodness is predominantly in the peel! So stick with whole real carrots, lightly washed.
From the World Carrot Museum
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