Quite a while back I mentioned the carrots of today look very different to the carrots of yesteryear.
Some of these lesser known heirloom and heritage varieties are still with us
today, although you're unlikely to see them at your local supermarket.
It turns out the
purple carrot I mentioned
in my post back in 2007 has been around for at least 5,000 years!
Testing of these carrots have found them to be very high in antioxidants and
also to exhibit anti-inflammatory properties, with the possibility of helping in the treatment of conditions like arthritis
.
The purple carrot is now being grown in a number of locations around Australia
for pharmaceutical
purposes.
According to Greg Jardine, a biochemist and technical director of Dr Red
Nutraceuticals, the purple carrot makes the blueberry look like a
"lightweight" and goes as far as to say it's the world's healthiest
food - of course, he does have a vested interest in the crop :).
Due to the influence of powerful companies that
control the seed
market and with that, possibly the
future
of food, we've lost so many of our food crops. For example, only 5% of the
apple varieties that existed 200 years ago in the USA still remain. It's great
to see this company helping to ensure the survival of this particular crop.
The case of the purple carrot is another reason we need to encourage the planting of
heritage and heirloom
seeds in back yard veggie patches. It's more than warm and fuzzy treehugger
stuff. Who knows what potential some of these old word varieties hold; not just as food, but for treating
illnesses and other applications.
Thanks to the Internet we can now buy these varieties online - we are no
longer limited to our local nurseries and garden centers that stock whatever Big
Agriculture throws at them.
If you're in Australia, check out the seed selection at Diggers
Club - there's some weird and wonderful fruit and veggies there and the
range is truly amazing!
I don't know of any good online sources for buying heirloom and heritage seeds
in other countries - if you know of any, please add them in the comments below
as I'm sure other GLT readers will be interested.
