I guess you learn something new every day. I knew that baby carrots didn’t really come out like that–all perfect and rounded and small. I mean, carrots are a root vegetable and root vegetables are not pretty. So when an article came across my desk about the origins of the baby carrot, I decided to share.
Baby carrots were invented (I didn’t even know someone could ‘invent’ a vegetable), by a guy named Mike Yurosek. Mike, a California based farmer had a perplexing dilemma. Every year, he was throwing away approximately 4 tons of carrots because apparently people wouldn’t buy carrots with imperfections. (4 tons of food by the way will feed approximately 8,000 people.)
He took all the imperfect carrots that no one would buy, cut them into 2 inch sections. The carrots are then put into giant, cement mixer sized vegetable peelers and voila: you have the baby carrot. The baby carrot was originally dubbed “Bunny Luv” but regardless of what it’s called–it has transformed the snack food culture as well as how people buy carrots.
Snack food surveys show that baby carrots are now one of the top selling snack foods right along with twinkies and potato chips. Health conscious parents throw in a bag next to the Oreos in their child’s lunchbox. Adults wanting something sweet and crunchy nibble them and in short. . .baby carrots are what’s happening in snack foods. Don’t believe me? The average American now eats ten and a half pounds of carrots per year compared to the 1960’s when the average American ate around 6 pounds.
On top of that, the baby carrot revolution has made carrots better (or so say the people who study such things.) Since baby carrots make up one third of all carrot sales in the United States, growers have to come up with ways to make sure their carrots are sweet and have a good texture.
As for this mom, I too must admit, I’m a big baby carrot fan. I do let my kids munch on them (what mom wouldn’t?) but I also like to throw them in stews. You don’t have to chop them and they make life easier. (And who isn’t all for making life easier?)
So if there was anyone out there thinking that baby carrots were actually, real baby carrots, let the record be set straight–they are beautified versions of formerly ugly adult carrots!
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