Carrots

Harvest and availability:

British carrots are available for approximately 11 months of the year with an import window of around 1 month in May. Imported carrots primarily come from Europe during May.

Not so long ago carrots were predominantly available in the summer and autumn months however during the early 90s British carrot growers began to store their crop over winter in the ground. By covering the fields with straw which acts as insulation against frost damage it is possible for British carrot growers to almost achieve available supply year round.

Interesting facts:

• Carrots were not naturally orange! In fact orange carrots were selectively bred in Holland as a tribute to William of Orange. Before this it was believed that carrots were purple, white and yellow.
• Do carrots help you see in the dark? Simply, yes! Carrots contain vitamin A (retinol) and this is essential in helping the body synthesise rhodopsin which is a pigment in the eye that helps us see in low light conditions.
• If you laid all carrots grown in the UK end to end they would exceed a length of 2.3 million kilometres. This is a distance that equates to two and a half return trips to the moon!