PASS THE CARROTS, PLEASE.

I would much rather eat chocolate than carrots. In fact, that is just what I have done with my 60 years on this good earth. Perhaps if I had eaten more carrots, my eyes would be healthier.

My husband and I recently had a little squabble in the kitchen. He was miffed that I had bought a bag of carrots when there already was half a bag in the refrigerator. He wanted to know why I didn’t take “inventory” before going to HEB. Well, I’m not the inventory kind of person, but to my credit, I grabbed them from the vegetable section with the intent of eating them instead of what I really wanted—Reese’s.

He asked if I knew what color carrots were originally. This was a trap. He is a collector of trivia. I quickly ran through the recipe file in my brain. I remember one Thanksgiving looking up a recipe for colorful grilled carrots.

I answered, “White, purple, red, and yellow.”

“Google it,” he challenged.

I did. I was right. Wild carrots were white. In 1000 AD in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan the first domesticated carrots were red, black, yellow and purple.

So, why are the carrots in our grocery store orange? We can thank the nation that loves orange for that. No, not the Oompa Loompa of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We can thank the Dutch for orange carrots.

In 16th century Holland, carrots were red, purple, yellow and black as they were in Afghanistan. The Dutch hybridized them to the orange color that we recognize today. The Dutch cultivated orange carrots during the 17th century, and they spread the all over Europe. Why did they do that? Well, the Dutch love the color orange so much, that they actually have a word for this love of orange, “Oranjekoorts” which means “Orange Fever.” The color orange is a symbol of the Dutch Royal Family, the House of Orange which dates back 500 years to William of Orange. He’s considered the father of the Netherlands. Orange is a symbol of pride and independence. On King’s Day on the streets of Holland, you might even hear the people shout, “Oranje boven, oranje boven, leve de koning!” (Orange above all, orange above all, long live the King!)

Back to carrots. The carrot is a symbol of abundance, wealth and prosperity. I challenge you to become a “carrot person” which is defined as a person who “meets or surpasses their goals regularly.” However, don’t “chase a carrot” which means that something is unobtainable. And if you are “offered a carrot” it means that someone is going to persuade you to do something that you might not want to do.

So, the next time you reach for a carrot, (and not a Reese’s), remember the Dutch with their clever farming techniques, bold independence, and their orange fever. Enjoy a carrot for the beta-carotene that protects you against cellular damage and gets converted by your body into vitamin A and for the fiber, potassium, vitamin C and B. There’s much more to a carrot than meets the eye!

*Carrot picture thanks to Nancy Boston Hodges